When The Beatles and John Lennon fell in love with Larry Williams
John Lennon had eclectic tastes. Throughout his time with The Beatles, Lennon was often the instigator of what cover songs the early version of the band would take on. While a disciple of early rock and roll heroes like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley, Lennon and his bandmates had diverse enough listening habits to bring in music hall numbers, classic Motown hits, and even Mexican bolero hits like ‘Bésame Mucho’.
The band sometimes dipped into records and artists that weren’t well known on either side of the Atlantic. “Brian [Epstein] had a policy of buying at least one copy of every record that was released,” George Harrison explained in Anthology.
Harrison added: “If it sold, he’d order another one, or five or whatever. Consequently, he had records that weren’t hits in Britain, weren’t even hits in America. Before going to a gig, we’d meet in the record store after it had shut, and we’d search the racks like ferrets to see what new ones were there… ‘Devil In Her Heart’ and Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’ were records that we’d picked up and played in the shop and thought were interesting”.
Larry Williams isn’t a household name like some of the previous rock and roll pioneers we mentioned. A native of New Orleans, Williams mixed his rhythm and blues background with the upstart style of rock and roll, producing a string of hits that included the top five hit ‘Short Fat Fannie’ in 1957. Williams often competed with labelmate and fellow piano shouter Little Richard on the Speciality Records label. When Richard briefly left rock music to find god, Williams stepped in to replace him.
Williams didn’t have much success in the 1960s, producing a few albums for Little Richard and occasionally working as an actor in film. Drug addictions and scrapes with the law limited his abilities to record and perform after his string of hits, and at one point, Williams and Richard had mutual debilitating drug habits. Williams even threatened to kill Richard over his debt, but wound up forgiving his friend for the money.
Although his face probably wouldn’t be recognised by even some hardcore rock and roll scholars, his name is still familiar to millions of rock fans worldwide. That’s because, if you checked the writing credits on some of The Beatles’ earliest albums, there’s a decent chance you’ll find Williams’ name. Lennon was a fan, so much so that he wound up singing three Williams songs that eventually made it onto singles and record: ‘Slow Down’ was the B-sides to the ‘Matchbox’ single, ‘Bad Boy appeared on the American album Beatles VI, and ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’ was the closing track to Help!
Lennon had a special attachment to ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’. When he and the Plastic Ono Band performed at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert in 1969, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’ was a part of their throwback setlist. On the flight back to England, Lennon officially made the decision to leave The Beatles, making ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’ one of the final Beatles covers Lennon ever performed while still a part of the band.
Listen to The Beatles’ version of ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’ down below.
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