Lawdy Miss Clawdy

Written by Lloyd Price

Album This song officially appears on the Once Upon a Long Ago #3 12" Single.
Timeline This song has been officially released in 1987

Master release


Related sessions

This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions





Related interviews


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July 1990 • From Guitar Player

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Song facts

From Wikipedia:

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” is a rhythm and blues song by New Orleans singer/songwriter Lloyd Price that “grandly introduced The New Orleans Sound“. It was first recorded by Price in 1952 with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew during his first session for Art Rupe and Specialty Records. The song became one of the biggest selling R&B records of 1952 and crossed over to other audiences. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” inspired many songs and has been recorded by a variety of artists.

Background

While still in high school, Lloyd Price was working for New Orleans radio station WBOK. He provided jingles (music for radio advertisements) for various products, including those hawked by disc jockey James “Okey Dokey” Smith. One of Smith’s catch phrases was “Lawdy Miss Clawdy“, which he used in ad slogans such as “Lawdy Miss Clawdy, eat Mother’s Homemade Pies and drink Maxwell House coffee!” Price’s accompanying tune proved popular with the radio audience and he developed it into a full-length song.

In 1952, Art Rupe, founder of Specialty Records in Los Angeles, came to New Orleans in search of new talent. Local recording studio owner Cosimo Matassa introduced him to Dave Bartholomew, who co-wrote and produced many of Fats Domino’s early hit records. Bartholomew invited nineteen-year-old Lloyd Price to audition for Rupe at Matassa’s J&M Studio.

The accounts differ on what happened next. According to Rupe, Price spent too much time rehearsing and Rupe threatened to leave if he did not get it together; Rupe then relented and Price turned out an emotional performance of “Lawdy Miss Clawdy“, prompting Rupe to cancel his return flight and arrange for a recording session. Price remembered that he auditioned the song for Rupe and although he apparently liked it, he left for New York without arranging to record it; however, two months later Price recalled receiving a call “Art Rupe’s back in town and he wants to record you“.

Recording and composition

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” was recorded March 13, 1952 at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios in New Orleans. Producer Dave Bartholomew used his backing band for the session, which consisted of pianist Salvador Doucette, guitarist Ernest McClean, bassist Frank Fields, drummer Earl Palmer, and saxophonists Herbert Hardesty (tenor) and Joe Harris (alto). The first attempts at performing the song were not successful, reportedly because Bartholomew was dissatisfied with Doucette’s piano part. When Fats Domino arrived at the studio, he was persuaded by Bartholomew to sit in on the recording. After one run through, Bartholomew announced “OK, that’s it” and Matassa started the tape recorder.

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” opens with Fat Domino’s “rolling trills … in a cascading, horn-like procession“. Although Domino had recorded several songs using his trade-mark piano triplets style, Price’s hit provided it with its greatest exposure up to that time. Domino repeats his intro for the piano solo. Another key element of the song is Earl Palmer’s drumming, described as “loping, midtempo shuffle beats with their busy ride cymbal“. This is anchored by Palmer’s emphasis on the snare of the second and fourth beats of each bar, which led him to be referred to as “the father of the backbeat“. In characteristic New Orleans-style, the rest of the backing instrumentation also contributes to the song’s rhythmic drive by “providing different elements of rhythm, in several different patterns … This complex, layered beat might also be compared to African polyrhythms“.

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” follows an eight-bar blues progression and has been notated in 12/8 time in the key of A♭. The song’s melody is derived from Fats Domino’s 1950 hit “The Fat Man“, which he explained “came from an ol’ blues tune called “Junkers Blues“. Price’s song also features most of the same backing musicians as Domino’s song.

Price’s vocals have been described as “heartbroken wails“, “expressive, wailing“, and “gritty“. His lyrics deal with teenage angst over a relationship. A previous take of the song opens:

Oh now lawdy lawdy lawdy Miss Clawdy, girl who can your lover be

Well please don’t excite me baby, no it can’t be me

On the take that was released, Price confusingly uses a line from a later verse, “girl you sho’ look good to me“, but it stuck.

Releases and charts

Specialty Records released “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” in April 1952 and on May 17, 1952 it entered Billboard’s R&B chart, staying there a total of 26 weeks. The song reached number one, where it spent seven weeks. According to Art Rupe, the single sold nearly one million copies and record distributors reported that it was selling well outside of the usual R&B market, but it did not appear in Billboard’s pop charts. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” was also one of the top records for 1952 and the 1950s decade.

