Long Tall Sally

"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman (known as "Little Richard"), recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label.

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.^[2] The song as sung by Little Richard is #56 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[3]

It became one of the singer's best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists.^[4]

The song was originally called "The Thing", recorded in New Orleans by Little Richard.^[5]

History

"Tutti Frutti" had been a big hit for Little Richard and Specialty in October 1955, reaching #2 in the R&B charts. Pat Boone's cover version of the song reached #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, getting it to #8).^[1]

According to Blackwell, he was introduced to a little girl called Enotris Johnson by Honey Chile, a popular disc-jockey. Apparently, Johnson 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.^[6]

Featuring a 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. "Tutti Frutti", as well as many other Little Richard sides, was also recorded there.

The backing was provided by the house top session men: Edgard Blanchard (guitar), Frank Fields (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. Little Richard sang in a very high key (F), in his raw, aggressive, exhilarating style the lyrics of self-centered fun.^[4]

Well, Long Tall Sally,

She's built for speed,

She's got everything that Uncle John needs.

Although the lyrics are lightweight, Little Richard's style triumphs over content and provides a wonderful vehicle for his enthusiastic exhibitionism.^[7]

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.

Popular culture

• In the film Predator, the song is played while the group of soldiers are travelling in a helicopter. Later in the movie, the character Sergeant Mac Eliot makes reference to 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." 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.
• The song is played in the film the Brave Little Toaster when Radio, a red tube-based dial radio, plays it from himself while fighting with Lampy.
• "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.^[8] Eddie Clendening also covered the song on the Million Dollar Quartet original Broadway cast recording, copyright 2010 by MDQ Merchandising, LLC.^[9]
• 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

Selective list of recorded versions

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Long Tall Sally". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20071002035151/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595901/long_tall_sally. Retrieved 2006-11-25. 
2. ^ "Little Richard". Kolumbus.fi. http://www.kolumbus.fi/timrei/lre.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
3. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-04-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20070416005906/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/1. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll ((2nd Ed.) ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-306-80683-5. 
5. ^ "The Beatles - Long Tall Sally". Jpgr.co.uk. http://www.jpgr.co.uk/gep8913.html. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
6. ^ White, Charles (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard. The Authorised Biography. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-7119.9761.6. 
7. ^ Shaw, Arnold (1978). Honkers and Shouters. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 189–193. ISBN 0-02-061740-2. 
8. ^ Zielinski, Peter James. "Photo Coverage: Million Dollar Quartet Opens on Broadway". Posted: 12:04 PM; Monday, April 12, 2010. broadwayworld.com
9. ^ MDQ Merchandising LLC (2010). “Song List” and “Performing Credits”. In Million Dollar Quartet (p. 5) [CD booklet]. New York City: Avatar Studios; and Chicago: Chicago Recording Company.

External links

• Robert Blackwell biography
• The Beatles' "Long Tall Sally"