"Little Devil" is a song written by

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

and

Howard Greenfield Howard Greenfield (March 15, 1936 – March 4, 1986) was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including o ...

which was released by Sedaka as a single in 1961. The title track of Sedaka's 1961 album ''

Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits ''Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits'' is a solo album by Neil Sedaka released in 1961 immediately after the cover versions of earlier hits in '' Circulate''. Track listing All tracks composed by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield; ...

'', it was a hit, reaching #11 in the US

Billboard Charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

. The personnel on the song included:

Al Caiola Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of t ...

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He worked for NBC as a staffman from 1964, including for Dick Cavett (1971) and ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). Musicians he collaborate ...

and Charles Macy on guitar;

George Duvivier George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist. Biography Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...

on bass; Phil Kraus on percussion;

David "Panama" Francis David Albert "Panama" Francis (December 21, 1918 – November 13, 2001) was an American swing jazz drummer who played on numerous hit recordings in the 1950s. Early life Francis was born in Miami, Florida, on December 21, 1918. His father was ...

on drums; Romeo Penque, Sol Schlinger and Herman Yorks on saxophone; Jack Keller and Ernie Hayes on piano; and

Harry Lookofsky Harry William Lookofsky (1 October 1913 – 8 June 1998) was an American jazz violinist. He was also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, who most notably was a founding member of the Left Banke and Stories. Early life and fa ...

, Julius Held,

David Nadien David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noise ...

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

Arnold Eidus Arnold Eidus (28 November 1922 – 3 June 2013) was a concert violinist and recording artist. Life Eidus's father (Harry Eidus, 1897–1984), a Jewish immigrant from Dvinsk, Latvia, was a violinist; his mother (Sadie "Sonia" Birkenfeld, 1901–1 ...

and Julius Brand on violins.

Other language versions

"Little Devil" was Sedaka's first song to be translated into Italian – "Esagerata". It was also translated into German ("Crazy Daisy"), Spanish ("Diablito") and in French by Les Gendarmes ("Petit Démon"). Danish and Finnish versions were also recorded.

References

External links

"Little Devil"
at 45cat.com 1961 singles 1961 songs Neil Sedaka songs Songs with lyrics by Howard Greenfield Songs written by Neil Sedaka {{1960s-pop-song-stub