B-side "Ti-Ri-Lee" Length 2:49 | Genre Jump blues
jazz | |
Released February 1955 (1955-02) Format 7" 45 rpm & 10" 78 rpm record Recorded New York
January 28, 1955 | ||
"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a jump blues-style song recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker," the song was a hit reaching #2 in Billboard magazine's R&B chart. "Flip, Flop and Fly" has been recorded by a variety of artists, including early rock and roll performers such as Elvis Presley.
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Original song
"Flip, Flop and Fly" has an arrangement similar to Big Joe Turner's 1954 #1 R&B hit "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and it has been suggested that "leftover verses [from the 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' recording session] were then recycled into Turner's follow-up hit, 'Flip, Flop and Fly.'" Both are up-tempo twelve-bar blues with a strong backbeat. Accompanying Turner (vocals) are the song's writer Jesse Stone (piano), Al Sears (tenor sax), Connie Kay (drums), and unidentified trumpet, alto sax, baritone sax, guitar, and bass. Turner subsequently recorded several live versions of the song.
Elvis Presley version
Elvis Presley performed "Flip, Flop and Fly" during his first television appearance on January 28, 1956. It was included with a medley of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "I Got a Woman" and released on his posthumous compilation album A Golden Celebration. A live version from 1974 was included on Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis.
Other versions
Several artists have recorded their versions of "Flip, Flop and Fly," including Johnnie Ray (1955), Bill Haley and His Comets from the album Rock Around the Clock (1956), Downchild Blues Band (1973), The New York Dolls during live performances (1976), The Blues Brothers from Briefcase Full of Blues (1978), Jerry Lee Lewis (1999) and Ellis Hall (2000), his version being used exclusively in the soundtrack of the animated DreamWorks Pictures movie, Chicken Run and also in the movie, itself.