The flip side was "Slippin' and Slidin'". Both songs were subsequently released in the LP Here's Little Richard (Specialty, March 1957). The single reached number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, staying at the top for six of 19 weeks,[1] while peaking at number six on the pop chart. It received the Cash Box Triple Crown Award in 1956. The song as sung by Little Richard is #55 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
It became one of the singer's best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists,[4] including the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The song was originally called "The Thing", recorded in New Orleans by Little Richard.
History
"Tutti Frutti" had been a big hit for Little Richard and Specialty in early 1956, reaching No. 2 in the R&B charts. Pat Boone's cover version of the song reached No. 12 in the pop charts. Although this meant an unexpected cash income for the Specialty publishing firm, A&R man and producer "Bumps" Blackwell and a proud Richard decided to write a song that was so up-tempo and the lyrics so fast that Boone would not be able to handle it (Boone eventually did record his own version, however, getting it to No. 8).
According to Blackwell, he was introduced to a little girl by Honey Chile, a popular disc-jockey. Apparently, the girl had written a song for Little Richard to record so she could pay the treatment for her ailing aunt Mary. The song, actually a few lines on a piece of paper, went like this:
Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
They saw Aunt Mary comin'
So they ducked back in the alley.
Not wishing to upset an influential disc-jockey, Blackwell accepted the offer and took the idea to Richard, who was reluctant at first. Nevertheless, the line "ducked back in the alley" was exactly what they were looking for, and Richard kept practicing until he could sing it as fast as possible. They worked on the song, adding verses and a chorus, until they got the hit they wanted. The credit to Enotris Johnson, Richard's adoptive father, was added, probably as an act of benevolence. Featuring a tenor saxophone solo by Lee Allen (as did "Tutti Frutti"), "Long Tall Sally" was the best-selling 45 of the history of Specialty Records.
Recording
The recording session took place on February 10, 1956 at J&M Studio in New Orleans, the legendary studio owned by Cosimo Matassa on the corner of Rampart and Dumaine where Fats Domino and many other New Orleans luminaries recorded. "Long Tall Sally", as well as many other Little Richard sides, was also recorded there.
The backing was provided by the house top session men: Edgar Blanchard (guitar), Frank Fields (double bass), Lee Allen (tenor sax), Alvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax) and Earl Palmer (drums), plus Little Richard on vocals and piano. Blackwell was the producer.
The music was a fast uptempo number with Little Richard's hammering, boogie piano. Richard plays staccato eighth notes while Palmer plays a fast shuffle. The shuffle was the most common rhythm and blues beat; Richard added the eighth notes, much less common in that time, although now standard for rock music. Together this created an ambiguity in the ride rhythm—known to musicians as "playing in the crack" that came to characterize New Orleans rock and roll. In typical Little Richard style, he sang in the key of F, in a raw, aggressive, exhilarating style with lyrics being about self-centered fun.
Well, Long Tall Sally,
She's built for speed,
She's got everything that Uncle John needs.
Although the lyrics are light-weight, Little Richard's style triumphs over content and provides a wonderful vehicle for his enthusiastic exhibitionism.
Notes on the lyrics
On the original recording, the opening line states the singer is going to report to Aunt Mary that Uncle John does not, as he claims, have "the misery", a Southern expression meaning generalized weakness and illness.
The line in the original recorded version, "Long Tall Sally is built for speed", is a reference to the proverbial African-American distinction in sexual types: "Built for comfort" or "built for speed", terms originally applied to passenger sailing ships. When sung rapidly, this line is sometimes rendered "built sweet", even by Little Richard in a recorded live performance. Though it is not a perfect rhyme with the word "need", it fits through assonance.
