Roly Poly (song)

Last updated
"Roly Poly"
Single by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
B-side "New Spanish Two Step"
PublishedApril 11, 1946 (1946-04-11) Milene Music [1]
ReleasedApril 1946
RecordedJanuary 26, 1945 [2]
Studio CBS Studio at Radio Station KNX, Hollywood, California
Genre Western swing
Label Columbia 36966
Songwriter(s) Fred Rose
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys singles chronology
"White Cross on Okinawa"
(1945)
"Roly Poly"
(1946)
"Stay A Little Longer"
(1946)

"Roly Poly" is a humorous Western swing standard written by Fred Rose in 1946. In the song, Roly Poly is a very active boy who eats continuously to keep his strength up. Each verse ends with:

Roly Poly, daddy's little fatty,
Bet he's gonna be a man someday.

"Roly Poly" was first recorded by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys in 1946, staying on the charts for 18 weeks and reaching number three. [3] It has been recorded by many Western swing bands since. Notable renditions have been recorded by fellow Texans, country crooners Jim Reeves and Ray Price. Asleep at the Wheel featuring The Chicks covered the song in 2000. The version was not a single, but charted as an album cut peaking at number 65. The Little Willies covered the song on their 2006 self-titled album.

Chuck Berry's "Roly Poly" is a different song, as is the 1952 Ray Charles/Rufus Beacham Orchestra instrumental "Roly Poly" [4] (which may not even be Ray Charles). [5]

Citations

  1. "U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog 1946-1954". vcc.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. 78 Record: Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys - New Spanish Two Step (1946) , retrieved 2021-07-20
  3. Whitburn (2006), p. 392.
  4. "Roly Poly | Sittin In With". www.sittininwith.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13.
  5. ""Roly Poly" - Ray Charles? Song review". 4 May 2016.

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