"Short Fat Fannie" (alternatively "Short Fat Fanny"
) is
Larry Williams
Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...
' second
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
release after "High School Dance". Williams' original
penned track peaked at number five on the U.S.
pop chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
, and at number one on the
R&B chart. It sold over one million
records
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
, Williams' first million seller.
Recording
The track was recorded on April 26, 1957. The musicians included:
*
Robert "Bumps" Blackwell
Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell (May 23, 1918 – March 9, 1985) was an American bandleader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of Little Richard, as well as grooming Ray Charles ...
, leader
* Jesse James Jones, tenor sax
* Leon M. Silby, piano
*
René Hall
René Joseph Hall (September 26, 1912 ‒ February 11, 1988) was an American guitarist and arranger. He was among the most important behind the scenes figures in early rock and roll, but his career spanned the period from the late 1920s to the ...
, guitar
* Ted Brinson, 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
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
was rehearsed by
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 ...
during the filming of the
documentary, ''
Let It Be
Let It Be most commonly refers to:
* ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970
* "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album
It may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...
'' in 1969. The song was recorded on the
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
and is featured on many
bootleg recordings
A bootleg recording is an sound recording, audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be ...
.
"Short Fat Fannie" was an early example of a novelty genre including pop song titles. This formula was later used for Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash" and Bob Kayli's "Everyone Was There", as well as both of
Billy and Lillie Billy & Lillie were an American pop vocal duo, composed of Billy Ford (William T. Ford, March 9, 1919 or 1925 – March 1983) and Lillie Bryant (born February 14, 1940, Newburgh, New York). Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7 ...
's hits, "
La Dee Dah
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
" and "
Lucky Ladybug
Lucky may refer to:
*An adjective of luck
Lucky may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty
* ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Av ...
".
The song was also
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
,
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 ...
,
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 " ...
,
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
The Teenagers are an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead ...
,
Curtis Johnson,
Ronnie Self
Ronnie Self (July 5, 1938 – August 28, 1981) was an American rockabilly singer and songwriter. His solo career was unsuccessful, despite being signed to contracts with Columbia and then Decca from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. His ...
,
The Dovells
The Dovells were an American doo-wop group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The original members were Arnie Silver, Len Borisoff, Jerry Gross (alias Summers), Mike Freda, a ...
and
Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...
. Frankie Avalon also recorded the song.
The track was also a favorite of
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...
, drummer of
The Band. He would sing the song often while touring as the Hawks, and even played a version of it on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' in 1993.
Charts
* Billboard R&B: No. 1
* Billboard Hot 100: No. 5
* Billboard Hot 100 -
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 ...
: No. 45
*
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
: No. 21
References
1957 singles
Larry Williams songs
Songs written by Larry Williams
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