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'{{About|the Little Richard song|the New Order song|Tutti Frutti (New Order song)|5=Tutti Frutti (disambiguation)}} {{short description|Original song written and composed by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie}} {{Infobox song | name = Tutti Frutti | cover = Tuttifruitti.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Little Richard]] | album = [[Here's Little Richard]] | B-side = I'm Just a Lonely Guy | released = October 1955<ref name=DawsonPropes/> | format = [[45-rpm record]], [[78-rpm record]] | recorded = September 14, 1955 | studio = J & M Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana<ref name=DawsonPropes/> | venue = | genre = [[Rock and roll]] | length = 2:23 | label = [[Specialty Records|Specialty]] 561 | writer = [[Little Richard]], [[Dorothy LaBostrie]] | producer = [[Robert Blackwell]] | prev_title = Always | prev_year = 1954 | next_title = [[Long Tall Sally]] | next_year = 1956 }} "'''Tutti Frutti'''" (Italian: "All fruits") is a song written by [[Little Richard]] and [[Dorothy LaBostrie]] that was first recorded in 1955, becoming Little Richard's first major hit record. With its energetic refrain, often transcribed as "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!" (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined),<ref name="whitep49-51">White, Charles (2003), pp. 49–51 ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press.</ref> and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also a model for [[rock and roll]] itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/music_blog/archive/2012/09/today_in_music_836.shtml |title=The Current from |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |access-date=2015-11-09}}</ref> The song introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume, powerful vocal style, and distinctive beat and rhythm.<ref name=campbell115/> In 2007, an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists ranked "Tutti Frutti" at No. 1 on ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'''s "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World" and hailed the recording as "the sound of the birth of rock and roll". In 2010, the U.S. [[Library of Congress]] [[National Recording Registry]] added the recording to its registry, claiming the "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music".<ref name=registry>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-masterlist.html|title=The Full National Recording Registry: National Recording Preservation Board (Library of Congress)|publisher=National Recording Preservation Board|access-date=2012-12-29}}</ref><ref name=13wmaz>{{cite web|url=http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=80925|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130116001551/http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=80925|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 16, 2013|title='Tutti Frutti' Joins National Music Registry|date=June 23, 2010|author=O'Donnell, Bernard|access-date=2012-12-29}}</ref> In April 2012, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine declared the refrain "the most inspired rock lyric ever recorded".<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/little-richard-heres-little-richard-19691231 ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624230642/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/little-richard-heres-little-richard-19691231 |date=June 24, 2012 }}</ref> ==Original recording by Little Richard== Although "Little Richard" Penniman had recorded for [[RCA]] and [[Peacock Records]] since 1951, his records had been relatively undistinguished and did not result in the commercial success for which his producers hoped. In February 1955, he sent a [[demo (music)|demo]] tape to [[Specialty Records]], which was heard by Specialty owner [[Art Rupe]]. Rupe heard promise in the tapes and arranged a recording session for Little Richard at [[Cosimo Matassa]]'s J & M Studio in New Orleans in September 1955, with [[Bumps Blackwell|Robert "Bumps" Blackwell]] as producer and [[Fats Domino]]'s backing band. The band included [[Lee Allen (musician)|Lee Allen]] and [[Alvin Tyler|Alvin "Red" Tyler]] on [[saxophone]]s, [[Huey Smith]] on [[piano]], Frank Fields on [[double bass]], Justin Adams on [[guitar]] and [[Earl Palmer]] on [[Drum kit|drums]].<ref name=DawsonPropes>Jim Dawson and Steve Propes, ''What Was The First Rock'n'Roll Record,'' 1992, {{ISBN|0-571-12939-0}}</ref><ref name=grove>Penniman, Richard Wayne. "Little Richard." Little Richard 24 Jan 2008. GroveMusic.com (subscription only)</ref> As the session wore on, Little Richard became frustrated that his anarchic performance style was not being fully captured on tape. During a lunch break, he started pounding a piano and singing a ribald song that he wrote and composed, and which he had been performing live for a few years.<ref name="whitep55">White, Charles (2003), p. 55 ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press.</ref> According to some accounts, he first wrote and performed the song while working as a janitor in a bus station.<ref>Cox, Michael (1997). ''Mind-Blowing Music'' Scholastic Press. {{ISBN|0590195700}}</ref> The song that he sang was a piece of music that he "had polished in clubs across the South."