Ten Favorite Insects and Creepy Crawling Things Songs: Bo Weevil (#5)

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As we move from summer (it was 81 today here) to winter (forecast high of 41 tomorrow) I'll give you something else to bug you: a bug song! Here's another song on my list of favorite songs that mention some kind of insect or other icky thing in the title. #5: Bo Weevil - Fats Domino Let me start with my history with this song. When I was little my parents had Teresa Brewer's Greatest Hits, the re-recorded versions of her hit songs on Phillips Records. One of the songs on that album was her rendition of "Bo Weevil." I have to admit that I like that version better than her original Coral Records rendition. Why? Because friends don't let friend clap on one and three! (The Coral recording features people clapping their hands on the wrong beat. Can't believe professional musicians let that go out.) But that rendition of the song originated with Fats Domino. And where the actual song originated from....sheesh, who knows. A boll weevil (or boweavil) is a cotton-eating beetle (no, not a Beatle ). So, like the blue tail fly, let's make a song about it! Unlike the blue tail fly, though, where nobody cares that Jimmy's cracking corn, the boll weevil song has been around for a century or so. Leadbelly is generally credited with popularizing the song, but there are variations of the song that predate Leadbelly's rendition. From there, you can find everything from a comical version by Homer & Jethro to a "talking blues" version by Brook Benton that charted in 1961. So Fats took the ol' boll weevil and put him at a hoedown ("on Saturday nights where I was born down on the farm, guitars pickin' and we started singin' till the break of dawn"). And, oh, did it hit me. I've loved this song for going on 50 years. I have Fats' version and the re-recorded Teresa Brewer rendition on my iPod. I took the Coral Records version off, though...because friends don't let friends clap on one and three. Fats Domino will celebrate his 89th birthday on Sunday (2/26). Celebrate with a great Fats song that you may not have heard in a long time (if ever). Bo Weevil Written by Fats Domino and Dave Abernathy Recorded by Fats Domino From Rockin' and Rollin' With Fats Domino, 1956 Up steps ol' Jones: