"Straight Skirt" (later "Straight Skirts") is a song written by Mary Tarver in 1958 and published by Song Productions, BMI the same year. It was originally recorded by

Gene Summers David Eugene Summers (January 3, 1939 – February 17, 2021) was an American rockabilly singer, songwriter and guitarist. His most famous recordings include the late 50s "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", " Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That ...

and his Rebels, a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and was first released in February 1958 by Jan Records #11-100. On March 8, 1958, ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' picked it as their 'Sleeper of the Week'. In ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' 's 'Reviews of Pop Records' they wrote: "The artist is backed by a chorus and cheerful

support on this

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 ...

. The kids might take to this". "Straight Skirt" was flipped with "

School Of Rock 'n Roll "School of Rock 'n Roll" is a song composed by James McClung in 1958 and published by Song Productions, BMI the same year. It was originally recorded by American rockabilly singer Gene Summers and his Rebels, and was first released in Februar ...

", an upbeat rockabilly song written by James McClung who was a high school friend of Summers. McClung was also the original guitarist for The Rebels and would continue to work with Summers well into the mid-1960s. In the 1970s, at the beginning of the

revival in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, "

" and "Straight Skirt" were re-discovered by a new legion of rockabilly fans and bands. Since that time they have become classic dance floor-fillers and have renewed Gene's career to the extent of worldwide concert appearances from 1980 to the present.

Cover versions

Johnny Devlin John Lockett Devlin (born 11 May 1938) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and rock musician, who has been compared to Elvis Presley. His cover of Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1958 went to number one in the New Zealand charts with s ...

& His Devils - 7” 45rpm single “Straight Skirt”/”Slipping Around” Prestige Records #PSP 0066, New Zealand September 1958 *7” 45rpm EP

“How Would Ya Be”, “Slipping Around”, “Straight Skirt”, “I’m Grateful”. Prestige Records PEP 2017, New Zealand October 1958 *Sheet Music

“Straight Skirt” Southern Music Publishing Company, New Zealand 1958 *7” 45rpm EP

“Rock To Johnny Devlin” “ Slipping Around,” “ Straight Skirt,” “ I’m Grateful,” “ How Would ‘Ya Be” Bell Records BE-198, Australia 1959 *LP

“24 Golden Greats” Music World Records MALPS-536, New Zealand 1972 *CD

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” Festival Records CD 26255, Australia 1998 *CD

“Lawdy Miss Clawdy-Prestige Years 1958-1959” Festival Records CD D26481, Australia 2000 *CD Various Artists “The Very Best Of Kiwi Rock & Roll” EMI Records 5784512, New Zealand 2004 (Johnny Devlin “Straight Skirt” track #2.) *

The Diamonds The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...

- 7” 45rpm single “Straight Skirt”/ “Patsy” Mercury Records # , United States 1958 * 7" 45rpm single The Diamonds “Straight Skirts”/”Patsy” Mercury PYE 7MT.208,

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

1958 *7” 45rpm EP The Diamonds “Straight Skirts”/”Patsy” plus The Platters “Winner Take All”/”My Dream” Mercury Records MG 10114, Spain 1959 *LP The Diamonds“America’s Famous Song Stylists” Mercury Wing Records MGW 12114 (Mono), United States 1959 ''(Straight Skirts- Side 2, Track 3)'' *LP The Diamonds "America’s Famous Song Stylists" Mercury Wing Records MGW 12114, Canada 1959 ''(Straight Skirts - Side 2, Track 3)'' *LP The Diamonds “The Definitive Collection Of The Diamonds” Ebenezer Records 01, (country) (year) ''(Straight Skirts - Side 1, Track 6)'' *LP The Diamonds “Best Of The Diamonds” Rome Records 157, Italy 1990 *CD The Diamonds “Diamonds Collection” Stardust Records CD 1010, United States 1996 *CD The Diamonds “Little Darlin’-25 Golden Hits” Remember Records CD RMB 75072,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

1999 *CD The Diamonds "Songbook" Canetoad Records CTCD-1013, Australia 2007 ''(Straight Skirt-Track #11)'' * Ronnie Dawson - LP Ronnie Dawson “Rockin’ Bones” No Hit Records LP-001,

1988 *CD Ronnie Dawson “Rockin’ Bones” No Hit Records CD-001,

1993 *CD Ronnie Dawson “Rockin’ Bones The Legendary Masters” Crystal Clear Sound Records CD CCR 9643-2, United States 1996 *The Sureshots - CD “Rock ‘n Roll Ball” (‘Live from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

’) Empire Records EMPCD-105,

2005

References

External links

* * {{YouTube, GMxa9B0YZzU, "Straight Skirt" (2) cover versions by The Diamonds and by Johnny Devlin

Sources

*Liner notes " The Ultimate School Of Rock & Roll" 1997 United States *Article and sessionography in issue 15 (1977) of New Kommotion Magazine UK *Article and sessionography in issue 23 (1980) of New Kommotion Magazine UK *Feature article and sessionography in issue 74 (1999) of Rockin' Fifties Magazine Germany *Feature article with photo spread in issue 53 (2000) of Bill Griggs' Rockin' 50s Magazine United States *Feature Article with photo spread in issue 54 (2000) of Bill Griggs' Rockin' 50s Magazine United States 1958 songs Novelty songs Gene Summers songs American songs 1958 debut singles Songs written by Mary Tarver