“Tutti Frutti” (means “All Fruits” in Italian) is a song co-written by Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), which was recorded in 1955 and became his first major hit record. With its opening cry of “A-wop-bom-a-loo-mop-a-lomp-bom-bom!” (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined) 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.
Category: 50’s
Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock
“Jailhouse Rock” is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley’s motion picture, Jailhouse Rock. The song as recorded by Elvis Presley is #67 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The Isley Brothers – Shout
“Shout” is an influential popular song, originally recorded by The Isley Brothers. Released in 1959, it was written by the brothers themselves as a call-and-response answer to Jackie Wilson’s seminal “Lonely Teardrops” which they interpreted after performing that song during a club date.
Los Lobos – La Bamba
“La Bamba” is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll’s best-known songs. Valens’ version of “La Bamba” is ranked number 354 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the only song on the list sung in a language other than English.