Talk:Little Red Rooster/Archive 1

Original performance
I thought that the original performance was by howlin' wolf instead of dixon himself... What's the truth? --128.214.205.4 12:09, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Looks like you're right Pawnkingthree 13:21, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

I need accurate, referenced recording info
This article only cites the source for the R&R Hall of Fame reference. Does anyone actually have the liner notes for the Howlin' Wolf recording? Online record sellers promise that they're extensive (in the Chess Box release), with recording info for each track, but they won't let me peek.

Trying to figure out whether they used two guitars or an effects pedal or what. One is clean and warm, the other has a good bit of gain and the strings are brighter sounding. The timbre could easily be changed on the fly by switching pickups, but the gain would be hard to do without some sort of effects device. Did they have gain/fuzz pedals in 1961? Checked the effects pedal article and there's no history section. Two electric guitars played with slides would be odd, but I swear it sounds like one uses a glass slide and the other is metal. Maybe I'm crazy. This article credits Hubert Sumlin as the only guitarist on the track. It also says Wolf plays harmonica in the recording. I must have listened to it 300 times and there's definitely no harp, unless they go on and jam after the verses are done, which it sounds like they might since it just cuts out. It would be strange for Howlin' Wolf not to play guitar on a recording unless he actually was blowing harp.

And while we're at it; I could be mistaken, but the recording sounds like there's just one monophonic mic in the middle of the studio and no mixer-board; so they just pointed the guitar amp at the mic I guess, and "mixed" the sound by moving toward or away from the mic. The bass and drums are just barely audible. That's pretty primitive for 1961, even for a black music label. What were those Chess brothers doing? And yet it's still an amazing sounding recording of a great song. Ala&#39; adDeen (talk) 07:40, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Littleredrooster.jpg
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BetacommandBot 03:30, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

US ban/boycott is a myth
This myth was dreamed up by the Stones' PR machine to enhance their "bad boys" image.


 * Why ban/boycott the Stones and not Sam Cooke?
 * Sam Cooke's "Little Red Rooster" (with the same Willie Dixon lyrics) was a hit in 1963, reaching #11 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, which signifies considerable radio airplay.


 * Why allow it on TV if it had been banned/boycotted on radio?
 * The Stones performed "Little Red Rooster" in 1965 on the Ed Sullivan Show (a very popular prime-time family-oriented variety show). 1965 network television was probably more conservative than radio, yet the censors allowed it.


 * Sexual implications?
 * More explicit songs had been aired on radio and TV. On the Stone's first US TV appearance (Dean Martin Show June 1964), they played "I Just Want To Make Love To You" which is much more to the point than "Little Red Rooster" and again the network censors let it pass.


 * What would US radio be banning/boycotting?
 * "Little Red Rooster" was never issued as a single in the US. 1964 Top 40 radio was based on pushing singles; imported singles or album-only tracks (LRR was included on 2/13/65 album Rolling Stones Now!) weren't part of the format.

A more likely explanation for not releasing "Little Red Rooster" as a single is a business one - market saturation. The Stones released 16 singles in the US 1964-1966 (versus 9 in the UK for the same period). With Sam Cooke's recent hit with the same song, the record execs decided to go with something else.

Ojorojo (talk) 20:21, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Nice work on the article there, Ojorojo - I started this as a stub and it's so much better than I ever could have made it. --Pawnkingthree (talk) 22:07, 10 April 2009 (UTC)