On May 4, 1956, some kids from Norfolk, Virginia, walked into a house in a quiet part of Nashville, Tennessee, and changed the world. It was on that day when “Be-Bop-A-Lula” was recorded by Gene Vincent, Cliff Gallup, Jack Neal, Wee Willie Williams, and Dickie Harrell. They weren’t just some teenagers trying to sound like Elvis Presley. They brought together elements of jazz, be-bop, country and western, and rhythm and blues in a way that still sounds fresh today. Let’s look at the meaning of “Be-Bop-A-Lula.”
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The Origin
The song’s birth has always been a mystery, as different people have their own stories. Before his success on the charts, Vincent served in the U.S. Navy. The story was constantly repeated that his leg was hurt in a 1955 motorcycle accident when someone ran a stoplight and caused a collision. Many people challenge that narrative, and some say that Vincent was trying to go AWOL and hurt his leg, jumping from a boat to a dock. Either way, his leg injury led to a hospital stay where he met Donald Graves. Some people say Vincent learned the song from Graves and purchased the rights. The purported dollar amount varies from $25 to $80. Around this time, Vincent teamed up with a local DJ named Bill “Sherriff Tex” Davis, who would later claim he wrote the song with the young singer after they listened to a 1925 recording called “Don’t Bring Lulu.” In interviews, Vincent would later claim that he wrote the song by himself after looking through a Little Lulu comic book. The waters are often muddy when it comes to Vincent’s past.
Well, be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby
Be-bop-a-lula, I don’t mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby
Be-bop-a-lula, I don’t mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby doll
My baby doll, my baby doll
John Lennon told author Barry Miles in 1969, “That beginning—Weeeeeellllllll—always made my hair stand on end.”
The Next Elvis
In the wake of the success of “Heartbreak Hotel,” every major record label was scrambling to find their version of Elvis Presley. On April 9, 1956, a demo was recorded at the studios of WCMS radio in Norfolk, and it ended up on the desk of Capitol Records A&R man Ken Nelson. Not willing to pay for the band to come out to Hollywood, Nelson made arrangements to meet the boys halfway and record at musician Owen Bradley’s house in Nashville.
Well, she’s the girl in the red blue jeans
She’s the queen of all the teens
She’s the woman that I know
She’s the woman that loves me so
It Was the B-Side
Nelson chose “Woman Love” as the first single released and paired “Be-Bop-A-Lula” with it for the flip side. Vincent had signed a publishing deal with Bill Lowery Music, and advanced copies of “Be-Bop-A-Lula” were sent out to radio stations to promote the young singer. When DJs received “Woman Love,” they were already familiar with the flip side so they turned it over, and “Be-Bop-A-Lula” actually debuted on the charts at No. 78. When Capitol saw this, they changed up their promotional campaign to match. “Be-Bop-A-Lula” would go all the way to No. 7 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Say, be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby
Be-bop-a-lula, I don’t mean maybe
Be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby doll
My baby doll, my baby doll
Let’s rock!
The Screamin’ End
Fifteen-year-old drummer Dickie “Be-Bop” Harrell can be heard throughout the song screaming in the background. When producer Nelson asked why he was doing it, Harrell told him he wanted his family to be able to hear that he was actually on a record.
Due to the song’s success, Harrell would be encouraged to do it more in future recordings.
Well, she’s the woman that’s got that beat
She’s the woman with the flying feet
She’s the one that walks around the store
She’s the one that gives more, more, more, more
The Legacy
“Be-Bop-A-Lula” has been recorded by hundreds of artists through the years. It was the first record Paul McCartney ever bought, and as John Lennon recounted in a December 1980 interview, “Paul saw me for the first time when I played ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ with The Quarrymen.” The Beatles would include the song in their early live repertoire.
Only a few bits of footage survive of Vincent as he leans forward into the microphone and almost appears to skulk around the stage as he sings. His injury happened before anyone knew who he was. But, it’s as if the whole world watched him slowly die from it as he continually tried to match the level of success of that one song. I’m sure Vincent was looking for ways to stay relevant as the rest of the world evolved, but I can’t help but wonder if he would have landed in Nashville in the late seventies and continued on a path similar to Bob Luman or Narvel Felts. Vincent’s death in October 1971 makes it a whole bunch of “what-ifs.”
Nonsense or Brilliance
“Be-Bop-A-Lula” can be written off as folderol, but its greatness ranks right up there with “A Wop Bop A Loo Bop A Lop Bam Boom,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Rama Lama Ding Dong,” “Doo Wah Diddy,” “Ooby Dooby,” and “Papa Oom Mow Mow.”
That original lineup would return to Nashville two more times in 1956. The songs they recorded are the architecture of rock and roll. They have all the ingredients. Country, R&B, jazz, swing, ballads, be-bop, standards—it’s the whole ball of wax. Of course, Presley was first, and a lot of the R&B guys were already treading in this territory, but these white kids from Virginia were really forging new ground. Those first 36 tracks are rock ‘n’ roll perfection. The room sound is so present. Hearing Harrell scream and feeling Jack Neal’s bass makes it feel as if you are sitting right there with them.
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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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