"Raunchy" is an instrumental by American

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

artist Bill Justis, co-written with Sidney Manker and produced by

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...

. The tune, from the album ''Cloud 9'', was released as a single on the record label Phillips International Records, a sub-label of

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

, on September 23, 1957.

History

"Raunchy" is one of the first rock songs to use the "twangy" lead guitar effect, which was later developed by others and became common for several years following its first appearance. In 1958, a then fifteen-year-old

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

performed it for

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

on the top deck of a bus in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and was so note-perfect that Lennon decided, despite earlier reservations about Harrison's age, to let him into his band

the Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the ...

, which later became

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Other versions

Justis recorded another rendition of the tune in 1962, in stereo and with considerably different guitar, for his album ''Bill Justis Plays 12 More Big Instrumental Hits''. He recorded it once more in 1969, for his album ''Raunchy & Other Great Instrumentals''. Competing with Justis's release in 1957 were renditions by

Billy Vaughn William Vaughn, popularly known as Billy Vaughn (born Richard Smith Vaughn, April 12, 1919 – September 26, 1991) was an American musician, singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records. Biography Vaughn was bor ...

and

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop music, pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. B ...

. Freeman's version was his biggest solo success, reaching No. 4 on the

Billboard 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), ...

in 1957, No. 1 on the R&B singles chart, and No. 11 on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singles chart in 1958. Justis' version charted in the UK in 1958 at No. 11, beating an interpretation by Ken Mackintosh which charted at No. 23. Soon after the hit, guitarist

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...

and producer Lee Hazlewood took it upon themselves to develop that style to an ultimate degree. They greatly enhanced the

reverberation In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflection (physics), reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then de ...

in their recordings, creating a far-from-light lead guitar sound. Eddy started with the big hit " Rebel Rouser" in 1958; he later made a recording of "Raunchy" for the

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

album ''Twangin' the Golden Hits'' in 1965. The Jimmy Bowen Orchestra and Chorus released a version as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their 1967 single " It's Such a Pretty World Today". "Raunchy" has been recorded by many artists, including

the Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

, Al Caiola, Ace Cannon, Billy Strange, the Bill Smith Combo (also known as Tommy & the Tom Toms),

Santo & Johnny Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941). They are known best for their instrum ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

, and the Incredible Bongo Band. Years later, while working on the '' Beatles Anthology'' project in 1994, the three surviving Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

) played the tune during a jam session, it having been the song that landed George a spot in the early version of the group.

Chart positions

Bill Justis

Ernie Freeman

References