I'm sorry to report that I don't have a physical copy of Elvis Presley's version of the Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman record Little Sister which he released in August 1961 as a double A side with His Latest Flame which hardly surprisingly reached number one in the UK singles chart
I do however have a version from 1979 on Ry Cooder's album Bop Til You Drop and also another from 1987 on Dwight Yoakam's Hillbilly Deluxe album.
I had no idea that Dwight's version was so close to the original. I think Mr Cooder's version is the worst of the three. I was going to add something about our friend Peter, who has a little sister. But I'm not going to.
Great, CC! And Swede is right on with that version. I'll give a shout out for Marshall Crenshaw's version too. He used to play that one a lot on tour around '82/'83. I have a live recording on a flip side of one of his 12" singles. Since I'm on letter C now, I'll get that one up soon. I'll take Elvis the Pelvis with this one, however.
I just had a quick look to see if I owned either of these versions and found I could probably populate a Top Ten with entirely different Little Sister songs... which I'll probably have to do now. Elvis is still the best though.
I had no idea that Dwight's version was so close to the original. I think Mr Cooder's version is the worst of the three. I was going to add something about our friend Peter, who has a little sister. But I'm not going to.
ReplyDeleteRobert Plant (with Rockpile as his backing band) performed a good version of this at the Concert For Kampuchea in 1979.
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ReplyDeleteThanks Marie - do you wish me to remove the link?
DeleteSure, CC - thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreat, CC! And Swede is right on with that version. I'll give a shout out for Marshall Crenshaw's version too. He used to play that one a lot on tour around '82/'83. I have a live recording on a flip side of one of his 12" singles. Since I'm on letter C now, I'll get that one up soon. I'll take Elvis the Pelvis with this one, however.
ReplyDeleteI just had a quick look to see if I owned either of these versions and found I could probably populate a Top Ten with entirely different Little Sister songs... which I'll probably have to do now. Elvis is still the best though.
ReplyDelete