Devil with a Blue Dress On explained

Devil with the Blue Dress
Type:single
Artist:Shorty Long
B-Side:Wind It Up
Released:1964
Genre:R&B
Length:2:49
Label:Soul
Next Title:It's a Crying Shame
Next Year:1965
Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly
Cover:Devil with a Blue Dress On single.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels
Album:Breakout...!!!
B-Side:I Had It Made
Released:September 1966[1]
Studio:Bell Sound (New York City)
Genre:R&B, blue-eyed soul
Length:3:01 (with "Good Golly, Miss Molly")
Label:New Voice
Producer:Bob Crewe
Prev Title:Takin' All I Can Get
Prev Year:1966
Next Title:Sock It to Me, Baby!
Next Year:1967

"Devil with a Blue Dress On" (also known as "Devil with the Blue Dress") is a song written by Shorty Long and William "Mickey" Stevenson, first performed by Long and released as a single in 1964. A later version recorded by Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels in 1966 peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Song information

"Devil with the Blue Dress" was originally released as Shorty Long's debut single on Motown in 1964, but the single failed to chart. The song describes a femme fatale in a blue dress and not an actual devil.

Two years later, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels recorded the song at Bell Sound Studios in New York City[2] as a medley with an original arrangement of Little Richard's "Good Golly, Miss Molly". Their version was notably more up-tempo than Long's more blues-influenced rendition.[3] Reaching No. 4 on the Hot 100, their version of the track would end up becoming their most well-known and highest charting hit in the United States. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it No. 428 on their list of Top 500 Songs of All Time.[4]

Later versions

"Devil with a Blue Dress On" was also recorded by Pratt & McClain, who are best known for the theme from the television series Happy Days. Bruce Springsteen's version of the song was part of the No Nukes concert album in 1980, and he has performed it regularly in concert from the 1970s to the present as part of his Detroit Medley. A Spanish language version of the song was recorded by Los Lobos and released on the Eating Raoul film soundtrack in 1982. The Duke University basketball pep band plays this song during Blue Devil home games and after Blue Devil victories at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. A version of the song was recorded by Nicholas O'Har for the 1990 spoof of The Exorcist, Repossessed.In 2007, Bill Kirchen recorded a version on his, 'Hammer Of The Honky Tonk Gods' CD

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels - Devil With A Blue Dress On And Good Golly Miss Molly / I Had It Made - New Voice - USA - 817 . 45cat.com . 1966-10-01 . 2016-09-27.
  2. Web site: Davies. Bren. Jim Czak: NOLA studios: From Steinways to Streisand.... tapeop.com. Tape Op. September 2005. 30 August 2022.
  3. Web site: Devil With A Blue Dress On by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels Songfacts. Songfacts. 2011-05-19.
  4. Web site: Rolling Stone - 500 Greatest Songs (Music Database :: Dave Tompkins) . 2022-06-19 . cs.uwaterloo.ca.