"Poor Little Fool" is a song written by Sharon Sheeley and first recorded by

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he began a ...

in 1958.

Background

Sheeley wrote the song when she was 15 years old. She had met

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, and he encouraged her to write. It was based on her disappointment following a short-lived relationship with

Don Everly Isaac Donald Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) was an American musician. Everly was one-half of the singing duo The Everly Brothers alongside his younger brother Phil Everly, Phil. Early life Don was born in Brownie, Kentucky on Febru ...

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

. Sheeley sought

to record the tune. She drove to his house, and claimed her car had broken down. He came to her aid, and she sprang the song on him. Her version was at a much faster tempo than his recording. The song was recorded by Ricky Nelson on April 17, 1958, and released on Imperial Records through its catalog number: 5528. The recording features the background vocals of the

Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, V ...

. On August 4, 1958, it became the first number-one song on ''Billboard'' magazine's then-new

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart, replacing the magazine's Jockeys and Top 100 charts. It spent two weeks at the number-one spot. It also reached the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Country and Rhythm and Blues charts. Following its success, Sheeley worked with

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

. "Poor Little Fool" became a radio hit when it was released as part of a four-song extended-play 45 rpm disc, which was excerpted from the artist's second LP, ''

''. Responding to the buzz, Lew Chudd, the founder and head of Imperial Records, rushed out a single version (on both 45 and 78 rpm). Nelson objected, however, believing that the move would hurt sales of the EP. Under his contract with Imperial, the singer had approval rights for all picture-sleeve art, so to express his displeasure with Chudd's decision, he chose not to select a photograph for the "Poor Little Fool" single. As a result, "Poor Little Fool" was the only Ricky Nelson single released by Imperial to be issued in the United States without a photo in a plain-label, cut-out sleeve.

Critical reception

'' Cashbox'' called the song a "beautiful rock-a-ballad that should jump into the winners' circle in short order". Tom Breihan of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' called "Poor Little Fool" a "negligible midtempo bopper" with a whiny vocal performance and a "staid plonk" of a rhythm.

Charts

Other versions

*The "Dodgers" and Johnny Angel released a cover version of the song in 1958 on Skyway 45-119-AA. *

The Fleetwoods The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). Early history The band ...

recorded a version in 1962 on their album ''The Best Goodies of the Oldies''. * Terry Black released a version of the song in 1965 on his debut album, '' Only 16'', and it reached number six in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. * Frank Mills released a version in 1972 in Canada. It was one of two of his mainly instrumental recordings to include his own vocals. *

References

{{Authority control 1958 songs 1958 singles 1965 singles Songs written by Sharon Sheeley Ricky Nelson songs The Fleetwoods songs Terry Black songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Imperial Records singles

Background

Critical reception

Charts

Other versions

See also

References