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‘Ooh! My Soul’: Yet Another Rocking Specialty From Little Richard

After ‘Good Golly, Miss Molly,’ Richard was on the radio and in the charts with another unique Specialty single, ‘Ooh! My Soul.’

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Little Richard 'Ooh! My Soul' artwork - Courtesy: UMG
Little Richard 'Ooh! My Soul' artwork - Courtesy: UMG

By the middle of 1958, the whirlwind of success that had made Little Richard one of the most exciting stars of the original rock’n’roll era had peaked. In a two-and-a-half-year period, he had logged four US Top 10 hits and at least another half-dozen absolute classics of that, or any, era in pop history.

After “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” Richard would never hit the Top 10 in America again. But he was on the radio and in the charts with another Specialty single performed as only he could, “Ooh! My Soul.” Twinned with “True Fine Mama” the single entered the pop chart earlier in June and then, on the last day of that month in 1958, it debuted on Billboard’s R&B listings.

Little Richard: Oh My Soul

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“Ooh! My Soul” was a Little Richard original, credited to his real songwriting name of Richard Penniman. A typically dynamic rocker, it deserved much better than its No.31 peak on the US pop chart, although it did manage No.15 on the R&B side and became a Top 30 hit in the UK.

Reaching across the Atlantic

Richard’s influence, as ever, spread far and wide. Young rock pin-up Ritchie Valens recorded a version of the song for his debut album in that same year of 1958, amusingly renaming it “Ooh! My Head.” Meanwhile, who should be listening admiringly, across the Atlantic, but the young men who would become The Beatles.

Follow the 50s playlist for more classic 50s songs.

Paul McCartney has often spoken of incorporating Richard’s trademark “whooos” into his style, and in August 1963, The Beatles recorded their version of “Ooh! My Soul” at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester for a BBC radio show. Their rendition would eventually be released three decades later on the 1994 Live At The BBC compilation.

Ooh! My Soul (Live At The BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 27th August, 1963)

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Buy or stream “Ooh! My Soul” on The Very Best of Little Richard.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Martin Brynildsen

    July 1, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    I had every Specialty Little Richard 45 (and some 78s) in the Fifties. I bought this one (with that sleeve on it), /As I recall, this was the last release, at the time, as he had retired to the ministry. “True Fine Mama” was an older number which had never been released on single. IMO “Ooh! My Soul’ didn’t measure up to the excitement of so many of his other efforts.

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