Little Bitty Pretty One
Encyclopedia
"Little Bitty Pretty One" is a rock and roll
song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day
, and popularized by Thurston Harris
in 1957. His version reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
. It has most notably been covered by Frankie Lymon
in 1958, Clyde McPhatter
in 1962, the Jackson Five in 1972, Cliff Richard
in 1983, Huey Lewis and the News
in 1994, and Billy Gilman
in 2000. The song has also been covered by The Doobie Brothers
and has become a crowd favorite at their shows.
The song has made appearances in commercials, television, and film, including the following:
The recording by Aaron Carter
featured in the film "The Princess Diaries
" (2001).
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day
Bobby Day
Bobby Day , was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.Born Robert James Byrd, , in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 15...
, and popularized by Thurston Harris
Thurston Harris
Thurston Harris was a male American singer, briefly popular in the early to mid 1950s.-Career:Harris first appeared on record as the featured vocalist recording with the Lamplighters in 1953 one of the many groups on the early R&B scene in South Central Los Angeles, during that time. The group...
in 1957. His version reached #6 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...
. It has most notably been covered by Frankie Lymon
Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
in 1958, Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
in 1962, the Jackson Five in 1972, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
in 1983, Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
in 1994, and Billy Gilman
Billy Gilman
William Wendell "Billy" Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts...
in 2000. The song has also been covered by The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
and has become a crowd favorite at their shows.
The song has made appearances in commercials, television, and film, including the following:
- Commercials for Lipton's Green Iced Tea and BelkBelkBelk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
department stores. - The British television serial Lipstick on Your CollarLipstick on Your CollarLipstick on Your Collar is a 1993 British television serial written by Dennis Potter, originally broadcast on Channel 4 expanded from Potter's earlier play Lay Down Your Arms...
. - The films Matilda, Christine (and its soundtrack), American GraffitiAmerican GraffitiAmerican Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
, Corrina, CorrinaCorrina, Corrina (film)Corrina, Corrina is a 1994 feature film set in 1959 about a widower who hires a housekeeper/nanny to care for his daughter . It was written and directed by Jessie Nelson...
, The Princess DiariesThe Princess Diaries (film)The Princess Diaries is a 2001 comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name...
, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The recording by Aaron Carter
Aaron Carter
Aaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among pre-teen and teenage audiences during the early-first decade of the 21st century....
featured in the film "The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries (film)
The Princess Diaries is a 2001 comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name...
" (2001).
Other performances
- Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn BridgeJohnny Maestro & The Brooklyn BridgeJohnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge is an American musical group, best known for their million selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "The Worst That Could Happen" .-History:...
- Frankie LymonFrankie LymonFranklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
(1958) - Frankie AvalonFrankie AvalonFrankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
(1958) - The DovellsThe DovellsThe Dovells were an American music group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The members were Arnie Silver, Mark Gordesky, Len Borisoff , Jerry Gross, Mike Freda and Jim Mealey...
(1962) - The ParamountsThe ParamountsThe Paramounts were an English beat group, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They had one hit single with their cover version of "Poison Ivy", which reached #35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964, but are primarily known as the fore-runner to Procol Harum....
(1964) - The Dave Clark FiveThe Dave Clark FiveThe Dave Clark Five were an English pop rock group. Their single "Glad All Over" knocked The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964: it eventually peaked at No.6 in the United States in April 1964.They were the second group of the British Invasion,...
(1965) - The HolliesThe HolliesThe Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
(Recorded 1965) - Wayne CochranWayne CochranWayne Cochran is an American soul singer, known for his outlandish outfits and white pompadour. He is sometimes referred to as The White Knight of Soul....
(1967, Chess Records) - Jesse Lopez (1968)
- Zalman Yanovsky (1968)
- The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
(1970) (with Johnny WinterJohnny WinterJohn Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
after the drum solo on the July 5th Mountain Jam) - Jackson 5 (Recorded Late 1971, released as single in Early 1972)
- LindisfarneLindisfarne (band)Lindisfarne were a British folk/rock group from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1970 and fronted by singer/songwriter Alan Hull. Their music combined a strong sense of yearning with an even stronger sense of fun...
(1987) - Screamin' Jay HawkinsScreamin' Jay HawkinsJalacy Hawkins , best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor...
(1988) - Delbert McClintonDelbert McClintonDelbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....
& The Snakes (1989) - Huey Lewis and the NewsHuey Lewis and the NewsHuey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
(1994) on the album Four Chords & Several Years AgoFour Chords & Several Years AgoFour Chords & Several Years Ago is the seventh album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1994 . The title is a play on the first sentence in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address .It is a collection of 1960s rhythm & blues covers influential to the members of the group during... - Voice MaleVoice MaleVoice Male is a six-man contemporary a cappella group based in Utah. The group performs covers of contemporary popular songs as well as traditional Latter-day Saint music and some original material. Voice Male formed at Utah State University in 1994 as a nine man group, Over the next two years...
(1997) - The Alley CatsThe Alley CatsThe Alley Cats are an American doo-wop group singing in a cappella.The group originated in 1987, when a doo-wop revival program was occurring at Fullerton College. Two men, also the group's future founding fathers, Mando Fonseca and Royce "The Voice" Reynolds, decided to start an a cappella group...
( 2000) - Billy GilmanBilly GilmanWilliam Wendell "Billy" Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts...
, with added lyrics (2000) - Aaron CarterAaron CarterAaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among pre-teen and teenage audiences during the early-first decade of the 21st century....
(2001)