Sing along to the doo-wop tune of ‘Peanuts’

Updating an earlier collection of Wagnabbit columns on peanuts, here is some recent input from a loyal reader:

“Reading about Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts and Hampton Farms (I have a bag of their roasted, unsalted in my house right now – a favorite) and all this talk of peanuts reminded me of the song from back in 1957, which was another favorite of a lot of us – ‘Peanuts’ – originally by Little Joe Cook & The Thrillers in true R&B style!”

“It’s great shag or bop music and fun to sing. Brought some great memories of my senior year at Central High.”

Blogger John Holton, who describes himself as an “internet DJ and inveterate wise guy,” is a big fan of Little Joe Cook, too.

 

Cook, who was born in 1922 in South Philadelphia, Pa., wrote “Peanuts” in 1957 and sang the lead in a falsetto voice. “The song reached No. 22 on the national pop chart and earned the group an appearance on ‘American Bandstand,’” Holton said.

Cook’s falsetto is said to have influenced Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons. The group covered “Peanuts” in 1963.

 

The Four Seasons in 1963 in New York City. They are, clockwise from the top, Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio. 

Rick & The Keens, a male-female doo-wop group from Wichita Falls, Texas, covered “Peanuts” in 1961, and the record stayed in the top 100 for 16 weeks.

Little Joe Cook started singing in church. His grandmother was a Baptist preacher. By the time he was 12, Little Joe and three cousins had formed a gospel vocal quartet, the Evening Stars, who had a one-hour weekly radio show in Philadelphia. In 1951 the group recorded “Say A Prayer for the Boys in Korea.”

Little Joe transitioned to secular rhythm and blues music, and he formed a doo-wop vocal group, known as The Thrillers. 

Their first single in 1956, “Let’s Do the Slop,” was a regional hit, introducing a new dance craze. (It was popularized in the 1957 lyrics to “At the Hop,” released by Danny and the Juniors.)

Little Joe Cook came ever so close to eternal rock ‘n’ roll fame.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Henry Wallace, a native of Williamston, N.C., in Martin County, also grew up in the music business in Philadelphia about the same time as Little Joe Cook. Wallace was one of the Sensational Nightingales in 1957 when he wrote a song called “The Twist.”

 

Unwilling, as a gospel singer, to perform a secular dance number, Wallace handed off the song to Little Joe to take to his record company, according to Bob Marovich, a gospel music historian.

Cook was under contract with Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records, Marovich said. Executives rejected the song as being “too suggestive.”

Cook later remarked: “I wish I’d had the money to produce it myself. Instead, the Nightingales gave it to Hank Ballard. He was with King Records, where you could put on anything.”

 

Hank Ballard tweaked the music a tad and copyrighted “The Twist” in 1958. His recording of the song enjoyed modest chart success.

“The Twist” became a smash hit, however, when Chubby Checker recorded it in 1960. His version of “The Twist” spawned an enormously popular dance craze…and a pile of “twist” songs by numerous artists.

 

Undaunted, Little Joe Cook eventually found his way to Cambridge, Mass., where he performed regularly to entertain patrons at the Cantab Lounge from 1980 until he retired in 2007. (Cook died in 2014, at age 91.)

 

He was known for his banana-yellow Cadillac Seville with custom rims, fins and a vanity plate that read, “Nut Man,” for his signature song.

 

But he is remembered as “the ultimate entertainer,” said Joe Bellomo, a long-time drummer with The Thrillers.

Cook knew how to work a crowd and read the room, said guitarist Candido “Candy” Delgado. “Every time it was different, and he knew what to do.”