"Devil with a Blue Dress On" (also known as "Devil with the Blue Dress On") is a song written by Shorty Long

Shorty Long

Frederick Earl "Shorty" Long was an American soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer for Motown's Soul Records imprint...

 and William "Mickey" Stevenson, first performed by Long and released as a single in 1964. A 1966 cover version by Mitch Ryder

Mitch Ryder

William S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...

 and the Detroit Wheels

The Detroit Wheels

The Detroit Wheels were an American rock group from Detroit, Michigan. They served as Mitch Ryder's backup band from 1964–1967, and played on all his most successful records.Their original members were:* Jim McCarty...

 peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

Song information

"Devil with the Blue Dress On" was originally released as Shorty Long's debut single on Motown in 1964, but the single failed to chart.

Two years later, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels covered the song as a medley with a cover of Little Richard

Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...

's "Good Golly Miss Molly". Their version was notably more up-tempo than Long's more blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

-influenced rendition. Reaching #4 on the Hot 100, their version of the track was would end up becoming their most well-known and highest charting hit in the United States.