Ready Teddy by Little Richard

Album: Here's Little Richard (1956)

Charted: 44

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Songfacts®:

Released as the flip side to "Rip It Up," this song was also written by the white songwriter Johnny Marascalco, with Little Richard's producer Bumps Blackwell also getting a composer credit. Kids didn't tell their parents, but the song is about a girl who wants sex: a "ready teddy."
Little Richard claims that he had a big part in writing this song, but didn't have enough business sense to claim a credit. In a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, he said: "They brought me the words and I made up the melody, and at the time I didn't have sense enough to claim so much money, because I really made them hits. I didn't get the money, but I still have the freedom."

Comments: 2

Raunchy from Tulsa, OkLittle Richard released many singles during just his career at Specialty Records & during that time sold approx. 36 million units. Remarkable for those times. Back in '56, as a kid, I didn't have an inking what a ready teddy meant, until much later. Sex, sex, sex. And as the old adage goes: sex sells. Little Richard injected it into most of his hits, especially "The Girl Can't Help It!" and "Good Golly Miss Molly." Yeah.....you sure like to ball. "Ready Teddy" was a hotty on the R&B radio stations down here in '56. Being a kid then, I wasn't allowed to have a record player or records. But when all heck broke loose in 1960 with The Twist, my parents just gave up fighting against rock & roll. So I got my new record player & I hunted down old albums of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Bo Diddley. Real rock & roll.
Elmer H from Westville, OkWow! Little Richard's "Rip It Up" and "Ready Teddy" do bring back good memories of 1956 when rock-n-roll was young. I was just a 9 year old kid in 1956 & had recently gotten hooked on rock-n-roll on the radio and on "American Bandstand." Just a few years ago, I was fortunate to see Little Richard in concert in Fayetteville, Arkansas and was blown-away by his charisma on stage and his sound. He's still "got it!" Wow!!

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