Sweet Pea (song)

For the Amos Lee song, see Sweet Pea (Amos Lee song).

"Sweet Pea"
Single by Tommy Roe
from the album Sweet Pea
B-side	"Much More Love"
Released	1966
Genre	Bubblegum pop [1]
Length	2:19
Label	ABC Records 10762
Songwriter	Tommy Roe
Producer	Gary S. Paxton
Tommy Roe singles chronology
"Doesn't Anybody Know My Name (Two-Ten, Six-Eighteen)" (1965) "Sweet Pea" (1966) "Hooray for Hazel" (1966)

"Sweet Pea" is a bubblegum pop song written and performed by Tommy Roe. It was produced by Gary S. Paxton ^[2] and featured on his 1966 album, Sweet Pea. ^[3] In the lyrics, the singer spots a girl at a dance whom her friends call "Sweet Pea." There's no explanation of how she got this nickname. After dancing with her, he suggests they go for a walk where he tells her he loves her and wants her to be his girl. ^[4]

The song contains a drum break at the start of the recording.

Chart performance

The song reached number 1 in Canada, ^[5] number 1 in New Zealand, number 7 in Australia, ^[6] and number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. ^[7] It ranked number 44 on Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1966. ^[8]

Other versions

• The Ventures included an instrumental version on their 1966 album, Wild Things! ^[9]
• Roger Williams made it the B-side to his single "Love Me Forever" in April 1967. ^[10]
• Friar Tuck recorded it as the B-side to his single "Alley-Oop" in May 1967. ^[11]
• Manfred Mann released it as a single in May 1967 that reached number 36 in the United Kingdom. ^[12]
• Donald Lautrec put out a single in 1967. ^[13]
• Gang Starr sampled Roe's version on their 1989 song "Movin' On" from the album No More Mr. Nice Guy .
• Big Audio Dynamite's song "Rush" samples the drum break from Roe's "Sweet Pea".
• The 2007 re-release of Cub's 1993 album Betti-Cola featured a cover of the song.

In media

• Samantha Mathis performs a frenetic dance to the tune in the 1999 film Jesus' Son . ^[14]
• The song is also played in the background in two episodes of the Hulu drama mini series, The Girl from Plainville (2022).

References

1. Sendra, Tim. Curt Boettcher - Looking for the Sun (2019) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
2. Tommy Roe, "Sweet Pea" single release Retrieved July 16, 2014
3. Tommy Roe, Sweet Pea Retrieved July 16, 2014.
4. YouTube.com "Sweet Pea by Tommy Roe" Retrieved Feb. 5, 2024
5. Tommy Roe, "Sweet Pea" Canadian Chart Position Retrieved July 16, 2014.
6. Steffen Hung. "Forum - Chart Positions Pre 1989 Part 4 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
7. Tommy Roe, "Sweet Pea" Billboard Chart Position Retrieved July 16, 2014.
8. "Billboard Top 100 - 1966". Archived from the original on June 18, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
9. The Ventures, Wild Things! Discogs.com, Retrieved May 29, 2015
10. Roger Williams, "Sweet Pea" single release, 45cat.com, Retrieved July 16, 2014
11. Friar Tuck, "Sweet Pea" single release, 45cat.com, Retrieved July 16, 2014.
12. Manfred Mann, "Sweet Pea" Chart Position Musicvf.com, Retrieved July 16, 2014.
13. Donald Lautrec, "Sweet Pea" single release Retrieved July 16, 2014.
14. Jesus' Son "Sweet Pea" clip Retrieved May 15, 2015.