Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1961


Ya Ya

Buy Ya Ya now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




"'Ya Ya'" is a song by Lee Dorsey. The song was written by Dorsey, C. L. Blast, Bobby Robinson, and Morris Levy. Levy's participation in the writing has been called into question; the Flashback release of the single lists only Dorsey and Blast as writers, as do the liner notes to the 'American Graffiti' soundtrack.

Background



The song was inspired by a children's nursery rhyme, and includes session guitar player Jimmy Spruill on it.Spruill, Jimmy, Scratchin the Wild Jimmy Spruill Story, Great Voices of the Century (GVC) Recordings, Surrey, UK, 2014, liner notes

Chart performance



The song reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B singles chart in 1961.

Cover versions



Beatles connection

According to author Mark Lewisohn in 'The Complete Beatles Chronicles' (p. 365), the Beatles regularly performed "Ya Ya", live from 1961 to 1962 in Hamburg, Liverpool and elsewhere. John Lennon was always the lead vocalist on this number but no recorded version is known to exist.

However, Tony Sheridan, the Beatles' close associate, recorded a live version of the song for Polydor Records which was released in October 1962 on the A-side of a German extended play. This 45RPM is credited to Tony Sheridan & "The Beat Brothers" who are often wrongly believed to be the Beatles. But the fledgling British group had no involvement in recording this track although "Sweet Georgia Brown", included on this disc, is indeed recorded by them.

Track listing for 'Ya Ya' by Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers



'7" EP Polydor 21 485' (1962, Germany.)

: A1. / A2. "Ya Ya Part 1 & 2"

: B1. "Sweet Georgia Brown"

: B2. "Skinny Minny" (sic)

In 1964, "Ya Ya" (Part 1) was included as filler on the German compilation album "The Beatles' First!" and the complete recording can be heard on 'The Early Tapes of the Beatles', the 1984 CD reissue of this album.

In 1974, John Lennon included a snippet of the song on the album 'Walls and Bridges' with himself on vocals and piano, credited as "Dad", and his 11 year old son Julian on the snare drum. Lennon covered the song fully on his 1975 album 'Rock 'n' Roll'.

Other covers



*In 1966, Tommy James and the Shondells released a version as the B-side to their song "It's Only Love"

*Mouse and the Traps recorded "Ya Ya" as the B-side of their 1967 single "Cryin' Inside".

*The Hombres included a cover on their only album 'Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)', in 1968.

*Trio recorded and released it on their 1981 eponymous first album and their live album 'Live im Frhjahr 82'.

*Lee Michaels covered the song on his 1971 album '5th'.

*Ike & Tina Turner covered the song in the early 1970s but their version was not released until 2004 on the album 'His Woman, Her Man: The Ike Turner Diaries'.

*Steve Miller covered the song on his 1988 album 'Born 2 B Blue'.

Johnny Hallyday (French version)



French singer Johnny Hallyday covered the song in French. His version, titled "'Ya ya twist'", reached No. 1 in Wallonia (the French speaking part of Belgium) in 1962.

Track listing



'7" EP Philips 432.739 BE' (1962, France etc.)

: A1. "Retiens la nuit" (2:54)

: A2. "Sam'di soir" (3:00)

: B1. "Ya ya twist" (2:27)

: B2. "La faute au twist" (1:50)

Charts



Other French language covers

* Petula Clark recorded the song (released in February 1962, #1) almost simultaneously to Hallyday's version.

* Malika et les Golden Stars released it on a Philips record in January 1963.

* Sylvie Vartan recorded a cover for her album 'Nouvelle Vague' in 2007

* In 1964, Joel Denis covered the song in Qubec as "Yaya", which was rerecorded in 1994 by Mitsou.

Covers in other languages



*In 1962, Dalida covered the song in German under the title "Ya Ya Twist".

*In 1980 a Norwegian retrorock band Vazelina Bilopphggers released the song as "Gi Meg Fri i Kveld".

*Toni Montano covered it on his first album "Tonny Montano" as "Svi se sada njiu i ubrzano diu" in 1985

*Goran Bregovi covered the song as "Ringe ringe raja" in his soundtrack for the 1995 film 'Underground'.

Notes



References



Category:1961 songs

Category:1961 singles

Category:1962 singles

Category:Songs written by Morris Levy

Category:Johnny Hallyday songs

Category:Trini Lopez songs

Category:Petula Clark songs

Category:Tommy James and the Shondells songs

Category:Lee Michaels songs

Category:John Lennon songs

Category:Lee Dorsey songs

Category:Ike & Tina Turner songs

Category:American rhythm and blues songs

Category:Philips Records singles

Category:Fury Records singles

Category:Polydor Records EPs

Buy Ya Ya now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1961



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1106627695.