Released May 1956
Format
45 rpm 78 rpm
Genre Rhythm and blues
Length 2:40
Label King 4935
Writer(s)
Eddie Cooley John Davenport
Producer(s) Henry Glover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fever (Little Willie John song)
“Fever” is a song written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, who used the pseudonym John Davenport. It was originally recorded by American R&B singer Little Willie John in 1956 and released as a single in April of the same year. The song managed to top the Billboard R&B Best Sellers in the US and peak at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was received positively by music critics and included on several lists of the best songs during the time it was released.
It has been covered by numerous artists from various musical genres, most notably by Peggy Lee whose rendition became the most widely known version of “Fever” and the singer’s signature song. Lee’s version contained rewritten lyrics different from the original and an altered music arrangement. It became a top-five hit on the music charts in the UK and Australia in addition to entering the top ten in the US and the Netherlands. “Fever” was nominated in three categories at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Other notable cover versions of “Fever” include those by Elvis Presley, The McCoys, La Lupe, Beyoncé and Madonna. The latter released it as a single from her fifth studio album Erotica (1992) in March 1993 through Warner Bros. It topped the charts in Finland and the Hot Dance Club Songs in the US in addition to charting in the top 50 in many other countries. Madonna promoted “Fever” by filming and releasing a music video directed by Stéphane Sednaoui and performing the song on several television shows as well as her 1993 The Girlie Show World Tour. Various versions of “Fever” by different artists were used in many films, theater plays and television shows.
The idea for “Fever” was presented to Otis Blackwell by an old friend, Eddie Cooley, who in 1956 had a hit song called “Priscilla”. Blackwell said: “Eddie Cooley was a friend of mine from New York and he called me up and said ‘Man, I got an idea for a song called ‘Fever’, but I can’t finish it.’ I had to write it under another name because, at that time, I was still under contract to Joe Davis.” Little Willie John reportedly disliked the song, but was persuaded to record it, on March 1, 1956, by King Records owner Syd Nathan and arranger and producer Henry Glover. “Fever” is a soul and rhythm and blues minor key opus with an arrangement consisting of low saxophones played by Ray Felder and Rufus “Nose” Gore and a jazz guitar by Bill Jennings. The vocal style of Willie John is similar to moaning and he is backed by finger snaps. Bill Dahl from the website AllMusic noted a contrast between the song’s “ominous” arrangement and the vocals along with the finger snapping which “marginally lightened the mood”.
“Fever” was released as a single in April 1956 and became a double-sided hit along with the top-ten R&B song “Letter from My Darling”. “Fever” reached number one for three weeks on the Billboard R&B Best Sellers chart in the United States, peaking at the top on July 21, 1956. It also made the pop charts, peaking at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has sold one million copies in the US. In a consumer review, Robert Christgau described Willie John’s “Fever” as a very “fervid” song. Bill Dahl from the website AllMusic credited “Fever” for winning the “boisterous teen an across-the-board audience” for Willie John. The writer further opined that the singer’s “sweaty case of love-rooted ‘Fever’ was seemingly grave, judging from his riveting intensity, yet he doesn’t sound like he minds at all”. NME magazine listed “Fever” as the 96th best song of the 1950s. In his The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made list published in 1989, critic Dave Marsh ranked “Fever” at the position of 109. The song was included on the greatest hits albums Fever: The Best of Little Willie John (1993) and The Very Best of Little Willie John (2001).
Peggy Lee version
Released June 1958
Format 7″
Genre Jazz
Length 3:21
Label Capitol 3998
Writer(s)
Peggy Lee (lyrics) Eddie Cooley (lyrics) John Davenport (lyrics) Cooley (music) John Davenport (music)
Background and composition
In May 1958, Peggy Lee recorded a cover version of the song in Hollywood, which featured significantly rewritten lyrics composed by Lee herself without credit. “Fever” was not included on Lee’s album Things Are Swingin’ when it was first released in 1959; however it was listed as a bonus track on its 2004 reissue release. The uncopyrighted lyrics by Lee featured historical invokings (including the verses beginning “Romeo loved Juliet,” and “Captain Smith and Pocahontas”) are now generally thought of as a standard part of the song, and have been included in most subsequent covers of “Fever”.
Lee’s cover, most likely arranged by the singer herself (despite the official credit to conductor Jack Marshall) was a more slow-tempo version than the original; it was described as being in “torchy lounge” mode, accompanied only by bass (played by Joe Mondragon) and a very limited drum set (played in part with fingers by Shelly Manne), while the finger snaps were provided by the singer herself, by Howard Roberts, the guitarist for the date, who set aside his guitar for this number, or possibly even by the producer, Dave Cavanaugh. Lee’s rendition was further described as “smooth, sultry”. It is written in the key of A Minor in a medium swing tempo with 135 beats per minute; Lee’s vocals span from the musical note of G3 to B4.
Reception and accolades
A writer of the website NPR deemed “Fever” as Lee’s “most memorable tune” and considered it to be “slinky and inimitable”. He went on to note that it displayed characteristics which were most remembered about the singer – “her playful delivery, charisma and sexuality”. John Bush from the website AllMusic opined that the singer managed to excel in sounding “sizzling” in the song. John Fordham writing for The Guardian felt that the “heated” atmosphere heard on Lee’s version of “Fever”, “has an underlying suggestion that the person raising the temperature for her right now doesn’t have to be the one doing it next week”.
Lee’s version peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and spent a total of 12 weeks on that chart.[20] It set a peak at number five on the UK Singles Chart where it first appeared on August 15, 1958. A reissue of the single charted again in 1992, appearing at 75 and staying for only one week. Elsewhere in Europe, Lee’s “Fever” managed to peak at number eight on January 3, 1959 on the Dutch Singles Chart in Netherlands for five consecutive weeks before falling off the chart. Report and emerged as the twentieth best-selling single of 1958 in that country.
It was nominated in the categories for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards held in 1959. Lee’s cover version of “Fever” became her signature song and her best-known work in addition to becoming her most successful hit. It was ranked at number 100 in the book and the accompanying list 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery. Joey Cohn ranked it as the tenth best jazz vocal in a list of 50 Great Jazz Vocals on NPR