THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

757-Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps-Be-Bop-a-Lula.

1956-Number 16 single.

Best Bit-At 1.48.’White face, black shirt, white socks, black shoes, black hair, white strat, bled white, died black.’

‘Be-Bop-a-Lula’ is considered to be an early example of ‘Rockabilly’ music. Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of Rock ‘N Roll music, dating back to the early 1950’s in the United States, especially in the South.As a genre it blends the sound of Country music, with Rhythm and Blues, the term ‘Rockabilly’ derives from Rock and Roll, and ‘Hillbilly,’ a term used to describe Country music in the 1940’s, and 1950’s.

There are several different versions as to who wrote the song, and where the idea came from, probably all drummed up for publicity, but Gene Vincent has claimed that he wrote the words, inspired by the comic strip in the 1935 American magazine ‘The Saturday Evening Post.’Official songwriting credit is given to Vincent, and his manager at the time Bill ‘Sheriff Tex’ Davis.

In 1956 ‘Capitol Records’ were looking for a young singer to rival Elvis Presley.’Be-Bop-a-Lula’ was released in June 1956, and by April 1957 had sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Gene Vincent was born Vincent Eugene Craddock on May 26th, 1935, in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, over the course of his short life, he lived up to his bad boy image, having several altercations with fire arms, and suffering from drug, and alcohol abuse.In 1955 he was involved in a car accident, which left his left leg shattered, giving him pain for the rest of his life. On April 16th, 1960, Vincent was a passenger in the car that accident that killed fellow Rock ‘N Roll star Eddie Cochran (see also best songs 422 and 50.) Vincent broke his ribs, and collarbone, and further damaged his weakened leg, he died at the age of 36, on October 12th, 1971, from a ruptured stomach ulcer.

‘Well she’s the gal in the red blue jeans, she’s the queen of all the teens.’