"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a song recorded by

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker", it was recorded by several early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and 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 African ...

performers. In 1973, a version by the

Downchild Blues Band The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by the Downchild Blues Band. History Early history: 1969-1982 The Downchild Blue ...

reached the record singles chart in Canada.

Original song

"Flip, Flop and Fly" has an arrangement similar to Big Joe Turner's 1954 number 1 R&B chart hit "

Shake, Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as "''Charles Calhoun''", his songwriting name) and first recorded that year by Big Joe Turner, whose version ranked No. 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine li ...

". Music critic

Cub Koda Michael John "Cub" Koda (né Uszniewicz; October 1, 1948 – July 1, 2000) was an Americans, American rock and roll musician, songwriter, and critic. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine considered him best known for writing the song "Smokin' in the Boys ...

suggests that "leftover verses rom the 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' recording sessionwere then recycled into Turner's follow-up hit, 'Flip, Flop and Fly. Both are up-tempo twelve-bar blues with a strong

backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a pi ...

. "Flip, Flop and Fly" reached number 2 on ''Billboard'' magazine's

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in 1955, less than one year after "Shake, Rattle and Roll". Accompanying Turner on vocals are the song's co-writer Jesse Stone on piano, Al Sears on tenor sax, Connie Kay on drums, and unidentified trumpet, alto sax, baritone sax, guitar, and bass players. Turner subsequently recorded several live versions of the song.

Other notable versions

In 1973, a rendition by the Canadian

reached number 35 on the ''RPM'' 100 singles chart. It was the first, and highest ranked, of four songs on the Canadian charts and is included on their second album ''Straight Up'' (1974), In 1978, a rendition by the American

the Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

appeared on their album '' Briefcase Full of Blues''. In 2000, a rendition by the American Ellis Hall, was used on the soundtrack of the 2000 animated comedy film, ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flip, Flop And Fly 1955 singles Big Joe Turner songs Atlantic Records singles Blues songs Songs written by Jesse Stone The Blues Brothers songs