Personnel
Little Richard – vocals, piano
Lee Allen – tenor sax
Alvin "Red" Tyler – baritone sax
Frank Fields – bass
Earl Palmer – drums
Edgar Blanchard – guitar
The Beatles version
The Beatles were great admirers of Little Richard, and recorded many of his songs during their career. "Long Tall Sally" was the most durable song in their live repertoire, lasting from their earliest days as the Quarrymen in 1957 through to their last public concert in August 1966. As with the majority of their Little Richard remakes, Paul McCartney sang lead vocals, as he could most closely imitate Richard's vocal style.[8]
The group recorded "Long Tall Sally" at EMI Studios in London on 1 March 1964, during sessions for A Hard Day's Night, although it was ultimately not included on that album. The recording was produced by the Beatles' regular producer, George Martin, who also played piano on the track. Given the group's familiarity with the song, the recording was completed in a single take.
In the United Kingdom, the track was released on the Long Tall Sally EP on 19 June 1964; however, it had been released earlier on two overseas albums, The Beatles' Second Album in the United States on 10 April, and The Beatles' Long Tall Sally in Canada on 11 May. Released as a single in Sweden, the song topped the Kvällstoppen Chart in July and August.
The song appears on the film Backbeat. Upon viewing it, Paul McCartney was reported to say:
One of my annoyances about the film Backbeat is that they've actually taken my rock 'n' rollness off me. They give John "Long Tall Sally" to sing and he never sang it in his life. But now it's set in cement. ['Paul' sang Long Tall Sally in the Glasgow stage version]. It's like the Buddy Holly and Glenn Miller stories. The Buddy Holly Story does not even mention Norman Petty, and The Glenn Miller Story is a sugarcoated version of his life. Now Backbeat has done the same thing to the story of the Beatles. I was quite taken, however, with Stephen Dorff's astonishing performance as Stu.
Personnel
Paul McCartney – vocals, bass
John Lennon – rhythm guitar
George Harrison – lead guitar
Ringo Starr – drums
George Martin – piano
Other Beatles recordings
In addition to their studio recording of the song, the Beatles recorded "Long Tall Sally" for BBC radio broadcasts on seven occasions during 1963 and 1964.[11] Two of these versions have been officially released, on the compilation albums Live at the BBC (1994) and On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 (2013). In addition, a live recording from the 1964 television special Around the Beatles was included on the Anthology 1 compilation (1995). The live album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (1977) includes a 1964 concert recording of the song.
Popular culture
- In the 1987 film Predator, the song is played while the group of soldiers are traveling in a helicopter. Later in the movie, the character Sergeant Mac Eliot shouts the lyrics "Long Tall Sally, she built sweet, she got everything, that Uncle John need. Aw baby, I'm gonna have me some fun, I'm gonna have me some fun, I'm gonna have me some fun" as a battle cry while pursuing the film's titular monster. A sequel, 2010's Predators, called back to the original film by playing the song over its closing credits.
- There is a long discussion of the song in the 1997 novel Underworld by Don DeLillo. Specifically, characters argue over the ethnic identity of the titular girl.
- "Long Tall Sally" was sung by Eddie Clendening, portraying Elvis Presley, in the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, which opened in New York in April 2010.Eddie Clendening also covered the song on the Million Dollar Quartet original Broadway cast recording, copyright 2010 by MDQ Merchandising, LLC.
- Makes an appearance in the game Mafia 2 on the Delta Radio station
- Makes an appearance in the British show Rock & Chips spinoff Only Fools and Horses
- On Season 9 of the American Dancing with the Stars, Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas danced the Jive to this song in week 2 of the competition.
- On Series 14 of Strictly Come Dancing, Danny Mac and Oti Mabuse danced the Jive to this song in week 7 of the competition.
- On Season 13 of the American Dancing with the Stars, Kristin Cavallari and Mark Ballas danced the Jive to this song in the finale of season 13.
- "Long Tall Sally" plays during the opening helicopter scene of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon as an homage to the 1987 film Predator.
- "Long Tall Sally" plays during the chase scene in the 1988 film Red Scorpion.
- The song was used in the beginning of the game Saints Row IV (mission "Zero Saints Thirty"), once again as a homage to Predator.
- John Sloman perfored the song in animated film Planet 51.
- The song is used during a boat chase near the start of the 2016 video game Mafia III
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone