Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1959


Little Queenie

Buy Little Queenie 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




"'Little Queenie'" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry. Released in March 1959 as a double A-side single with "Almost Grown", it was included on 'Chuck Berry Is on Top' (1959), Berry's first compilation album. He performed the song in the movies 'Go, Johnny Go!' (1959) and 'Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll' (1987). It has been covered by many artists, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and REO Speedwagon. One year earlier, Berry had released "Run Rudolph Run", a Christmas song with the same melody.

The song was recorded on November 19, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois. Backing Berry on vocals and guitar were either Johnnie Johnson or Lafayette Leake on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and Fred Below on drums. The song peaked at number 80 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart.

In a song review for AllMusic, Matthew Greenwald calls it an "incredible rock & roll anthem" and "one of the greatest dance/sex ritualistic classics."

It is included several of Berry's compilation albums, including 'The Great Twenty-Eight' and 'Chuck Berry's Golden Decade'.

Other versions



According to Mark Lewisohn in 'The Complete Beatles Chronicles', the Beatles performed "Little Queenie" live from at least 1960 until 1963 in Liverpool, Hamburg and elsewhere with Paul McCartney on lead vocal.

An audience recording from December 1962 is included on 'Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962'. Author Doug Sulpy in 'Drugs, Divorce and Slipping Image' notes during the lengthy sessions for the album 'Get Back', John Lennon sang the lead vocal on a fairly brief version of it.Sulpy, Doug & Schweighhardt, Ray, 'Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image: The Complete, Unauthorized Story of the Beatles Get Back Sessions' (The 910 Publishing, 2007) sec. 22.26

The Rolling Stones frequently performed the song live; a version recorded in November 1969 at Madison Square Garden is on the album 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert'. It is also on the Stones bootleg 'Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'. Several other artists have recorded the song.

Their version reached number 11 on the 'Tio i Topp' chart in Sweden.

English glam-rock band T-Rex's Marc Bolan, discussing their hit "Bang a Gong (Get It On)", "claimed to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and said that the riff is taken from the Berry tune. In fact, a slightly edited line ("And meanwhile, I'm still thinking") from "Little Queenie" is said at the fade of "Get It On".

The first line of the chorus can be heard at the beginning of the fade out to the 1974 Queen hit Now I'm Here.

A version by the Easybeats, recorded circa 1965, was released on 'The Shame Just Drained' in 1977.

References



Category:Chuck Berry songs

Category:1959 singles

Category:Chess Records singles

Category:Songs written by Chuck Berry

Category:The Easybeats songs

Category:1959 songs


Buy Little Queenie now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1959



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1098181792.