Tutti Frutti (song)

"Tutti Frutti" was Little Richard's first hit record in 1955; with its opening cry of "Womp-bomp-a-loom-op-a-womp-bam-be!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for rock and roll.

The song, a 12-bar blues, has been covered by many musicians. After Pat Boone's success with "Ain't That a Shame", his next single was "Tutti Frutti", markedly toned down from the already reworked Blackwell version. Elvis Presley recorded the song and it was included in his first RCA album Elvis Presley March 23, 1956.

Queen regularly played it during their live shows in 1986. It is also featured during the T. Rex jam session with Elton John during the 1972 rock film Born to Boogie. It is the first song on the MC5 album, Back in the USA. The song was covered by Fair Weather in 1970.

See the main article on Little Richard for more detail. This song was the cornerstone of Little Richard's career.

This song as sung by Little Richard is #62 in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.