<ref name=Lhamon>Lhamon, W.T. (1990). ''Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s''. The Smithsonian Institution {{ISBN?}}</ref> Little Richard sang:<ref name=cWhite49>{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Charles |title=The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock |url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesoflit00whit |url-access=registration |date=1984 |publisher=Harmony Books |isbn=0517554984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifetimesoflit00whit/page/49 49]}}</ref> {{poemquote|A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop a-good-Goddam! Tutti Frutti, good booty}} After this lively performance, Blackwell knew the song was going to be a hit, but recognized that the lyrics, with their "minstrel modes and sexual humor", needed to be revised for lyrical purity.<ref name=Lhamon/> Blackwell contacted local songwriter [[Dorothy LaBostrie]] to revise the lyrics, with Little Richard still playing in his characteristic style. According to Blackwell, LaBostrie "didn't understand melody" but she was definitely a "prolific writer".<ref>Brackett, David. The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates. New York: Oxford, 2004</ref> The original lyrics, in which "Tutti Frutti" referred to a homosexual man, were: {{poemquote|Tutti Frutti, good booty If it don't fit, don't force it You can grease it, make it easy<ref name=cWhite55>{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Charles |title=The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock |url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesoflit00whit |url-access=registration |date=1984 |publisher=Harmony Books |isbn=0517554984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifetimesoflit00whit/page/55 55]}}</ref>}} These were replaced with: {{poemquote|Tutti Frutti, aw rooty Tutti Frutti, aw rooty.}} "Aw rooty" was a slang expression meaning "All right". According to [[Charles Connor]], Little Richard's drummer, the original lyrics were: {{poemquote|Tutti Frutti, good booty If it's tight, it's all right And if it's greasy, it makes it easy<ref>''Rock 'n' Roll America'' (BBC documentary, 2015), Part 1, c. 41:00</ref>}} In addition to Penniman and LaBostrie, a third name—Lubin—is credited as co-writer. Some sources considered this a pseudonym used by Specialty label owner [[Art Rupe]] to claim royalties on some of his label's songs,<ref name=DawsonPropes /> but others refer to songwriter Joe Lubin.<ref>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p308092|pure_url=yes}} allmusic ((( Joe Lubin > Overview )))]</ref> As possible evidence that the "sexual song" theory was created later, songwriter LaBostrie was quoted as saying, "Little Richard didn't write none of 'Tutti Frutti'. I'll tell you exactly how I came to write that. I used to live on Galvez Street and my girlfriend and I liked to go down to the drug store and buy ice cream. One day we went in and saw this new flavor, Tutti Frutti. Right away I thought, 'Boy, that's a great idea for a song'. So I kept it in the back of my mind until I got to the studio that day. I also wrote the flip side of 'Tutti Frutti', 'I'm Just A Lonely Guy', and a spiritual, 'Blessed Mother', all in the same day." LaBostrie was still receiving royalty checks on the average of $5,000 every three to six months from the song in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/dorothy_labostrie.htm |title=Dorothy Labostrie |publisher=Rockabilly.nl |access-date=2015-11-09}}</ref> Blackwell said time constraints prevented the development of a new arrangement, so Little Richard recorded the revised song in three takes, taking about 15 minutes, with the original piano part. The song was recorded on September 14, 1955.<ref name=DawsonPropes /> Released on Specialty 561, the record entered the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Rhythm and Blues chart]] at the end of December 1955 and rose to No.&nbsp;2 early in February 1956. It also reached No.&nbsp;21 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart. In the UK, it only scraped into the top 30 in 1957, as the B-side of "[[Long Tall Sally]]". The song, with its [[Twelve-bar blues|twelve-bar blues chord progression]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME06/Music_matters_Appendix.shtml |title=A sample of 100 rock and roll songs |publisher=Icce.rug.nl |date=2003-04-06 |access-date=2015-11-09}}</ref> provided the foundation of Little Richard's career. It was seen as a very aggressive song that contained more features of African American [[vernacular music]] than any other past recordings in this style.<ref name=grove/> Richard's contract with Peacock had been purchased by [[Specialty Records]] owner [[Art Rupe]], who also owned the publishing company that bought Richard's songs. Specialty's deal with Richard was typical of most record companies's dealings with their artists.<ref>''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock.'' Charles White. Contributor Paul McCartney. Edition: 2, illustrated. Da Capo Press. 