"Raunchy" is an instrumental by American
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 ...
artist
Bill Justis
William Everett Justis Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 16, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and arrangement, musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy (instrumental), Raunchy". As a ...
, co-written with Sidney Manker and produced by
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
. The tune, from the album ''Cloud 9'', was released as a single on the record label
Phillips International Records, a sub-label of
Sun Records
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...
, on September 23, 1957.
History
"Raunchy" is one of the first rock songs to use the "twangy" lead guitar effect, which was later developed by others and became common for several years following its first appearance.
In 1958, a then fourteen-year-old
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
performed it for
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
on the top deck of a bus in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, and was so note-perfect that Lennon decided, despite earlier reservations about Harrison's age, to let him into his band
the Quarrymen
The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...
, which later became
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 ...
.
Other versions
Justis recorded another rendition of the tune in 1962, in stereo and with considerably different guitar, for his album ''Bill Justis Plays 12 More Big Instrumental Hits''. He recorded it once more in 1969, for his album ''Raunchy & Other Great Instrumentals''.
Competing with Justis's release in 1957 were renditions by
Billy Vaughn
Richard Smith "Billy" Vaughn (April 12, 1919 – September 26, 1991) was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records.
Biography
Vaughn was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, United States, where his father, ...
and
Ernie Freeman
Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Birth and fam ...
. Freeman's version was his biggest solo success, reaching No. 4 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
in 1957, No. 1 on the
R&B singles chart, and No. 11 on the
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
singles chart in 1958.
Justis' version charted in the UK in 1958 at No. 11, beating an interpretation by
Ken Mackintosh
Kenneth Victor Mackintosh (4 August 1919 – 22 November 2005) was an English saxophonist, composer and bandleader. He accompanied singers such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro.
Early life
Mackintosh was born in Liversedge, Y ...
which charted at No. 23.
Soon after the hit, guitarist
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...
and producer
Lee Hazlewood
Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...
took it upon themselves to develop that style to an ultimate degree. They greatly enhanced the
reverberation
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
in their recordings, creating a far-from-light lead guitar sound. Eddy started with the big hit "
Rebel Rouser
"Rebel-'Rouser" is a rock and roll instrumental song written by Duane Eddy and Lee Hazlewood and originally released on Jamie Records in 1958 by "Duane Eddy and his 'twangy' guitar" as a single (Jamie 1104) with "Stalkin'" on its B-side. Both ...
" in 1958; he later made a recording of "Raunchy" for the
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
album ''Twangin' the Golden Hits'' in 1965.
The Jimmy Bowen Orchestra and Chorus released a version as the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
to their 1967 single "
It's Such a Pretty World Today
"It's Such a Pretty World Today" is a popular song released in 1967, written by songwriter Dale Noe.
Wynn Stewart version
The song was originally a country music single by singer Wynn Stewart. Although Stewart had previously hit the Top 40 on the ...
".
"Raunchy" has been recorded by many artists, including
the Ventures
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...
,
Bill Black
William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo.
Ear ...
,
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
,
Al Caiola
Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...
,
Ace Cannon
John Henry "Ace" Cannon (May 5, 1934 – December 6, 2018) was an American tenor and alto saxophonist. He played and toured with Hi Records stablemate Bill Black's Combo, and started a solo career with his record "Tuff" in 1961, using the Black ...
,
Billy Strange
William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and M ...
, the Bill Smith Combo (also known as
Tommy & the Tom Toms
Tommy & The Tom Toms (later known as The Bill Smith Combo) was an American musical group from 1959 to 1962 playing rock and roll, rhythm & blues, and rockabilly.
History
The group first started with two guitars and drums, Eddie Wayne Hill on l ...
),
Santo & Johnny
Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941).
They are known best for their instrum ...
,
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
, and
the Incredible Bongo Band
The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, was a project started in 1972 by Michael Viner, a record artist manager and executive at MGM Records. Viner was called on to supplement the soundtrack to the B-film ' ...
.
Years later, while working on the ''
Beatles Anthology
''The Beatles Anthology'' is a multimedia retrospective project consisting of a television documentary, a three-volume set of double albums, and a book describing the history of the Beatles. Beatles members Paul McCartney, George Harrison and R ...
'' project in 1994, the three surviving Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
) played the tune during a jam session, it having been the song that landed George a spot in the early version of the group.
Chart positions
Bill Justis
Ernie Freeman
See also
*
List of Cash Box Best Sellers number-one singles of 1957
These are the songs that reached number one on the Top 50 Best Sellers chart (expanded to 60 on April 13, 1957) in 1957 as published by ''Cash Box'' magazine.
See also
* 1957 in music
* List of number-one singles of 1957 (U.S.)
References
...
*
List of CHUM number-one singles of 1957
The following is a list of the CHUM Chart number-one singles of 1957.
See also
* 1957 in music
References
{{Canadian Singles
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Comm ...
*
List of ''Billboard'' number-one rhythm and blues hits
References
{{Reflist
1950s instrumentals
1957 singles
Bill Justis songs
Ernie Freeman songs
Jimmy Bowen songs
Songs written by Bill Justis
1957 songs