"Long Tall Sally" (Johnson, Penniman, and Blackwell) [2:04]
Recorded on 1 March 1964 and released on 19 June 1964.
EP released as Parlophone GEP 8913. Side One: "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name." Side Two: "Slow Down" and "Matchbox."
Produced by George Martin. Norman Smith (1st) and Richard Langham (2nd) engineers.
The Beatles: Paul McCartney (vocal and bass guitar), John Lennon (guitar), George Harrison (guitar), and Ringo Starr (drums) with George Martin (piano).
The Beatles. 1988. Past Masters, Volume One [10]. London: EMI Records Ltd. [Parlophone CDP 7 90043 2]
This Little Richard song (he composed and performed it) was one of the earliest songs in Paul McCartney's repertoire. What "Twist and Shout" was for John, this song was for Paul and he had a good source: they had shared the stage with Little Richard in Hamburg, Liverpool, and London.
The song was such a regular part of their performing repertoire that they made this recording in one take (unlike many other recordings that were a pastiche of different takes spliced together). The Beatles opened their pivotal Litherland concert with this song and DJ Bob Wooler describes the event:
We had curtains at Litherland, and I said to the Beatles, "As soon as I announce you, go straight into the first number," because that was the "impact" we wanted to have. Paul opened the show with "Long Tall Sally," the Little Richard "stormer." I said, "Direct from Hamburg," which they were, and the song exploded. The crowd was as stunned as I. Now I got quite worried, because when people in these dance halls in those days stopped dancing, it was either to cause a fight or to witness one. The policy was that we were to keep them dancing, keep them happy, so they wouldn't get into any "lumber," you know, any fights. But they were transfixed, and they were drawn, as if by a magnet, toward the stage. The stage at Literland is quite high, so they were all looking up and I was looking down at the sea of bewildered faces. They hadn't seen or heard anything like it. (Pritchard & Lysaght 1998: 54-55)
  Section Time Meas. Description Text
A verse 0:00 4 Paul starts solo with the band playing "stop time." a
  refrain 0: 8 As above without stops. b
A verse : 4 As in verse above. c
  refrain : 8 As in refrain above. b
B verse : 12 Guitar solo in 12-bar blues format without stops. —
  verse : 4 As in verses above. d
A refrain : 8 As in refrains above. b
  verse : 12 Guitar solo (as above) —
B chorus : 12 Variation on refrain. e
B chorus : 12 Repeat and build intensity. e
Text  
I'm gonna tell Aunt Mary about Uncle John. He says he's got it busy, but he's got a lot of fun. a
Oh baby, yeh oh baby, ooo, baby, some fun tonight. b
I saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally. He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley. c
Well Long Tall Sally, she's built to please, She's got everything that Uncle John needs. d
We're gonna have some fun tonight, have some fun tonight;
Everythin's all right; have some fund tonight, have some fun, yeh . . . .		 e
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Lennon and McCartney Outline Origins and Models
  2-sep-09