Recognition and influence

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” became “R&B Record of the Year” for 1952 in both Billboard and Cashbox magazines; it also earned Price Cashbox’s “Best New R&B Singer of 1952” designation. In 1995, it was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll“. Authors Dawson and Propes discussed “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” among the first rock and roll songs.

Lawdy Miss Clawdy” “set the pattern for the rock and roll years in New Orleans” and its success led many to try to emulate it; one author suggests “for a time, every new R&B song coming out of New Orleans sounded suspiciously like “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”. In 1953, singer Tommy Ridgley, a friend of Price’s who nearly recorded “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” first, recorded a follow-up tune “Oh, Lawdy, My Baby“. In 1958, Larry Williams, who had been Lloyd Price’s valet, reworked the song to become “Dizzy Miss Lizzy“.

Price’s song has also been identified as “one of the first rhythm and blues records to attract the attention of white Southern teenagers, among them Elvis Presley, who cut his own version four years later” and “becom[ing] a repertoire staple of local country bands“. […]

In 1987, Paul McCartney recorded “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” for inclusion on his Choba B CCCP album. From the liner notes of the album:

The story of how, in 1952, white women in New Orleans would visit local record shops and ask for Lloyd Price’s locally-recorded Lawdy Miss Clawdy on the pretext of buying it as a gift for their ‘black maid’ or ‘housekeeper’ has become not just a part of rocklore but an indication as to how music (if not Southern society) was becoming integrated.

Lawdy Miss Clawdy is a pivotal song. It may have become No. 1 Rhythm & Blues Record in both the bestselling charts of such prestigious US music business magazines as Billboard and Cashbox, but more importantly it became one of the first million-selling ‘crossover’ hits: a black oriented record that sell to white fans.

It was Lloyd Price who later persuaded a young Little Richard to send a demonstration tape of his songs to Specialty Records’ boss Art Rupe in Hollywood. The rest is history. Songs like Lawdy Miss Clawdy were tailor-made for the McCartney treatment.

In Western countries, this version of “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” first appeared as a B-side of Once Upon A Long Ago single.

Last updated on September 4, 2016

Lyrics

Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy Miss Clawdy
Well you sure look good to me
But please don't excite me baby
I know it can't be me.

Well I give you all my money
Damn you just won't treat me right
You wanna party every morning don't come
Home till late at night.

Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy Miss Clawdy
Well you sure look good to me
But please don't excite me baby
I know it can't be me.

Well I'm gonna tell, tell my mama
Just what you've been doing to me
I'm gonna tell everybody you got me down in misery
Well bye, bye, bye, baby
Girl, I won't be comin' no more
Goodbye little darlin' down the road I'll go.

Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy Miss Clawdy
Well, I won't be comin' no more
Bye bye little darlin' down the road I'll go.

Officially appears on


Once Upon a Long Ago #3

12" Single • Released in 1987

3:20 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK


Choba B CCCP

Official album • Released in 1988

3:18 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK


Choba B CCCP

Official album • Released in 1991

3:18 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK


Choba B CCCP (2019 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2019

3:18 • Studio versionA • 2019 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer
Alex Wharton :
Remastering

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Bootlegs


It's Now Or Never (The Complete Russian Sessions)

Unofficial album • Released in 1990

3:11 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK



A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 26th, 1969 - 3 & 4

Unofficial album • Released in 2004

4:08 • Rehearsal • Jan.26 - D3-13 - Kansas City - Miss Ann - Lawdy Miss Clawdy 26.59

Session Recording:
Jan 26, 1969
Studio :
Apple Studios, 3 Savile Row, London


A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 27th, 1969 - 1 & 2

Unofficial album • Released in 2004

3:57 • Rehearsal • Jan.27 - D1-14 - Kansas City-Miss Ann-Lawdy Miss Clawdy 26.59P

Session Recording:
Jan 27, 1969
Studio :
Apple Studios, 3 Savile Row, London


UK Singles Collection - Volume 04

Unofficial album • Released in 2007

3:18 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Producer, Vocal
Mick Green :
Guitar
Chris Whitten :
Drums
Mick Gallagher :
Piano
Peter Henderson :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Jul 20, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Mixing:
Jul 22, 1987
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK


Live performances

“Lawdy Miss Clawdy” has been played in 1 concerts.

Latest concerts where Lawdy Miss Clawdy has been played


The Last Resort

Nov 27, 1987 • United Kingdom • London • Ewart Television Studios • TV show

Going further


Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawdy_Miss_Clawdy

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