The song "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey", also known as "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Goin' Back to Birmingham)", was written by

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 " ...

and recorded on May 9, 1956 at J&M Studio,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana, (supervised by

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 intercollegiat ...

Recording and releases

In 1955, Little Richard recorded two different versions of "

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

" by

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

: one on September 13 (supervised by

), and one on November 29 (with five vocalists, supervised by

Art Rupe Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music reco ...

). The first version, which adheres closely to the original 1952 recording by

Little Willie Littlefield Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...

for the first two verses, was not released until November 1970, on the compilation album ''Well Alright!'' The second version, which had been substantially re-worked by Little Richard (in particular, it featured a new refrain starting with words, "Hey, hey, hey, hey; Hey baby, hey child, hey now") was released in March 1959 on ''

The Fabulous Little Richard ''The Fabulous Little Richard'' was the third album from Little Richard, and the end of his rock and roll period. Released seventeen months after he had left the Specialty Records label, Richard had returned to religion and turned his back on the ...

'' and in April 1959 as single after the success of the

Wilbert Harrison Wilbert Huntington Harrison (January 5, 1929 – October 26, 1994) was an American rhythm and blues singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player. Biography Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Harrison had a Billboard #1 record in 1959 with ...

hit. "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was recorded six months after the second version of "Kansas City", incorporating the same refrain. However, as "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was released in 1958with the writing credited solely to Richard Wayne Penniman (Little Richard)the public perceived it as an earlier recording than "Kansas City". In January 1958,

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 P ...

released the song as B-side of "

Good Golly, Miss Molly "Good Golly, Miss Molly" is a hit rock 'n' roll song first recorded in 1956 by the American musician Little Richard and released in January 1958 as Specialty single 624 and next in July 1958 on ''Little Richard''. The song, a jump blues, was wri ...

" and, in July 1958, on the compilation ''

''.

Personnel

– vocal, piano *

Lee Allen Lee Allen may refer to: *Lee Allen (wrestler) (1934–2012), wrestler and coach * Lee Allen (baseball) (1915–1969), baseball historian *Lee Allen (musician) (1927–1994), saxophone player *Lee Allen (artist) Lee Allen (1910 – May 5, 2006), bor ...

– leader, tenor saxophone *

Alvin "Red" Tyler Alvin Owen "Red" Tyler (December 5, 1925 – April 3, 1998) was an American R&B and neo-bop jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger, regarded as "one of the most important figures in New Orleans R&B". Biography Born and raised in New Orleans, Ty ...

– baritone saxophone *

Edgar Blanchard Edgar Vernon Blanchard (August 17, 1924 – September 16, 1972) was an American R&B guitarist, bandleader and arrangement, arranger who was prominent in the musical life of New Orleans between the 1940s and 1960s. He was born in Grosse Tête, L ...

– guitar *

Ernest McLean Ernest J. McLean (March 23, 1925 – February 24, 2012) was an American rhythm and blues and jazz guitarist. Career Born in New Orleans, McLean was the son of musician Richard McLean, who played banjo in a government music project band, a ...

– guitar *

Frank Fields Frank Nomer Fields (May 2, 1914 – September 18, 2005) was an American double bass player who was involved in many R&B, rock and roll and jazz recordings made in New Orleans. He was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana. In the 1930s, he played wi ...

– bass *

Earl Palmer Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of al ...

– drums

Cover versions

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

performed the song as early as September 5, 1962, at the

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...

in Liverpool, and in December of that year at the

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

in Hamburg. In 1964, the group released the albums ''

Beatles for Sale ''Beatles for Sale'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised ...

'' (UK) and ''

Beatles VI ''Beatles VI'' is the seventh Capitol Records studio album by the English rock band the Beatles in the United States and Canada (including ''The Beatles' Story''). It was the ninth album released into that market in less than one and a half ye ...

'' (US) featuring an arrangement of "Kansas City" based on the issued Little Richard version. "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was recorded by

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

during the recording session that produced his cover of

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

's " Blue Monday" for the 1989 '' Road House''

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

. Seger's take remained unreleased until 2011, when it was released as the lead single on the retrospective album '' Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets''.

References

{{authority control Songs about cities Songs about Alabama 1958 songs Songs written by Little Richard 1958 singles Little Richard songs The Beatles songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Song recordings produced by Robert Blackwell