User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/Reet Petite

Production and release

 * Born out of a song snippet that Billy Davis had; a boogie-woogie lick that Davis liked that was inspired by Davis' crush on a girl who already had a boyfriend
 * Gordy recalls "Reet Petite" given to Wilson by Pearl Music and Davis
 * Title is from Louis Jordan's 1947 film Reet, Petite, and Gone
 * Arranged by Dick Jacobs, the then-music director of Decca Records and A&R director with Coral Records
 * Jacobs - recalled Wilson looking quite disheveled and unlike his usual self; as Jacobs recorded the lead sheets for Wilson to sing, he slowly gained respect for the unknown Gordy due to the song's "unusual melody" and "strikingly inventive chord construction"
 * After writing the music down, Jacobs and Wilson figured out what key to record "Reet Petite" in; Wilson claimed he had laryngitis and couldn't sing that day, but promised he could sing in a much higher register than Jacobs was expecting
 * On the day of the recorded, Wilson shocked everyone -- "Jackie Wilson opened his mouth and out poured that sound like honey on moonbeams, and it was like the whole room shifted on some weird axis. The musicians, these meat and potatoes pros, stared at each other slack-jawed and goggle-eyed in disbelief; it was if the purpose of their musical training and woodshedding and lick-spitting had been to guide them into this big studio in the Pythian Temple to experience these pure shivering moments of magic"
 * Recorded on July 31, 1957 at the Pythian Temple recording studio in New York City

Music and lyrics

 * Written in a "stuttering, stop-and-start style", the song is reminiscent of two Elvis Presley songs, "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up", both written by Otis Blackwell

Release and commercial performance

 * As "Reet Petite" rose in popularity, the label further promoted the song by hiring a Detroit model to pose as "Miss Reet Petite" with multiple local disc jockeys
 * "Reet Petite" peaks at US #62 in November 1957, and UK #6 in January 1958
 * Sells over 250,000 copies of the record
 * In December 1986, "Reet Petite" became the Christmas number one single in the United Kingdom that year, usurping "Caravan of Love" by The Housemartins

Critical reception

 * Past reviews
 * A Billboard review of He's So Fine remarked that "Reet Petite" was one of the songs that contributed to a good debut LP by Wilson
 * Tom Kain of the Scottish newspaper The Bulletin states that "quite frankly Jackie is good"
 * A review by The Age stated that the song was "adequately presented" by Wilson
 * A Cash Box review from September 1957 gave it a B+, saying that Wilson "displays his skills with a rockin' novelty as he belts out a gimmick-filled jumper that cuts along at a torrid pace", and that the song was "potent teen-fare that could go big"
 * Retrospective reviews
 * Ken Emerson of The Boston Phoenix - compared unfavorably with James Brown's first single, "Please, Please, Please", saying that Wilson's song "reeks of the antique, and not just because of the title's outdated argot"
 * Perry Meisel, in The Cowboy and the Dandy: Crossing Over from Romanticism to Rock and Roll - praises Wilson's ability to sing effortlessly in both his natural tenor range, as well as in falsetto
 * "Wilson's technical prowess alone is remarkable, but its chief feature—a tenor singer's command of falsetto registers—is what makes him an exceptional to the potential banalities of the customary tradition of tenor singing alone."

Music video

 * While Wilson never recorded an official music video for "Reet Petite", an animated music video was released after his death
 * Animation was done by British animation studio Giblets (Michael Olley, Mike Sumpter, Carol and Rob MacGillivray) - Sumpter, Olley, and Rob MacGillivray were studying graphic design at St. Martin's College of Art, and teamed up with Rob's sister when they graduated
 * Known for creating music videos, motion graphics, short films
 * Giblets made the music video as part of the studio's demo reel to show prospective record companies; "Reet Petite" was chosen due to its unusual lyrics
 * Made the models in clay rather than plasticine because it was easier to them to sculpt a larger-than-life head
 * The music video was made in seven days on 35mm film; the only costs were for film and lighting, and everything else was donated as a favor (e.g. it was shot in Rob's parents attic)
 * Achieved popularity in the United Kingdom after airing on Video Jukebox on BBC2 (some sources mention Arena as the series it played on)