Customer Reviews

Specialty Profiles (Bonus CD)

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Not as well known as Fats or Little Richard, Larry Williams is nevertheless a shining example of New Orleans 1950s rock and roll. He's probably best know for his "silly songs" like Boney Maroni and Short Fat Fannie (both of which contain wonderul references to other rock and roll songs that were popular at the time). A couple of Larry's "B-sides" were just as good as the "A-sides." Check out High School Dance and Let Me Tell You, Baby. But, the real highlight of this set is the classic Slow Down. If you like raw rock and roll, driving piano, and nasty tenor sax solos, it dooesn't get any better than Slow Down. You won't be dissapointed in this collection!

His name may not be the most well known in rock circles, but just ask the Beatles and the Stones about Larry williams! I grew up hearing these songs by my early rock heroes. Now I can see why they respected this man. The versions we all know aren't so diferent from Larry's versions. No need to change a great song. Anyone into the evolution of rock n' roll will want this.

Singer/songwriter and pianist Larry Williams was born on May 10, 1935 in New Orleans, and his earliest experience came as a teenager in Oakland, California, following a family move to the coast, with a group called The Lemon Drops. When he was 19 he moved back to New Orleans where he met, and became a valet for, and sometimes pianist with, Lloyd Price. He also did some work with the Percy Mayfield and Roy Brown aggregations. At age 20 he became friends with Little Richard (Penniman), with both getting recording contracts with Art Rupe's Specialty label.

By the time Larry scored his first hit single in the spring of 1957, Little Richard already had eight under his belt, but already there were rumblings that he was about to leave the music scene for religious reasons. Rupe therefore began to focus more on Williams as Penniman's logical successor. Larry's first charted single, Just Because, had been written and recorded by Price in 1956 for the tiny KRC label (his own first two hits in 1952 had come with Specialty), but did not chart until March 1957 after being picked up by his new label, ABC-Paramount. The Williams cover finished at a modest # 11 R&B in late April b/w Let Me Tell You Baby on Specialty 597 billed as Larry Williams & His Band.

A couple of months later, with the same billing, he hit the # 1 R&B/# 5 Pop Top 100 spots with Short Fat Fannie which featured a clever amalgam of names from among numerous other hits of the day. The B-side, High School Dance, was a "follow-along" hit on both charts on Specialty 608. Then came the driving Bony Moronie which peaked at # 4 R&B/# 14 Top 100 in November/December 1957 on Specialty 615. The flipside, You Bug Me Baby, also charted at # 45 Pop Top 100.

Rupe certainly thought at the time that he had his Little Richard replacement, and his often frantic and driving wailing had also registered on one of the giants waiting in the wings, a budding group which took special notice of his next effort, Dizzy Miss Lizzy and its B-side, Slow Down. Both big hits in the U.K., for some reason the A-side only reached a low # 69 Pop Hot 100 in the U.S. and was shut out on the R&B charts, while the flip never charted at all. However, both sides, along with another uncharted release, Bad Boy, were among the earliest recordings by The Beatles, reflecting this vastly underrated artist's influence.

No further hits would ensure from his Specialty work, and in 1960 he was sentenced to a prison term for a narcotics offense. In 1967 hade a comeback of sorts in terms of charted singles with Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, a # 23 R&B/# 96 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in March under the billing Larry Williams & Johnny Watson b/w A Quitter Never wins on Okeh 7274, and Nobody, a # 40 R&B in January 1968 under the billing Larry Williams & Johnny Watson With The Kaleidoscope b/w Find Yourself Someone To Love on Okeh 7300.

This great volume which gives you all his key Specialty cuts with extensive liner notes by Colin Escott and great sound reproduction has, as an added bonus, 10 Specialty sides in Disc 2 by other Specialty artists: track 1 - Roy Milton & His Solid Senders; track 2 - Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers; track 3 - Percy Mayfield; track 4 - Lloyd Price; track 5 - Jesse & Marvin; track 6 - Guitar Slim; track 7 - Little Richard; track 8 - Sam Cooke; track 9 - Don & Dewey. Larry's Okeh hits and their B-sides can be found in the 101 Distribution release Two For The Price Of One - Larry Williams With Johnny Watson. A perfect combination.

Larry Williams' output was very uneven, a half-dozen gems among a larger number of clunkers. But if you like Larry at his best, you'll enjoy this set. Even better than the primary CD is the bonus disc. Drawing on a few hits and many obscure recordings from the Specialty vaults, every song is a winner. All in all, it's a lot of good early Rock for very little money.

Nice collection.Second cousin to Lloyd Price & products of New Orleans R&B.Plus a bonus disc of speciality artists.Nice buy.Seller A+.Quick delivery.

I wanted two songs that were on this cd, "Boney Maroney" and "Short Fat Fannie". After that, there's not a lot to Larry Williams for me. This fellow was not a megastar with an enormous body of work, nor was he any great influence on rock & roll. The package is fine. The recording quality is fine and allows the original "sound" to come through. The bonus cd is a nice little bonus. In all I'm quite satisfied. I filled two small holes in my collection at a reasonable price.