"Chantilly Lace" is a 1958

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

song by

The Big Bopper Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American singer, songwriter and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include " Chantilly Lace" and " White Lightning", the latter of w ...

. It was produced by

Jerry Kennedy Jerry Glenn Kennedy (born 10 August 1940)Cusic, Don. (1998) "Jerry Kennedy". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–278. is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar pla ...

, and reached No. 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was also covered by

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

in 1972.

History

Originally cut for

Pappy Daily Harold W. Daily (February 8, 1902 – December 5, 1987), better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records. Daily worked with many of the well-kn ...

's D label, the recording was purchased by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

and reissued in the summer of 1958, just over six months after

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

released "

Sweet Little Sixteen "Sweet Little Sixteen" is a rock and roll song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry, who released it as a single in January 1958. His performance of it at that year's Newport Jazz Festival was included in the documentary film ''Jazz on a Summ ...

", which uses the same chord progression. The song was originally released as the flip side to "The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor", which parodied "

The Purple People Eater "The Purple People Eater" is a novelty song written and performed by Sheb Wooley, which reached No. 1 in the ''Billboard'' pop charts in 1958 from June 9 to July 14, No. 1 in Canada, reached No. 12 overall in the UK Singles Chart, and topped ...

" by Sheb Wooley and "

Witch Doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...

" by

David Seville David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the producer and manager of the fictional singing group ''Alvin and the Chipmunks''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior ...

. The was J.P. Richardson's first release under the moniker The Big Bopper. However, DJs and the public preferred the flip side "Chantilly Lace", and it was this song that became a hit. The song reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent 22 weeks on the national Top 40. It was the third most played song of 1958. On the '' Cash Box'' chart, "Chantilly Lace" reached No. 4.

Lyrics

The song depicts a young man flirting with his girlfriend on the telephone and listing things about her that he likes, including:

Chantilly lace Chantilly lace is a handmade bobbin lace named after the city of Chantilly,"Chantilly" ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989. France, in a tradition dating from the 17th century. The famous silk laces were introduced in the 18th cent ...
and a pretty face
And a pony tail hangin' down
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk
Make the world go 'round.

Charts

Jerry Lee Lewis version

In January 1972,

recorded a version of "Chantilly Lace" at the Mercury studio in Nashville. The recording was done with everyone (10 musicians and 6 backing singers) crowded into the studio as Lewis did not want any overdubbing on the record. The single (with B-side "Think About It Darlin'") was released 6 weeks after it was recorded. It was for three weeks a No. 1 hit on the '' Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart and a top fifty pop hit in the US and a Top 40 pop hit in the UK. The song was included in the album ''

The Killer Rocks On ''The Killer Rocks On'' is an album by Jerry Lee Lewis that was released on Mercury Records in 1972. Background After an uninterrupted string of country smashes, ''The Killer Rocks On'' was a return to Lewis's rock and roll roots. He had attempt ...

Charts

In popular culture

The song inspired an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...

titled "That Makes It", recorded by actress

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

in 1964, and released as the B-side to "

Little Things Mean A Lot "Little Things Mean a Lot" is a popular song, with lyrics by Edith Lindeman and music by Carl Stutz, published in 1953. Lindeman was the leisure editor of the '' Richmond Times-Dispatch,'' and Stutz, a disc jockey from Richmond, Virginia. Stutz ...

". Mansfield performed the song in the 1966 film '' The Las Vegas Hillbillys''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chantilly Lace (song) 1958 songs 1958 debut singles 1972 singles The Big Bopper songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Mitch Ryder songs Mercury Records singles Novelty songs Shorty Long songs Song recordings produced by Jerry Kennedy Songs about telephone calls Songs written by the Big Bopper