Great Balls of Fire (Mae West album)

Great Balls of Fire
Studio album by Mae West
Released 1972
Recorded 1968
Genre Garage rock, Rock and roll
Label MGM
Producer Ian Whitcomb
Mae West chronology

Wild Christmas
(1966)		 Great Balls of Fire
(1972)

Great Balls of Fire is a rock and roll album recorded by film star Mae West and released by MGM Records in 1972.

It was the third rock album release by the star and her final full-length recording. Originally recorded in 1968, the LP was released four years later, a few months before West turned 79.[1] The record consisted of covers of rock classics and new songs. It was produced by Ian Whitcomb and featured background vocals by The Mike Curb Congregation. Great Balls of Fire was not a commercial success and did not chart. The album was never released on CD, however, it was made available in digital format in 2012.[2]

The cover of Neil Sedaka's "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" does not feature the original words and instead features new tongue-in-cheek lyrics written by Whitcomb, referring to age 21 as West celebrates the coming of age of a devoted fan. That version is generally known as "Happy Birthday Twenty-One". West later performed this song in her final motion picture, 1978's Sextette.

Track listing

Source:[3]

Side A
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Great Balls of Fire"  Jack Hammer, Otis Blackwell 1:47
2. "Men"  Ian Whitcomb 2:37
3. "The Naked Ape"  Ian Whitcomb 3:36
4. "The Grizzly Bear"  Irving Berlin, George Botsford) 2:41
5. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"  Dave Williams, Sunny David 2:50
Side B
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen"  Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield, Ian Whitcomb 2:37
2. "After the Lights Go Down"  Alan White, Leroy Lovett 2:03
3. "Light My Fire"  John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison 3:14
4. "How Miss West Won World Peace"  Ian Whitcomb 3:40
5. "Rock Around the Clock"  Max C. Freedman, Jimmy DeKnight 2:10

References

  1. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Faber and Faber. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-571-21949-0.
  2. ↑ "Great Balls of Fire: Mae West: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  3. ↑ "Mae West - Great Balls Of Fire (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-12-27.