1994. p. 57. {{ISBN|0-306-80552-9|978-0-306-80552-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/lrichard.htm |title=Little Richard |publisher=Soulfulkindamusic.net |date=1932-12-05 |access-date=2015-11-09}}</ref> ===Impact=== Combining elements of boogie, [[Gospel music|gospel]] and [[blues]], the song introduced several of [[rock music]]'s most characteristic musical features, including its loud. If rock and roll was a pperson, i'd shove his meaty cock down my throat. Anyways, volume and vocal style emphasizing power, and its distinctive beat and rhythm. The beat has its roots in [[boogie-woogie]], but Richard departed from its [[shuffle rhythm]] and introduced a new distinctive rock beat. He reinforced the new rock rhythm with a two-handed approach, playing patterns with his right hand, with the rhythm typically popping out in the piano's high [[Register (music)|register]]. The song's new rhythm became the basis for the standard rock beat, which was later consolidated by [[Chuck Berry]].<ref name=campbell115>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA115 |title=Rock and Roll: An Introduction |author1=Michael Campbell |author2=James Brody |page=115 |date=2007|isbn=978-0534642952 |access-date=2015-11-09}}</ref> In 2007, an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists voted "Tutti Frutti" No.&nbsp;1 on ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'''s "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo.html#100%20Records%20That%20Changed%20the%20World |title=Rocklist.net...Mojo Lists |publisher=Rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=2017-08-30}}</ref> hailing the recording as "the sound of the birth of [[rock and roll]]."<ref name="Contactmusic.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/tutti%20frutti%20tops%20world-changing%20hit%20list_1031090|title=Little Richard – Tutti Frutti Tops World-Changing Hit List|publisher=Contactmusic.com|date=May 16, 2007|access-date=2017-08-30}}</ref> In 2010, the US [[Library of Congress]] [[National Recording Registry]] added the recording to its registry, stating that the hit, with its original ''[[a cappella]]'' introduction, heralded a new era in music.<ref name="Culpeper Star-Exponent : News">{{cite web|url=http://m.starexponent.com/culpeper/db_6501/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=7F4B24B2D77D68B6D0F464B77E664A6B?full=true&contentguid=6KQyJ7zJ&pn=&ps=|title=Culpeper Star-Exponent : News|publisher=M.starexponent.com|access-date=2010-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716131347/http://m.starexponent.com/culpeper/db_6501/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=7F4B24B2D77D68B6D0F464B77E664A6B?full=true&contentguid=6KQyJ7zJ&pn=&ps=|archive-date=2011-07-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> The song is No.&nbsp;43 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of "[[The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/1|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=RollingStone.com|access-date=2007-06-02}}</ref> In April 2012, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine declared that the song "still has the most inspired rock lyric on record."<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/heres-little-richard-little-richard-19691231#ixzz1rsqlCXTq ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408135202/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/heres-little-richard-little-richard-19691231#ixzz1rsqlCXTq |date=April 8, 2012 }}</ref> ===The B-side=== "I'm Just a Lonely Guy," the B-side ballad credited to LaBostrie-Penniman, has rarely appeared on albums or compilations in its original, undubbed mix, as heard on the single. A remix featuring overdubbed female backing vocals appeared on Little Richard's third album, [[The Fabulous Little Richard]]. ==Personnel== *[[Little Richard]]{{snd}}vocals, piano *[[Lee Allen (musician)|Lee Allen]]{{snd}}tenor saxophone *[[Alvin "Red" Tyler]]{{snd}}baritone saxophone *[[Frank Fields]]{{snd}}double bass *[[Earl Palmer]]{{snd}}drums ===Additional personnel=== *Justin Adams{{snd}}guitar ==Early cover versions== The song has been [[cover version|covered]] by many musicians.<ref>''The Blue Moon Boys – The Story of Elvis Presley's Band.'' Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. p. 87. {{ISBN|1-55652-614-8}}</ref> 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. Boone's version made No.&nbsp;12 on the national pop chart, with Little Richard's trailing behind reaching only No.&nbsp;21 in February 1956.<ref name=smothers>Smothers, Robert. "Macon Journal; Georgia's Very Own: a Wop Bam Boom." The New York Times 08 Jan. 1990, Late ed., sec. A10</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://top40weekly.com/1956-all-charts/| title=All US Top 40 Singles for 1956|publisher=Top40Weekly.com|access-date=January 7, 2019}}</ref> Boone himself admitted that he did not wish to do a cover of "Tutti Frutti" because "it didn't make sense" to him; however, the producers persuaded him into making a different version by claiming that the record would generate attention and money.<ref>Harrington, Richard. "VIDEOS; 'the Early Days,' When Rock Began to Roll." ''The Washington Post,'' 19 May 1985, Final ed., sec. G12</ref> Little Richard admitted that though Boone "took [his] music", Boone made it more popular due to his high status in the white music industry.