Chantilly Lace (song)

"Chantilly Lace"
Single by The Big Bopper
from the album Chantilly Lace
B-side	"The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"
Released	1958
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	2:20
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	J.P. Richardson
Producer(s)	Jerry Kennedy
The Big Bopper singles chronology
"Chantilly Lace" (1958) "Little Red Riding Hood" (1958)

"Chantilly Lace" is the name of a rock and roll song written by Jerry Foster, Bill Rice, and Jiles Perry "The Big Bopper" Richardson, the last of whom released the song in August 1958. The single was produced by Jerry Kennedy.

History

Originally cut for Pappy Daily's D label, the recording was purchased by Mercury Records and released in the summer of 1958, just over six months after Chuck Berry released "Sweet Little Sixteen," which uses the same chord progression. The song reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks on the national Top 40. It was the third most played song of 1958.^[1]

Jerry Lee Lewis version

A 1972 version by Jerry Lee Lewis^[2] was for three weeks a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart^[3] and a top fifty pop hit in the US^[4] and a Top 40 pop hit in the UK.^[5]

Lyrics content

The song is about a young man flirting with his girlfriend on the telephone, including:

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a pony tail hangin' down
A wiggle in the walk and a giggle in the talk
Make the world go 'round.^[6]

Responses, cover versions, and samples

"Chantilly Lace" inspired an answer song performed by Jayne Mansfield, titled "That Makes It," based on what the girl may have been saying at the other end of the line.

Bopper 486609 - Donna Dameron ( Dart 113 -1959), was an answer record. Donna Dameron was rumoured to be The Big Bopper's mother, Elsie Richardson.^[7]

The phrase, "Oh Baby You Know What I Like," said in falsetto by Richardson in "Chantilly Lace," was sampled by DJs project Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers with the music collage track, "That's What I Like," which included samples from Jerry Lee Lewis, Chubby Checker, The Surfaris, The Ventures, and other rock and roll singers and bands from late 1950s to early 1960s scene.

Van Halen's song "Good Enough," from the 1986 album 5150, begins with singer Sammy Hagar's calling out "Hello Baby," imitating the Big Bopper's hook in "Chantilly Lace."

Ivor Biggun, alias Doc Cox, also recorded the song; however, his version exaggerates the lyrics, thereby making them sound vulgar and suggestive.

Motown R&B singer Shorty Long recorded the song in 1966, and his version was released as a single on the company's Soul subsidiary label the following year.

The Rolling Stones played this song in their live-set during their Rolling Stones European Tour 1982.

R. Stevie Moore recorded a punk rock version in 1980.

Uses in Commercials

• The song was used in a 1990 Velveeta Shreds commercial in a performance, Velveeta vs. Cheddar.

References

1. "The Official Website of 'The Big Bopper'". Officialbigbopper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
2. US catalogue no.: Mercury 73273; the flip side was "Think About It Darlin'."
3. Roland, Tom: The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits. New York City / New York: Billboard Books; London: Guinness Publishing Ltd., 1991, p. 66
4. The single peaked at No.43; Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 355
5. UK catalogue no.: Mercury 6052 131; the single reached No.33 und stayed for five weeks in the charts; Rice, Jo / Rice, Tim / Gambacini, Paul / Read, Mike: The Guinness Book Of The Hits Of The 70s. London: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1980, p. 101
6. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 14 - Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 4] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. Retrieved 2011-04-30.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics