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Co-written and originally recorded by Sonny West (Feb 1958).
Hit version by Buddy Holly (US #37/UK #5 1958).
From the wiki: “‘Rave On’ is a 1958 song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty, first recorded by Sonny West and released in February 1958. The hit version was recorded later that same year by Buddy Holly, and was one of his six songs to chart in 1958.”
Written and first recorded by Stuart Hamblen (1954).
Hit versions by Rosemary Clooney (US #1/UK #1 1954), Billie Anthony (UK #4 1954). Shakin’ Stevens (UK #1 1981).
From the wiki: “Stuart Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization. They went into the hut and there, lying amongst the rubbish and rubble of a crumbling building, was the body of a dead man. The man’s dog was still alive and, although starving, guarding his dead master’s home.
First recorded by The Victor Young Orchestra w. Jeri Southern (1952).
Hit versions by Doris Day (US #20 1952), Nat “King” Cole (UK #2 1957), Natalie Cole (US #6/R&B #31 1987), Rick Astley (UK #2 1987), Celine Dion & Clive Griffin (US #23/MOR #6 1993).
From the wiki: “Jeri Southern released the original version in April 1952 with the song’s composer, Victor Young, handling the arranging and conducting duties. The song has become a standard, with many artists recording it, though the first hit version was by Doris Day released in July 1952.”
Originally recorded by “Big” Joe Turner & His Blues Kings (US #22/R&B #1 1954).
Other hit version by Bill Haley & His Comets (US #7/UK #4/AUS #18 1954).
From the wiki: “In early 1954, Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records suggested to Jesse Stone (writing under his assumed name ‘Charles E. Calhoun’) that he write an up-tempo blues for ‘Big’ Joe Turner, a blues shouter whose career had begun in Kansas City before World War II. Stone played around with various phrases before coming up with ‘shake, rattle and roll’. The shouting chorus on Turner’s version consisted of Stone, Ertegun and Atlantic’s other label executive, Jerry Wexler.
“The song, in its original incarnation, is highly sexual. [Among other salacious lyrics,] Stone stated that the line about ‘a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store’ was suggested to him by Atlantic session drummer Sam ‘Baby’ Lovett as an on-the-sly sexual reference. Turner’s recording was released in April 1954, reached #1 on the US Billboard R&B chart on June 12 and did not move for three weeks. It peaked at #22, nearly at the same time, on the Billboard Hot 100.
Originally recorded by The Clovers (R&B #3 1955).
Hit version by Bobby Vee (US #6/R&B #22/CAN #2 1960).
From the wiki: “‘Devil or Angel’ is a song written by Blanche Carter and originally recorded by the Clovers in 1955, where it went to #3 on the U.S. R&B Best Sellers chart. It was re-recorded by John Bailey after he left the Clovers and formed another Clovers group for Lana Records in 1965.
“The song was covered by Bobby Vee in 1960, with veteran session drummer Earl Palmer among the studio musicians. It peaked at #6 in the U.S. charts and #2 in Canada, and was also a crossover R&B hit in the U.S. It was Vee’s first Top 10 hit.”
Originally recorded by The Tempos (US #23 1959).
Also recorded by The Quotations (1962), The Chiffons (1963), Teddy Robin & the Playboys (1967).
Other hit versions by The Symbols (UK #19 1966), The Happenings (US #3 1966), The Mike Curb Congregation (MOR #15 1972).
From the wiki: “‘See You in September’ was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal trio The Tempos (whose members included a pre-‘Rose Are Red’ Bobby Vinton). This first version peaked at #23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular version of ‘See You in September’ was the version by The Happenings in 1966, when it reached #3.
First recorded by The Charms (1954).
Hit version (recorded as “Two Hearts, Two Kisses”) by Pat Boone (1955).
“Two Hearts” was Pat Boone’s first single release and the first of several “covers” he recorded of R&B songs. Boone’s recording peaked at #16, and was followed by his first #1 hit: “Ain’t That a Shame” (another R&B cover).
