| Tweedle Dee | |
| Cover: | Tweedle_baker.gif |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | LaVern Baker |
| Album: | LaVern Baker |
| B-Side: | Tomorrow Night |
| Released: | November 1954 |
| Recorded: | 1954 |
| Genre: | Rhythm and blues |
| Length: | 2:55 |
| Label: | Atlantic |
| Prev Title: | I Can't Hold Out Any Longer |
| Prev Year: | 1954 |
| Next Title: | Bop-Ting-a-Ling |
| Next Year: | 1955 |
"Tweedlee Dee" (also "Tweedly Dee" or "Tweedle Dee") is a rhythm and blues novelty song with a Latin-influenced riff written by Winfield Scott[1] for LaVern Baker and recorded by her at Atlantic Records' studio in New York City in 1954. It was her first hit,[2] reaching number 4 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart and number 14 on its pop chart.[3] It was Scott's first commercially successful song.[4]
| Tweedle Dee | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Georgia Gibbs |
| Album: | Song Favorites of Georgia Gibbs |
| B-Side: | You're Wrong, All Wrong |
| Released: | December 1954 |
| Recorded: | 1954 |
| Genre: | Traditional pop |
| Length: | 2:35 |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Prev Title: | Mambo Baby |
| Prev Year: | 1954 |
| Next Title: | Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower) |
| Next Year: | 1955 |
The arrangement and vocal style of the song attempted to adapt a black vocal style to one that would satisfy the tastes of the white record-buying market, featuring a light tone and a frisky rhythm beat. The backing vocals are provided by Atlantic's in-house backing group at the time, The Cues (credited here as The Gliders), consisting here of first tenor Abel DeCosta, second tenor Ollie Jones (formerly of The Ravens), bass Edward Barnes, and baritone (and songwriter) Winfield Scott.[5] Also on the session were tenor sax player Sam "The Man" Taylor and drummer Connie Kay.[6]
Baker closely approached a pop style in her recording, but a cover of the song was quickly recorded by Georgia Gibbs for Mercury Records, a major label, which had better distribution than Atlantic, an independent label. The cover version, which had the same lyrics and closely imitated the style and arrangement of the original. became a gold record for Gibbs, ruining any chance of Baker's recording becoming a pop hit.[7] It was common at that time for major record companies to release cover versions of R&B hits aimed at the wider white audience, a practice not forbidden by United States copyright law. According to Atlantic's engineer, Tom Dowd, Mercury hired the same arranger, the same musicians and tried to hire the same engineer.[2] Baker attempted to get her congressman to introduce legislation to prevent the copying of arrangements but was unsuccessful.[8]
Numerous performances of the song have been recorded, including versions by:
| Chart (1972/73) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 25 | |
| United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)[10] | 4 | |
| United States (Billboard Hot 100)[11] | 59 |
The song is heard in the films La Bamba, Uncle Buck, and The Departed.
. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 . Joel Whitburn . 2013 . Record Research . 635.