| "Flip, Flop and Fly" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Big Joe Turner | ||||
| B-side | "Ti-Ri-Lee" | |||
| Released | February 1955 | |||
| Recorded | New York City, January 28, 1955 | |||
| Genre | Jump blues [ citation needed ] | |||
| Length | 2:49 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Big Joe Turner singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a song recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker", it was recorded by several early rock and roll performers. [1] In 1973, a version by the Downchild Blues Band reached the record singles chart in Canada.
"Flip, Flop and Fly" has an arrangement similar to Big Joe Turner's 1954 number 1 R&B chart hit "Shake, Rattle and Roll". [2] Music critic Cub Koda suggests that "leftover verses [from the 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' recording session] were then recycled into Turner's follow-up hit, 'Flip, Flop and Fly.'" [3] Both are up-tempo twelve-bar blues with a strong backbeat. "Flip, Flop and Fly" reached number 2 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart in 1955, less than one year after "Shake, Rattle and Roll". [4]
Accompanying Turner on vocals are the song's co-writer Jesse Stone on piano, Al Sears on tenor sax, Connie Kay on drums, and unidentified trumpet, alto sax, baritone sax, guitar, and bass players. Turner subsequently recorded several live versions of the song.
In 1973, a rendition by the Canadian Downchild Blues Band reached number 35 on the RPM 100 singles chart. [5] It was their only hit and is included on their second album Straight Up (1974), [6] In 1978, a rendition by the American The Blues Brothers from on the album Briefcase Full of Blues, [7] In 2000, a rendition by the American Ellis Hall from on the Soundtrack from 2000 animated comedy film Chicken Run, [8] and In 2017, a rendition by the American Huey Lewis and the News from on the album Collected. [9]
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954 for American Decca. It was a number one single for two months and did well on the United Kingdom charts; the recording also reentered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.
Muddy Waters (1913–1983) was an American blues artist who is considered a pioneer of the electric Chicago blues and a major influence on the development of blues and rock music. He popularized several early Delta blues songs, such as "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Walkin' Blues", and "Baby, Please Don't Go", and recorded songs that went on to become blues standards, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Mannish Boy", and "Got My Mojo Working". During his recording career from 1941 to 1981, he recorded primarily for two record companies, Aristocrat/Chess and Blue Sky; they issued 62 singles and 13 studio albums.
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fame was due to his rock and roll recordings in the 1950s, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", but his career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s.
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. His slide guitar technique earned him the nickname "King of the Slide Guitar".
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song written in 1954 by Jesse Stone and first recorded that year by Big Joe Turner, whose version ranked No. 127 on the Rolling Stone magazine list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Michael John "Cub" Koda was an American rock and roll musician, songwriter, and critic. Rolling Stone magazine considered him best known for writing the song "Smokin' in the Boys Room", recorded by his band Brownsville Station, which reached number 3 on the 1974 Billboard chart.
Samuel Leroy Taylor, Jr., known as Sam "The Man" Taylor, was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues tenor saxophonist.
Jesse Albert Stone was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres. He also used the pseudonyms Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun. His best-known composition as Calhoun was "Shake, Rattle and Roll".
Chuck Berry Is on Top is the third studio album by rock and roll artist Chuck Berry, released in July 1959 on Chess Records, catalogue LP 1435. With the exception of one track, "Blues for Hawaiians", all selections had been previously released on 45 rpm singles, several of which were double-sided and charted twice. In his review of the album for AllMusic, Cub Koda described it as "almost a mini-greatest-hits package in and of itself" and the most perfectly realized collection of Berry's career. In 2008, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissued the album with St. Louis to Liverpool on an Ultradisc II Gold compact disc. In 2012, Hoodoo reissued the album with One Dozen Berrys on the same CD.
Joseph Abraham Houston was an American tenor saxophonist who played jazz and rhythm and blues.
"Boom Boom" is a song written by American blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker and recorded October 26, 1961. Although it became a blues standard, music critic Charles Shaar Murray calls it "the greatest pop song he ever wrote". "Boom Boom" was both an American R&B and pop chart success in 1962 and a UK top-twenty hit in 1992.
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" in the early 1980s. The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by Downchild Blues Band.
Richard "Hock" Walsh was one of the first professional blues singers in Canada. He is particularly notable as the co-founder of the Downchild Blues Band and was the original singer of that band's best-known songs.
"Black Angel Blues", also known as "Sweet Black Angel" or "Sweet Little Angel", is a blues standard that has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists. The song was first recorded in 1930 by Lucille Bogan, one of the classic female blues singers. Bogan recorded it as a mid-tempo, twelve-bar blues, featuring her vocal with piano accompaniment.
"Bright Lights, Big City" is a classic blues song which was written and first recorded by American bluesman Jimmy Reed in 1961. Besides being "an integral part of the standard blues repertoire", "Bright Lights, Big City" has appealed to a variety of artists, including country and rock musicians, who have recorded their interpretations of the song.
The Bosses is a 1973 album by American blues shouter "Big Joe" Turner accompanied by a small group led by Count Basie, recorded in 1973 and released on the Pablo label.
Elmore James was an American blues slide guitarist and singer who recorded from 1951 until 1963. His most famous song, "Dust My Broom", an electrified adaptation of a Robert Johnson tune, was his first hit and features one of the most identifiable slide guitar figures in blues. James' composition "The Sky Is Crying" and his rendition of Tampa Red's "It Hurts Me Too" were among his most successful singles on the record charts. Other popular James songs, such as "I Can't Hold Out", ""Madison Blues", "Shake Your Moneymaker", "Bleeding Heart", and "One Way Out", have been recorded by several other artists, including Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, and the Allman Brothers Band.
The Return of Rock is the fourth album by Jerry Lee Lewis released on the Smash label in 1965.
"Lipstick, Powder and Paint" is a song by American blues shouter Big Joe Turner, released in July 1956 as a double A-side single with "Rock a While". It was included on the soundtrack to the 1956 film Shake, Rattle & Rock!. That year, "Lipstick, Powder and Paint" peaked at number 8 on the R&B Billboard chart, whilst the flip side "Rock a While" peaked at number 12.
"Space Guitar" is an instrumental composed and recorded by American rhythm and blues artist Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Released as a single in 1954, it was Watson's first recording to showcase his guitar playing. The backing arrangement for the piece is fairly typical for R&B and jump blues at the time. However, Watson's groundbreaking performance on the electric guitar sets it apart.
