Dorothy LaBostrie
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Dorothy LaBostrie (May 28, 1928 – November 4, 2007), later Dorothy LaBostrie Black, was an American songwriter, best known for co-writing
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
's 1955 hit "
Tutti Frutti Tutti frutti (from Italian ''tutti i frutti'', "all fruits"; also hyphenated tutti-frutti) is a colorful confectionery containing various chopped and usually candied fruits, or an artificial or natural flavouring simulating the combined flavou ...
".


Early life and songwriting career

She was born in Rayland,
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
; some sources incorrectly claim a birth year of 1938 rather than 1928. Her parents were Amos and Orelia C. LaBostrie. She was raised in
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, and in 1951 moved to
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, to seek out her father's Creole relatives. She started working as a cook and waitress, wrote poems, and began frequenting the
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
clubs on
Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...
. In September 1955 — though details of the story vary — she was contacted by record producer
Bumps Blackwell A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and ‘bump’ the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. The form is mainly used in intercollegia ...
of
Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Pr ...
, who needed someone to rewrite and tone down the lyrics of a ribald song performed by Little Richard. LaBostrie went to
Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...
's studio, where Little Richard was recording, and reportedly rewrote the words of the song in 15 minutes. "Tutti Frutti" is regarded as one of the defining songs of
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
, and has been recorded by many later artists. She was credited as co-writer of the song, with Little Richard (Penniman), but later claimed that she had written it in its entirety. She later laughed at Little Richard's claim that he had written the song by himself and was cheated out of royalties for years, saying "Little Richard didn't write none of 'Tutti Frutti'." She was still receiving royalty checks for the song, at an average of $5,000 every three to six months, in the 1980s. Also in 1955, she contributed another song to Specialty, " Rich Woman", co-written and performed by McKinley "Li'l" Millet. Although not successful at the time, it was later recorded by
Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
among others, and most notably by
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...
and
Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
, whose recording of it won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She later worked as a songwriter for Joe Ruffino, owner of the local record labels Ric and Ron. She wrote the song "I Won't Cry" in 1958, and persuaded Ruffino to allow her neighbor,
Johnny Adams Laten John Adams Jr. (January 5, 1932 – September 14, 1998), was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto. His biggest ...
, to record it. The record, produced by teenager
Mac Rebennack Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...
(Dr. John), was a local hit and started Adams' successful career. She also wrote
Irma Thomas Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans". Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...
' first record, "(You Can Have My Husband But Please) Don't Mess With My Man", which reached the national R&B chart in 1960. Her working relationship with Ruffino later deteriorated over
royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...
payments. She signed a songwriting contract with Matassa's White Cliffs publishing company, reportedly writing hundreds of songs over the following years, but none had the commercial success of her earlier songs.


Later life and death

At some point, she married Clyde Black and had two daughters. In 1970, after being injured in a road accident, she moved to New York and broke her ties with the music business. In the 1980s, she was reported to be living a quiet life, receiving regular royalty payments from the continued popularity of "Tutti Frutti". Dorothy LaBostrie Black died while visiting friends in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
on 4 November 2007, aged 79.


References


External links


Transcript of interview
with Dorothy LaBostrie, 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Labostrie, Dorothy African-American songwriters American rock songwriters Songwriters from Kentucky 1928 births 2007 deaths American women songwriters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women musicians African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women