Thurston Harris (July 11, 1931 – April 14, 1990) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 hit "

Little Bitty Pretty One "Little Bitty Pretty One" is a 1957 song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day. The same year, the song was popularized by Thurston Harris. Produced by Aladdin Records (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), and featuring the Sharps on backing ...

Career

Harris first appeared on record in 1953. He was the vocalist for

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...

R&B band the Lamplighters. He remained with the band as it evolved through several name changes, from the Tenderfoots to the Sharps. In 1957, Harris signed as a solo artist for Aladdin Records. His former band backed him when he released his version of

Bobby Day Robert James Byrd (July 1, 1930 – July 27, 1990), known by the stage name Bobby Day, was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit record " Rockin' Robin", written by Leon René und ...

's "

". It reached number 6 on the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

''Billboard'' Hot 100. The track 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, r ...

, achieving

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status. The Sharps would go on to another name change to become

The Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and ba ...

, achieving fame with the single "

Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" is a novelty nonsensical doo-wop song by the Rivingtons in 1962. It peaked at number 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 35 on the '' Cashbox'' charts. The band released two similar follow-up songs over the next severa ...

". Unusually, "Little Bitty Pretty One" was released on three different-colored labels: purple, blue and maroon. The song appeared on the

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 ...

s to films or

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

dramas, such as ''

Telling Lies in America ''Telling Lies in America'' is a 1997 period coming-of-age drama set film directed by Guy Ferland and written by Joe Eszterhas. Plot Karchy Jonas is a 17-year-old high-school student (who emigrated from Hungary 7 years earlier) trying to find his ...

'', ''

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

'', '' Lipstick on Your Collar'', and ''

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

''. Harris had a second and final hit in 1958 with "Do What You Did", which reached the Top 20. His other best known song was "Runk Bunk", recorded in 1959 (Aladdin 3452). Harris later recorded on Cub, Dot, Imperial, Intro, Reprise and United Artists.

Death

Harris died in his sleep of a heart attack on April 14, 1990.

Cover versions

Frankie Lymon Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...

's highest charting

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

hit was a cover of "Little Bitty Pretty One", which peaked at number 58 on the US '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1960. *

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

covered "Little Bitty Pretty One" on their 1972 album ''

Lookin' Through the Windows ''Lookin' Through the Windows'' is the sixth studio album by the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label in May 1972. Production ''Lookin' Through the Windows'' marks the beginning of lead singer Michael's vocal change, from the boy soprano wh ...

''. * UK 1980's star

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...

covered the wild rocker "Do What You Did" on his album, ''Take One'', in 1980. *A

cover 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 ...

of "Runk Bunk" was one of the first songs recorded by the UK pop star

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

. * The Dave Clark 5 had a UK number 24 hit with "Little Bitty Pretty One" in 1965.

References

External links

Complete discography of Thurston Harris
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thurston 1931 births 1990 deaths Cub Records artists Imperial Records artists Musicians from Indianapolis 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers