"Tossin' and Turnin'" is a
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 repetit ...
written by
Ritchie Adams
Richard Adam Ziegler (December 15, 1938 – March 6, 2017), known professionally as Ritchie Adams, was an American singer and songwriter.
Biography
Born in New York City, by 1959 he joined The Fireflies, and sang lead vocals on their hit reco ...
and Malou René, and originally recorded by
Bobby Lewis
Robert Alan Lewis (February 9, 1925 – April 28, 2020) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1961 hit singles " Tossin' and Turnin'" and "One Track Mind".
Biography
Lewis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana ...
in the fall of 1960. The record was released on the
Beltone label in December 1960. It reached
number one
Number One most commonly refers to:
* 1 (number)
Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song
* ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song
* ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC
* ''n.1 ...
on both the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 on July 10, 1961, and
R&B chart and has since become a standard on oldies
compilations. It was named
the number one single on the ''Billboard'' chart for 1961, after spending seven consecutive weeks at the top. It was also featured 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 ...
for the 1978 film ''
Animal House
''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...
''.
On the original hit single version, the track begins with Lewis singing "I couldn't sleep at all last night", and it appears this way on most oldies compilations. However, on some releases the song has a prelude, where Lewis sings "Baby...Baby...you did something to me", followed by a musical cue into the first verse. Lewis usually included this prelude when he performed the song live. According to several sources, the personnel on the original hit recording included guitarist
Wild Jimmy Spruill
James Edgar Spruill (June 9, 1934 – February 3, 1996), also known as Wild Jimmy Spruill, was an American New York based session guitarist, whose guitar solos featured on many rhythm and blues and pop hits of the 1950s and 1960s.
Biograp ...
.
In 2008, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked the song as the 27th biggest song of all time that charted on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the chart.
Bobby Lewis, "Tossin' and Turnin'" Chart Positions
Retrieved March 5, 2015 It is one of only six songs from the 1960s to spend at least seven weeks in the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Charts
Weekly charts
All-time charts
See also
* List of number-one R&B singles of 1961 (U.S.)
* List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961 (U.S.)
References
External links
Members.home.nl
1961 songs
1961 singles
1965 singles
Bobby Lewis songs
The Guess Who songs
The Kingsmen songs
The Supremes songs
Joan Jett songs
Lulu (singer) songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Songs written by Ritchie Adams
{{1960s-R&B-song-stub