First popular version recorded by The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group (US #40/UK #5 1957).
Other popular versions by Rusty Draper (US #3 1957), Elizabeth Cotten, writer (1958), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963).
From the wiki: “‘Freight Train’ is an American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century, and popularized during the American folk revival and British skiffle period of the 1950s and 1960s. By Cotten’s own account in the 1985 BBC series Down Home, she composed ‘Freight Train’ as a teenager (sometime between 1906 and 1912), inspired by the sound of the trains rolling in on the tracks near her home in North Carolina.
“Cotten was a one-time nanny for folk singer Peggy Seeger, who took this song with her to England where it became popular in folk music circles. British songwriters Paul James and Fred Williams subsequently misappropriated it as their own composition and copyrighted it. Under their credit, it was then recorded by British skiffle singer Chas McDevitt, who recorded the song in December, 1956. The record became a hit in the UK in 1957 at the height of the skiffle boom, reaching #5 in the UK Singles Chart.
Written and first recorded by Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns (1959).
Hit version by Frankie Ford (US #14/R&B #11 1959).
From the wiki: “Ace Record’s biggest act in 1958 was Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and the Clowns, who had scored with ‘Rockin’ Pneumonia And the Boogie Woogie Flu’ in 1957 and ‘Don’t You Just Know It’ in 1958. After releasing ‘Don’t You Know Yockomo’ as a third single in early 1959, Huey and his Clowns had cut two more sides, “Sea Cruise” and ‘Loberta’ that Ace Records owner Johnny Vincent considered to have hit potential. But, he felt the recordings needed some ‘improvement’.
Written and originally recorded (as “Later Alligator”) by Bobby Charles (1955).
Inspired by “Later For You Baby” by Guitar Slim (1954).
Also recorded by Roy Hall (1955).
Hit version by Bill Haley & His Comets (US #6/R&B #7/UK #7 1956), Dr. Feelgood (UK #93 1986).
From the wiki: “Originally titled ‘Later Alligator’, ‘See You Later Alligator’ was written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and was first recorded by him in 1955 under his professional name ‘Bobby Charles’.
“Guidry, a Cajun musician, adopted a New Orleans-influenced blues style to the song, intending it to be recorded by fellow NOLA musician Fats Domino. (Guidry also wrote ‘Walking to New Orleans’, which was recorded by Domino.) The melody for ‘Alligator’ was borrowed from bluesman Guitar Slim’s ‘Later for You Baby’ that had been recorded the previous year in 1954.
First recorded by Little Richard (R&B #7/UK #9 1956).
Also covered by The Animals (1964), The Everly Brothers (1965), The Flamin’ Groovies (1969), Led Zeppelin/The Nobs (1970), Mick Ronson (1975), Darts (as “Daddy Cool/The Girl Can’t Help It” UK #6 1977), Bonnie Raitt (as “The Boy Can’t Help It” (1979), Babes in Toyland (2001).
From the wiki: “‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ is the title song to the film The Girl Can’t Help It, composed by songwriter Bobby Troup (‘Route 66’, ‘Girl Talk’, ‘The Meaning of the Blues’). The recording was released in December 1956 and peaked at #49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart (also UK #9 and US R&B #7 ), and is included in the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Originally, Fats Domino was lined up to record the track, which was not written to be a Rock song. The movie, The Girl Can’t Help It, was originally intended as a vehicle for the American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, with a satirical subplot involving teenagers and rock ‘n’ roll music. The unintended result has been called the ‘most potent’ celebration of Rock music ever captured on film. The original music score included the title song performed by Little Richard. Reportedly, the producers had wanted Elvis for ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’, but Elvis’s manager Tom Parker demanded too much money.
Written and originally recorded by Ivory Joe Hunter (R&B #1 1949).
