Remembering ‘Stagger Lee’: The true story behind the 1958 No. 1 hit
I really like the Professor Longhair version where the piano goes to lower notes at the end. The Wikipedia entry.
Category: Music covers
Covers: Cry Me a River
“Cry Me a River” is another song that was prominent in the film The Girl Can’t Help It. Julie London performs is as a hallucination her old agent sees when he is drunk.
I know it from the Joe Cocker version.
Covers: Twenty Flight Rock
I have posted a few times about songs performed in the film The Girl Can’t Help It. “Twenty Flight Rock” was performed by Eddie Cochran who co-wrote it.
Covers: Be-Bop-a-Lula
The original version of “Be-Bop-a-Lula” was by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps. Last night, I saw them perform it in the 1956 film “The Girl Can’t Help It”. John Lennon and Paul McCartney both covered it.
The film version:
Blue Monday (Smiley Lewis/Fats Domino song)
Last night, I watched The Girl Can’t Help It which has Fats Domino performing the song “Blue Monday”. The original version was by Smiley Lewis and has a great guitar solo. Both versions were produced by Dave Bartholomew who wrote it. I bet they had a large overlap of backing musicians.
New York Times on 13 Beatles covers by Black artists
Something similar that I recommend are the three discs of Black covers of country songs on Ace Records
Covers: Madison Blues
“Madison Blues” is an Elmore James song from 1960. James is one of the all-time great blues artists.
Covers: Nobody’s Fool
Covers: Cry Like a Baby
“Cry Like a Baby” was a the 1968 record by the Box Tops, most famous for their big hit “The Letter”.
Sad! 