Song 181 - Long Tall Sally by Little Richards

Happy Fathers' Day to one of all.  As well as being Fathers' day, it is also Sir Paul McCartney's 75th Birthday today and I thought I would do a song by Little Richards as he is someone who influenced the Beatles in their early days as the Quarry Men. Also Long Tall Sally is reported to be the first song Paul McCartney performed in public. What's the connection to Fathers' day you may ask, well Paul McCartney is the same age as my dad and my dad is one of my greatest sources of inspirationsin my life but he hasn't written a hit single so he doesn't really fit into a music blog! However, he has got a fantastic sense of musicality and has introduced me to many a good tune over the years.

Release in March 1956, Long Tall Sally by Little Richards is a 12 bar rock and roll song. It is also one of his biggest hits. Little Richards himself, is one of the most influential rock/pop stars in the world as his style in the 1950s laid the foundation for Rock and Roll. Born in 1932, he was discovered in 1947 by Sister Tharp. From that moment on, his life would be about performing music and it took him 8 years to secure a recording deal with Specialty Records, who signed him as their version of Ray Charles. Little Richard's first single release would be  Tutti Fruit, which was followed up by Long Tall Sally, which became his first number 1 on the R&B chart in 1956.  At the time when racial tensions were strong due to segregation laws in the USA, it is said that Little Richard's music brought race together and broke through the tensions.   Tutti Fruit & Long Tall Sally were the first two hit singles for Little Richards and in the space of 3 years he had secured 18 hit singles and was a millionaire. His music was being covered by stars like Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran and he was invited to guest star in popular films at the day.

The association between Little Richards and The Beatles came in the early 1960s when Brian Epstein approached him to see whether his band could be one of his supporting acts when he was touring Europe in 1962.  They opened for him in Brighton and Hamburg to name two of his venue. During the time the band spent with Little Richards, he taught them how to sing his songs. This would lead to the Beatles covering the song in 1964, for the Long Tall Sally EP.

When I listen to the track, it makes me want to dance and own a vintage 50s dress so I can dance a Teddy Boy all night long.  Listen to it now but promise me you'll listen to it full blast. If you are able to be with your dad today, have a dance with him!

Listen to Long Tall Sally Here:
Long tall song

Written by: Entrois Johnston, Robert Blackwell and Robert Penniman (Little Richards' real name)
Year released: 1956

Song 180 - The Pink Panther - Henry Mancini

A few weeks ago, we were sitting in our city centre flat in Edinburgh and we started to hear bagpipes from the pup below us. Not a usual sound to hear when you are in Scotland, but it then became more bizarre when I realised they when playing the Flintstone Theme on them. That's the power of music on everyday life; I haven't sat and watched the cartoon in years, but I remember the theme tune as if it was yesterday and the opening/closing credits.

This started me thinking about other theme tunes that become part of your musically DNA and one of my all time favourites cartoon theme tunes is The Pink Panther.  Written in 1963 for the film The Pink Panther, Henry Mancini created a timeless classic and sometimes I feel glad to have grown up at a time when they still had cartoons on television. Mancini's theme would go on to be nominated for an Oscar at the 1964 awards ceremony. Mancini is no stranger to this blog having co-written Moon River, which was song 117 in the jukebox and won an Oscar in 1962.

The theme itself was originally played in the key of E minor, noted for its quirky, unusual use of chromaticism which is derived from the Hungarian minor scale. This music makes you want to pick up an alto saxophone.  I think for me the music stays with you due to the cartoon character and the sublime creation of the animation to fit the music. The cartoon was developed as a spin-off of the opening credits of the films where the animated Pink Panther first appeared. The Pink Panther show first aired in 1969 and our non-speaking panther has been on and off our TV sets ever since. 

During my youth, I remember the theme being popular with the wind bands and brass bands as it was always a favourite at concerts.

To listen to this marvellous tune:
Pink Panther Tune 

And for those who want to remember how slick the Pink Panther was; here's the cartoon:
Pink Streaker


Written: Henry Mancini
Year: 1964

Song 179 - The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens

So June is going to be the month of songs that almost make up some of the soundtracks of my life as I come to terms with this new decade. One of my favourite songs which also reminds me of one of the biggest adventures I've had in my life, is The Lion sleeps tonight, Mbube or Wimoweh depending on which you would prefer.

The version which I remember first is the hit by The Tokens in 1961 which reached number one on the US chart and number 11 in the UK Chart.  But the song itself is far older than the hit I know. 

Written in the 1920s, by Solomon Linda, a South African Singer of Zulu origin,  Mbube (Lion in Zulu) was first recorded in 1939 and within a decade the song had sold over 100,000 copies throughout Africa & in parts of GB. Perhaps not the most mind blowing tune, but there is something in the rhythm and chatting that just makes you smiles and the words "In the jungle, the mighty  jungle the lion sleeps tonight." You can hear that harmonic yodel inside your head as soon as you say the line.


Nowadays, the song is widely linked to The Lion King and the loveable characters Timon and Pumbaa. However, the use of the track in the 1994 smash hit Disney film led to a battle over copyright for the song and the journalist Rian Malan helped to secure the royalties for use of the song were paid to Solomon's estate. Disney and others had thought the song was a traditional folk song. To date, the estate had earnt somewhere in the regional of $15million dollars. It goes to show you only need one success hit song.

In 1982, Tight Fit took the song to the UK number one spot and looking at the date, it is more likely that this is the version I knew as a kid.   But whether it is this version, The Tokens or the Ladysmith Black Mambazo's version; my body will sway, smile and try to sing along all at the same time. Another modern day cultural reference to the song is its use in the hit comedy Friends when Ross sings it to Marcel the Monkey when he returns to New York with the film crew.

Listen to a piece of sunshine yourself:
The Lion sleeps tonight.


Written: Solomon Linda, 1920s
English translation: Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss & Albert Santon