Discovery

The brief time between the dawn of the first wave or Rock N Rollers, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and many others and the coming of the Beatles is often depicted as a musical wasteland. Nothing could be further from the truth. Great records by artists such as Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson and Del Shannon carried the Rock N Roll torch. The first record I ever owned was by an African American singer by the name of Larry Williams who wrote three songs recorded by the Beatles (Slow Down, Bad Boy and Dizzy Miss Lizzie). All were sung by John Lennon who loved his records. The Rolling Stones recorded "She Said Yeah." Probably the his biggest hit was a tune called Bony Maronie. The one I owned as one of my first records, which showed up mysteriously as a 45 was Larry's first million seller "Short Fat Fannie which charted number 5 pop on Billboard but number 1 on the RnB charts. The combination of the novelty lyrics (4 year olds love the word "fanny"-it's like the first obscenity you learn) and cool musical qualities, great vocals, reminiscent of a slightly more subdued Little Richard, and a cool band sealed the deal. The record even name-checked the song titles of other classic Rock N Roll songs. How cool was that?

You'd think somebody who had songs on 3 Beatles albums, and 1 Stones album would be living the Life of Bill O'Reilly! Not so. Like a lot of early rockers, Larry was ripped off by publishers and record companies, and ended up frequently penniless. He went to jail for dealing narcotics and once pulled a gun on Little Richard who was his best friend because Little Richard owed him money, allegedly for cocaine. He was found shot to death on January 7, 1980 and it was unclear whether his death was murder or suicide. 

Mysteriously some guy by the name of Martin Allbritton assumed Larry's identity after he was found dead and toured under the Williams name. Even recorded some music as Larry Williams. The family had to slap him with a cease and desist order!