"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by New Orleans singer/songwriter Lloyd Price that "grandly introduced '' The New Orleans Sound''". It was first recorded by Price in 1952 with

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 ...

and

Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...

during his first session for

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 ...

and Specialty Records. The song became one of the biggest selling R&B records of 1952 and crossed over to other audiences. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" inspired many songs and has been recorded by a variety of artists.

Background

While still in high school, Lloyd Price was working for New Orleans radio station WBOK. He provided

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

(music for radio advertisements) for various products, including those hawked by

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

James "Okey Dokey" Smith. One of Smith's catch phrases was "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", which he used in ad slogans such as "Lawdy Miss Clawdy, eat Mother's Homemade Pies and drink Maxwell House coffee!" Price's accompanying tune proved popular with the radio audience and he developed it into a full-length song. In 1952,

, founder of Specialty Records in Los Angeles, came to New Orleans in search of new talent. Local recording studio owner

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.Komorows ...

introduced him to Dave Bartholomew, who co-wrote and produced many of Fats Domino's early hit records. Bartholomew invited nineteen-year-old Lloyd Price to audition for Rupe at Matassa's J&M Studio. The accounts differ on what happened next. According to Rupe, Price spent too much time rehearsing and Rupe threatened to leave if he did not get it together; Rupe then relented and Price turned out an emotional performance of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", prompting Rupe to cancel his return flight and arrange for a recording session. Price remembered that he auditioned the song for Rupe and although he apparently liked it, he left for New York without arranging to record it; however, two months later Price recalled receiving a call "Art Rupe's back in town and he wants to record you".

Recording and composition

"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was recorded March 13, 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans. Producer Dave Bartholomew used his backing band for the session, which consisted of pianist Salvador Doucette, guitarist Ernest McLean, bassist Frank Fields, drummer Earl Palmer, and saxophonists

Herbert Hardesty Herbert Hardesty (March 3, 1925 – December 3, 2016) was an American musician who played tenor saxophone and trumpet. He is best known for his association with the New Orleans pianist Fats Domino and the producer Dave Bartholomew, beginning in 19 ...

(tenor) and Joe Harris (alto). The first attempts at performing the song were not successful, reportedly because Bartholomew was dissatisfied with Doucette's piano part. When Fats Domino arrived at the studio, he was persuaded by Bartholomew to sit in on the recording. After one run through, Bartholomew announced "OK, that's it" and Matassa started the tape recorder. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" opens with Fats Domino's "rolling trills ... in a cascading, horn-like procession". Although Domino had recorded several songs using his trade-mark piano

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such ...

style, Price's hit provided it with its greatest exposure up to that time. Domino repeats his intro for the piano solo. Another key element of the song is Earl Palmer's drumming, described as "loping, midtempo shuffle beats with their busy ride cymbal". This is anchored by Palmer's emphasis on the snare of the second and fourth beats of each bar, which led him to be referred to as "the father of the

backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...

". In characteristic New Orleans-style, the rest of the backing instrumentation also contributes to the song's rhythmic drive by "providing different elements of rhythm, in several different patterns ... This complex, layered beat might also be compared to African polyrhythms". "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" follows an eight-bar blues progression and has been notated in 12/8 time in the key of A. The song's melody is derived from Fats Domino's 1950 hit " The Fat Man", which he explained "came from an ol' blues tune called " Junkers Blues". Price's song also features most of the same backing musicians as Domino's song. Price's vocals have been described as "heartbroken wails", "expressive, wailing", and "gritty". His lyrics deal with teenage angst over a relationship. A previous take of the song opens: On the take that was released, Price confusingly uses a line from a later verse, "girl you sho' look good to me", but it stuck.

Releases and charts

Specialty Records released "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in April 1952 and on May 17, 1952, it entered ''Billboard's'' R&B chart, staying there a total of 26 weeks. The song reached number one, where it spent seven weeks. According to Art Rupe, the single sold nearly one million copies and record distributors reported that it was selling well outside of the usual R&B market, but it did not appear in ''Billboard's'' pop charts. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was also one of the top records for 1952 and the 1950s decade.

Recognition and influence

"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" became "R&B Record of the Year" for 1952 in both ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox'' magazines; it also earned Price ''Cashboxs "Best New R&B Singer of 1952" designation. In 1995, it was added to the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

's list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Authors Dawson and Propes discussed "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" among the first rock and roll songs. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" "set the pattern for the rock and roll years in New Orleans" and its success led many to try to emulate it; one author suggests "for a time, every new R&B song coming out of New Orleans sounded suspiciously like "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". In 1953, singer Tommy Ridgley, a friend of Price's who nearly recorded "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" first, recorded a follow-up tune "Oh, Lawdy, My Baby". In 1958, Larry Williams, who had been Lloyd Price's valet, reworked the song to become "

Dizzy Miss Lizzy "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy" is a rock and roll song written and recorded by Larry Williams in 1958. Although identified as a "genuine rock & roll classic", it had limited success on the record charts. Seven years later, the Beatles recorded the song, an ...

". Price's song has also been identified as "one of the first rhythm and blues records to attract the attention of white Southern teenagers, among them

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, who cut his own version four years later" and "becom nga repertoire staple of local country bands". A variety of artists have recorded "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The song is included as a full-length performance by Price and

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

in the 2005 documentary film '' Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

and

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 m ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 1952 songs Lloyd Price songs Songs written by Lloyd Price Elvis Presley songs Eric Burdon songs Joe Cocker songs Little Richard songs Mickey Gilley songs Gene Summers songs Specialty Records singles Screamin' Jay Hawkins songs 1952 singles