Lawdy Miss Clawdy

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Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Lloyd Price

"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price.^[1] It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March of 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the chart for six months. An 8-bar blues with a rolicking piano backup, with the words written by Price, but the melody adapted from the older Junker Blues (Champion Jack Dupree, 1941), it became the biggest rhythm and blues hit of the year and sold over one million copies by crossing over to the white record-buying market. It was the first hit from New Orleans to be accepted into rock and roll.^[2]

1 History
2 Song
3 Cover versions
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

Art Rupe, founder of Specialty Records in Los Angeles was looking for new talent in New Orleans where Price turned up at an audition. Rupe liked "Lawdy Miss Claudy" so much that he is said to have canceled his plane ticket home to stay and record Price's song.^[3] Since Price did not have a band, Rupe hired the band of Dave Bartholomew which included Fats Domino to arrange the song and back him up in the recording session.^[2]

[edit] Song

The recording begins with some characteristic Domino rollicking piano triplets as the drummer sets down a heavy New Orleans backbeat. Price's vocals are gritty yet relaxed as he begins:^[2]

Oh now lawdy lawdy lawdy, Miss Clawdy,

girl you sho' looks good to me

[edit] Cover versions

In 1956 the song was covered by Elvis Presley and stayed on the charts for ten weeks.^[2]. Several other versions of the Junker Blues melody surface as Stack-A-Lee [version by Archibald, 1949], The Fat Man [Fats Domino, 1952], Caldonia's Party [Smiley Lewis, 1954] and Tee na na [Dicky Williams, 1957] and Tipitina [various versions by Professor Longhair]. There may be others as the melody was quite adaptable to various lyrics.

The following list contains some of the many cover versions of this song.^[4]

Little Richard (1956)
The Teen Kings (1956)
The Four Lovers (1956)
Larry Williams (1957)
Johnny Rivers (1964)
The Swinging Blue Jeans (1964)
The Hollies (1965)
Joe Cocker (1960)
Fats Domino (1971)
Ronnie Hawkins (1972)
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (1973)
Conway Twitty (1974)
Mickey Gilley (1976)
Ronnie McDowell (1978)
Paul McCartney (1988)
Travis Tritt (1994)
Steve Young (2000)

[edit] Notes

^ Shaw, Arnold (1978). Honkers and Shouters. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, p. 188-189. ISBN 0-02-061740-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jim Dawson, & Steve Propes (1992). What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record. Boston & London: Faber & Faber, p. 108-111. ISBN 0-571-12939-0.
^ Specialty Album Discography. Retrieved on November 25, 2006.
^ Lawdy Miss Clawdy by Lloyd Price. Retrieved on November 3, 2006.