Creole Cutie is a song written for
barbershop quartet
A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...
, originally performed in 1950. It was co-written by Glenn Sudduth and Bill 'Bus' Busby (Sudduth wrote the chorus, Busby later wrote the verses). Its copyright is held by
SPEBSQSA (now the
Barbershop Harmony Society), as the authors donated the song.
History
Both Sudduth and Busby were members of an
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
group called the ''Miamians''. The group was having difficulty mastering
diction, especially during slow, melodic songs. According to Sudduth, he got so fed up with the director's chiding that he decided to write a song that would require near-perfect diction. One week later, Sudduth returned to the Miamians with the chorus of Creole Cutie. The Miamians adopted Sudduth's song as a warm-up exercise.
Busby later asked Sudduth if there were verses to the song he'd written. Sudduth allegedly said "There's no verses, but you're welcome to write them." Sudduth and Busby later donated the entire song to the
SPEBSQSA collection.
Performance
The song rose to fame thanks to a barbershop group called
The Confederates
The Confederates were a barbershop quartet that performed in the 1950s and 1960s.
The group formed in September 1953 at a SPEBSQSA chapter meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. They consisted of:
* George Evans – tenor
* Dave LaBonte – l ...
, in which Busby sang
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
. The group shot to fame and success, winning the 1956
International Quartet Championship in
Minneapolis, MN just three years after they formed. As Busby was a co-writer of Creole Cutie, the song became a regular feature in their set until they stopped performing in 1969.
Creole Cutie is most known as a challenging song that is well known but rarely performed. It is instead used as a
warm-up. Because of this usage, it remains one of the most widely known songs within the barbershop community.
Lyrics
The chorus is as follows:
Creole cutie won't you cuddle up closer
Down by the babbling brook on the bayou
Ding dong dolly with a dimple on her knee
The devil's her eye now don't be shy now
External links
The Confederates BiographyBarbershop Harmony Society
Barbershop music