Other hit version by Pat Boone (US #1 1956).
From the wiki: “‘I Almost Lost My Mind’ written by Ivory Joe Hunter and was first recorded by him in 1949. Hunter’s 12-bar blues recording of the song was a #1 hit on the US Billboard R&B chart in that year. The best selling version of the song was a cover version by Pat Boone, hitting #1 on the Billboard charts in 1956.”
“Ivory Joe Hunter was a prolific songwriter, and some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs during his career.
Written and first recorded by Richard Berry & The Pharoahs (1955).
Inspired by “El Loco Cha Cha” (Ricky Rillera & The Rhythm Rockers, ca. 1954).
Also recorded by Rockin Robin Roberts & The Wailers (1961), Paul Revere & The Raiders (US #103 1963).
Hit version by The Kingsmen (US #2 1963).
From the wiki: “By some accounts ‘Louie Louie’ is the world’s most recorded rock song with over 1,600 versions and counting (with many more amateur versions appearing regularly on YouTube and elsewhere). Richard Berry was inspired to write the song in 1955 after listening to and performing the song ‘El Loco Cha Cha’ with Ricky Rillera & The Rhythm Rockers. [Note: While the title of the song is often rendered with a comma (‘Louie, Louie’), in 1988 Berry told Esquire magazine that the correct title of the song was ‘Louie Louie’, with no comma.]
“Berry released his version in April 1957, originally as a B-side, with his backing band The Pharaohs. It became a regional hit on the West Coast, particularly in San Francisco. When the group toured the Pacific Northwest, other local R&B bands began to play the song, increasing its popularity. The track was then re-released as an A-side. However, the single never charted on Billboard’s national R&B or Pop music charts even though Berry’s label reported that the single had sold 40,000 copies. After a series of unsuccessful follow-ups, Berry sold his portion of publishing and songwriting rights for $750 to the head of Flip Records in 1959.
First recorded (as “Talk to Me, Talk to Me”) by Little Willie John (US #20/R&B #5 1958).
Also recorded by Joe Seneca (1960), Jean DuShon (1961), The Beach Boys (1976).
Hit versions by Sunny & The Sunglows (US #11/R&B #12 1963) and Mickey Gilley (C&W #1/CAN #1 1982).
From the wiki: “‘Talk to Me’ (or ‘Talk to Me, Talk to Me’) is a song written by Joe Seneca. Originally recorded in 1958 by Little Willie John, whose version charted #5 R&B and #20 Pop, ‘Talk to Me’ was also recorded by Seneca himself in 1960 and covered by numerous other performers, including Jean DuShon (1961, produced by Phil Spector), Sunny & the Sunglows (1963), The Beach Boys, whose version was released on their 1976 album 15 Big Ones, and Mickey Gilley (1982).
Originally recorded by Little Willie John (US #24/R&B #1 1956).
Other hit versions by Peggy Lee (US #8/UK #5 1958), Helen Shapiro (UK #38 1964), The McCoys (US #7/UK #44 1965), Madonna (DANCE #1/UK #6 1993).
Also recorded (as “Fiebre”) by La Lupe (1963), La Lupe (1968).
From the wiki: “The idea for the song was presented to Otis Blackwell (‘All Shook Up‘, ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, ‘Great Balls of Fire’) by an old friend, Eddie Cooley. Blackwell said: ‘Eddie Cooley was a friend of mine from New York and he called me up and said ‘Man, I got an idea for a song called Fever, but I can´t finish it. I had to write it under another name [‘John Davenport’] because, at that time, I was still under contract to Joe Davis.’
“Little Willie John reportedly disliked the song, but was persuaded to record it on March 1, 1956. His version was released in April 1956 and became a double-sided hit along with the top-ten R&B song ‘Letter from My Darling’. ‘Fever’ reached #1 for three weeks on the R&B Best Sellers chart. It also made the pop charts, peaking at #24 on the Billboard chart.