Which one is your favorite? - LIV -

I noticed that I have only written about a few songs from the 50s. So, here is a loved one from 1956. It 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 for his debut album, Fever (1956), and released as a single in April of the same year.

Here is the song for this week;

"Fever"

The song managed to top the Billboard R&B Best Sellers in the US and peak at number 24 on the Billboard pop chart. 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 1958 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.

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." John Davenport, the name he used, was the name of Blackwell's stepfather. 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. It became the title track for his debut album, Fever, released in 1956.

"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 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".

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Peggy Lee - "Fever"

• Beyoncé - "Fever"

• Madonna - "Fever"

• Leon Russell - "Fever"

• Michael Bublé - "Fever"

• Musica Nuda - "Fever"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.