Released January 1958 (1958-01) Genre R&B, rock and roll | Format 7" 45 rpm record Length 2:02 | |
A-side "Good Golly, Miss Molly" Recorded New Orleans, Louisiana, May 9, 1956 | ||
The song "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey", also known as "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Goin' Back to Birmingham)", was written by Little Richard and recorded in May 9, 1956 at J&M Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana (supervised by Bumps Blackwell).
Contents
Story
In 1955, Little Richard recorded two different versions of "Kansas City" by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller: one on September, 13 (supervised by Bumps Blackwell), and one on November, 29 (with five vocalists, supervised by Art Rupe). The first version, which adheres closely to the original 1952 recording by Little Willie Littlefield for the first two verses, was not released until November 1970, on the compilation album Well Alright! The second version, which had been substantially re-worked by Little Richard (in particular, it featured a new refrain starting with words, "Hey, hey, hey, hey; Hey baby, hey child, hey now") was released in March 1959 on The Fabulous Little Richard and in April 1959 as single after the success of the Wilbert Harrison hit.
"Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was recorded six months after the second version of "Kansas City", incorporating the same refrain. However, as "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was released in 1958—with the writing credited solely to Richard Wayne Penniman (Little Richard)—the public perceived it as an earlier recording than "Kansas City".
In 1964, The Beatles released the albums Beatles for Sale (in the UK) and Beatles VI (in the US) featuring a cover of "Kansas City" based on the issued Little Richard version. (They had performed it as early as September 5, 1962 at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, and in December of that year at the Star-Club in Hamburg.) Attorneys representing Little Richard's publisher, Venice Music, issued a complaint, claiming the Beatles' record also covered "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey". As a result, the record label was revised to read: "Medley: (a) Kansas City (Leiber/Stoller) (P)1964 Macmelodies Ltd./KPM; (b) Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Penniman) Venice Mus. Ltd. (P)1964." This was despite the fact that, when Little Richard recorded "Kansas City" in November 1955, "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" had not yet been written or recorded.
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It was released in January 1958 as B-side of Specialty single 624 Good Golly, Miss Molly and in July 1958 on Little Richard.
Covers
"Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" was covered as "Going Back To Birmingham" by Ten Years After on their 1974 album Positive Vibrations. Bob Seger recorded a version of the song in the same session that produced his cover of Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" for the 1989 Road House soundtrack album. Seger's take remained unreleased until 2011, when it was released as the lead single on the retrospective album Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets. Seger stated that the track hit number one on classic rock radio, less than two months after its release. The song was covered by The Libertines in a one-off Radio 1 Live set in September 2003. The Jim Jones Revue recorded it for their 2008 debut album and performed it as a staple of their live shows.