Inspired by “Hambone” by The Red Saunders Orchestra with The Hambone Kids (1952).
Hit version by Dee Clark (US #20/R&B #2 1959).
From the wiki: “Dee Clark was born Delecta Clark (or Delectus Clark, Jr.), in Blytheville, Arkansas, in 1938 and moved to Chicago in 1941. His mother, Essie Mae Clark, was a Gospel singer and encouraged her son to pursue his love of music. Clark made his first recording in 1952 as one of the original members of The Hambone Kids, who enjoyed some success with a recording, with The Red Saunders Orchestra, of ‘Hambone’ on the OKeh label. Clark embarked on a solo career in 1957, initially following the styles of Clyde McPhatter and Little Richard. When Little Richard temporarily abandoned his music career to study the Bible, Clark fulfilled Richard’s remaining live dates and also recorded with his backing band, The Upsetters.
“Over the next four years Clark landed several moderate hits, two of which (‘Just Keep It Up’ and the Otis Blackwell-composed ‘Hey Little Girl’) reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Clark’s biggest single, ‘Raindrops’, a ballad augmented by heavy rain and thunder sound effects and Clark’s swooping falsetto, was released in the spring of 1961 and became his biggest hit, charting Top 5 in the US and internationally.”