Good Golly Miss Molly

"Good Golly Miss Molly" is a hit rock 'n' roll song first recorded in 1958 by the American musician Little Richard. The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by John Marascalco and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell. Although it was first recorded by Little Richard, Blackwell produced another version by The Valiants, who imitated Little Richard, but sang the song even faster. Although the Valiants' version was released first, Little Richard had the hit. Like all his early hits, it quickly became a rock 'n' roll standard and has subsequently been covered by hundreds of artists. The song is ranked #94 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In the early 1960s the song became a continental hit in Latin America performed by the Mexican band Los Teen Tops, whose lead singer was teen idol Enrique Guzman, and sung in Spanish under the title La Plaga (The Plague), which actually is a Mexican Spanish slang word referring to "the gang" (as in the "gang one hangs out with"). It was recorded in 1959, and it was the first single of the band. It's considered one of the first rock in Spanish hits. Later, it became a hit again for Guzman's daughter, Alejandra (Ale) Guzman on her LP "Bye Mama".

The British band The Swinging Blue Jeans skirted the UK Top 10 with their revival issued in early 1964. (HMV Pop 1273)

In 1966 the song again became a hit when Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels recorded it in a medley with "Devil with a Blue Dress On", reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would make "Detroit Medley" a staple of their concerts' encores in the 1970s and 1980s; one such performance is captured on the 1980 No Nukes album.

Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded "Miss Molly" in 1969 with slightly changed lyrics. Instead of the result of the gift of a diamond ring being, "When she hugs me, her kissin' make me ting-a-ling-a-ling", John Fogerty sang, "Would you pardon me a kissin' and a ting-a-ling-a-ling" The song was also covered by the Meat Puppets on their album Out My Way.

The song was covered on The Crests' first LP album, "The Crests Sing All Biggies" in 1960.

The song is included on the Jerry Lee Lewis album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, recorded in 1964.

In the feature film King Ralph, John Goodman's title character played the song.

The song has also been covered by The Sonics on their album Here Are The Sonics and has also been covered by Screaming Lord Sutch.

The Deep Purple song "Speed King" references the song (Good Golly said Little Miss Molly).

An episode of Hannah Montana is titled "Good Golly Miss Dolly", a reference to this song.

Song Origins

Little Richard first heard the phrase "Good golly, Miss Molly," from a Southern DJ named Jimmy Pennick. He modified the lyrics into the more suggestive: "Good golly, Miss Molly/You sure like to ball." Little Richard himself later claimed that he took the music from Ike Turner's piano intro to Jackie Brenston's influential 1951 rock and roll song Rocket 88 and used it for "Good Golly Miss Molly." "I always liked that record," Richard recalled, "and I used to use the riff in my act, so when we were looking for a lead-in to 'Good Golly, Miss Molly,' I did that and it fit."

Spanish version

In 1959 the song was a big success in Spanish under the title of "La Plaga" (The Plague) featured by the Mexican band Los Teen Tops. "La Plaga" has the same melody of Good Golly Miss Molly, but different lyrics. In the Spanish lyrics, "la Plaga" is the most popular girl of the town, "the queen of the place" ("la reina del lugar"), not because she is seen as pretty, but because she is the best rock and roll dancer. "La Plaga" with "La Bamba" (1958), is one of the first classic songs of rock en Español (rock and roll in Spanish).

References

Brief additional history is located at Rolling Stone.

External Links

• http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/little-richard-good-golly-miss-molly-19691231