<ref>O'connor, John J. "Television Review: Rock's Story as Told by Rockers." ''The New York Times'' 08 Mar. 1995, Late ed., sec. C20</ref> Nevertheless, a Washington Post Staff Writer, Richard Harrington, quoted Richard in an article: {{quote|They didn't want me to be in the white guys' way. ... I felt I was pushed into a rhythm and blues corner to keep out of rockers' way, because that's where the money is. When "Tutti Frutti" came out. ... They needed a rock star to block me out of white homes because I was a hero to white kids. The white kids would have Pat Boone upon the dresser and me in the drawer 'cause they liked my version better, but the families didn't want me because of the image that I was projecting.<ref name=Harrington>Harrington, Richard. "'a Wopbopaloobop'; and 'Alopbamboom', as Little Richard Himself Would Be (and Was) First to Admit." ''[[The Washington Post]]'' 12 Nov. 1984, Final ed., sec. C1.</ref>}} ==Elvis Presley version== {{Infobox song | name = Tutti Frutti | cover = File:Tuttifruttielvis.png | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Elvis Presley]] | album = [[Elvis Presley (album)|Elvis Presley]] | A-side = [[Blue Suede Shoes]] | released = {{Start date|1956|09|08}} | format = [[Gramophone record#Formats|7-inch 45&nbsp;rpm, 10-inch 78&nbsp;rpm]] | recorded = January 30, 1956 | studio = [[RCA]], New York City | venue = | genre = [[rock and roll]] | length = {{Duration|m=1|s=57}} | label = [[RCA Victor]] | writer = [[Little Richard]], [[Dorothy LaBostrie]] | producer = [[Steve Sholes]] | prev_title = [[Shake, Rattle and Roll#Elvis Presley versions|Shake, Rattle and Roll]] | prev_year = 1956 | next_title = [[I Got a Woman]] | next_year = 1956 }} [[Elvis Presley]] recorded the song<ref name=pc7/> and it was included in his first [[Sony BMG|RCA]] album ''[[Elvis Presley (album)|Elvis Presley]]'' March 23, 1956. Presley's version uses "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!" for every verse,<ref name=pc7>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19754/ |title=Show 7 – The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. [Part 1] }}</ref> finishing the phrase with "bam-boom" instead of "bom-bom". Elvis' cut of "Tutti Frutti" was also released as part of a four track EP (RCA EPA-747) and as the b-side of "Blue Suede Shoes" (RCA 47-6636) which reached #20 on the ''Billboard'' chart. ==The Beatles versions== According to author [[Mark Lewisohn]] in ''The Complete Beatles Chronicles'' (p.&nbsp;365) [[The Beatles]] performed "Tutti Frutti" live from at least 1960 through 1962 (in Hamburg, Liverpool and elsewhere). Reportedly the lead vocal was always by [[Paul McCartney]], but it is unknown whether their version was actually based on the one by [[Elvis]] or that of [[Little Richard]]. No recorded version is known to survive. However, according to author Allen J. Weiner in ''The Beatles – The Ultimate Recording Guide'' (p.&nbsp;225) during the massive [[Get Back]] sessions a version of "Tutti Frutti" was recorded. A few months later [[George Harrison]] played on a live version which was recorded in Copenhagen with [[Delaney and Bonnie]] and [[Eric Clapton]] which came out on an unauthorized release, though a legitimate version was also recorded in concert in England (and released in 1970). In 1972 [[Ringo Starr]] drummed on, and produced a brief version with [[Elton John]] on piano and [[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]] singer [[Marc Bolan]] on lead vocal. Lastly, in the 1990s [[Paul McCartney]] did a (professionally recorded) soundcheck singing "Tutti Frutti" but not like Elvis or Little Richard but instead like an extremely laid-back [[Pat Boone]] of 1956 (Boone's real version was more lively). The McCartney version came out on an unauthorized release, ''Soundcheck Songs Vol.&nbsp;1'') ==Later recordings== Little Richard re-recorded the song in 1964 for [[Vee Jay Records]]' ''[[Little Richard's Greatest Hits]]'' and again in 1976 for a [[K-tel]] compilation titled ''[[Little Richard Live]]''. [[Queen (band)|Queen]] played the song live in their [[Magic Tour (Queen)|Magic Tour]], and it appears on their live recording [[Live at Wembley '86]]. ==Appearances in other media== "Tutti Frutti" provided the title for one of the earliest books about the development of rock and roll and pop music from the 1950s, [[Nik Cohn]]'s ''"Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom"'' (1969). In the film ''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'', released in the [[1970s]] but set in the [[1950s]], the protagonists sing the refrain of the song together. The opening scene of the animated feature film ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' played the song. In a scene in the film ''[[It Takes Two (1995 film)|It Takes Two]]'' when a food fight breaks out. The video game ''[[DJ Hero]]'' had a mashup remix of the song mixed with "Beats" by Shlomo as performed by disc jockey [[DJ Yoda]]. ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} {{Little Richard}} {{Elvis Presley singles}} [[Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients]] [[Category:Little Richard songs]] [[Category:Pat Boone songs]] [[Category:Elvis Presley songs]] [[Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings]] [[Category:Songs written by Dorothy LaBostrie]] [[Category:Songs written by Little Richard]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Robert Blackwell]] [[Category:Specialty Records singles]] [[Category:RCA Victor singles]] [[Category:LGBT-related songs]] [[Category:1955 songs]] [[Category:1955 singles]] [[Category:1956 singles]]'