Remember When Pat Boone Covered This Early Little Richard Hit in 1956?
Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” became his first major hit in 1955, and Pat Boone released a more sanitised cover version the following year. The article highlights how Boone’s recording helped take the song to mainstream pop audiences, while also illustrating the racial divisions between rhythm-and-blues and pop markets at the time.
Little Richard said he began writing the song while working as a dishwasher at a Greyhound bus station, using its famous nonsensical opening as an expression of workplace frustration. Boone’s version, included on his debut album, reached the Top 15 and altered some lyrics; he said his covers of Little Richard and Fats Domino songs sold around ten times more than their R&B hits, introducing the artists’ music to white pop listeners.
- Pat Boone covered Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” in 1956.
- Boone’s revised version became a Top 15 hit.
- The cover reflected racial barriers in the 1950s music industry.
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“Tutti Frutti” was one of the recordings that helped establish Little Richard as a leading figure in early rock and roll. Released in 1955, its fast piano, forceful singing and distinctive “a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop” opening made it influential far beyond its original rhythm-and-blues audience.
Pat Boone was a white American pop singer who recorded cover versions of songs first made by Black rhythm-and-blues artists. His 1956 version of “Tutti Frutti” used altered lyrics and a smoother style, and sold strongly in the mainstream pop market.
At the time, US record companies, radio stations and charts often separated music by race and audience. Boone’s cover is therefore often discussed as an example of how Black artists’ songs reached wider white audiences, while the original performers did not always receive the same commercial recognition.