SONG OF THE DAY Little Richard – Hurry Sundown

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WOW!!!!!!! What a mighty, massive incredible spine-trembler we have here!!!!! I’d never heard this song before, but Better Call Saul had me breaking in my tracks when this little winner came on in one of its episodes last night!!! What a whopping great heart-shaker this is!!! I’m a little late to the party, I know, and if you’ve seen Better Call Saul, you may have heard this back in 2017…but I always get there in the end!!

Most of the time when we think of Little Richard, we think of him singing songs like Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, and Good Golly, Miss Molly, so when dived for the Shazam and found out the crazy cool and completely tear-jerking number was a Little Richard song, I was pleasantly surprised! I’m not saying I don’t like his other songs, on the contrary, but this is in a different league!!

Hurry Sundown was written by songwriter, Buddy Kaye and bandleader/film composer, Hugo Montenegro in the early 1960’s. There have been a few versions recorded over the years (though not as many as I’d expected), but Little Richard was the first to record and release this! Issued as the b-side to his I Don’t Want to Discuss It, this is by far the most superior of the two tracks (in fact, if I’d have heard just the a-side, I may never have bothered to even listen to its flip side). The 45 was released by US label, Okeh Records in 1967 and I think its fair to say that Hurry Sundown isn’t as well-known as it should be?? I don’t know, I’m just going by Youtube comments…It seems to have been a hidden gem??..but GEM it is!! Richard’s vocals are sublime, touching upon the realms of gospel!!

In fact, if you listen to any of the other versions (Harry Belefonte 1967, The Free Design 1969, Usha Iyer 1969) you may not have even given the song a second chance??? Little Richard breathes life into this like no other!!! It’s an absolute monster..but the kind you don’t mind swallowing you up!! Enjoy!!