Lawdy Miss Clawdy

Lloyd Price (1952). Excerpt from "The 50 Songs that Gave Birth to Rock and Roll"

Born in a suburb of New Orleans in 1933, Price worked for a local radio station in his teens, providing his soulful singing to its advertisement jingles. Borrowing a catchphrase from the DJ who employed him, Price began performing concise variations of “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” on the air. It was well-received by listeners, so Price expanded it into a full-length song and made it a regular part of his radio appearances.

The song brought Price to the attention of the soon-to-be groundbreaking New Orleans label, Specialty. The tune itself was notably derivative of Fats Domino’s “The Fat Man,” and Champion Jack Dupree’s “Junker’s Blues,” but the arrangement, accompaniment, and approach would make this the next stage in the Crescent City’s rising rock and roll profile.

Presided over by producer Dave Bartholomew (arguably as determinant an architect as there is in the trademark sound of Rampart Street), Price was paired with a band of future all-stars.

Particularly, Fats Domino’s rolling piano lead-in, Earl Palmer’s backbeat drumming, and Price’s own yelping plaint would make this the most significant recording yet for all involved. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” would land on the top slot of the R&B Billboard charts, ultimately spending half of 1952 occupying its upper reaches. Though the record never crossed over onto the Pop charts, it sold over a million copies, moving quickly with Black and white audiences alike.

Imitators were legion, with nearly everything that came out of New Orleans over the next several years closely resembling the approach refined on “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Bartholomew and Domino would thereafter collaborate on a number of the most definitive records to come out of New Orleans during the rock and roll era.

Lloyd Price would chart a number of important hits over the coming decades, including the definitive rock and roll era take on blues murder saga “Stagger Lee” (aka “Stag-o-Lee”) in 1959.

In addition to touring and performing, Price would also find success as an entrepreneur, working at one point in housing development and even collaborating with boxing promoter Don King to manage the early career of legendary prizefighter Muhammad Ali.

Price was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and passed away from complications related to diabetes in 2021, at the age of 88. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” has been either “borrowed” or covered by everybody from Little Richard and the Beatles to Conway Twitty and the Replacements, though this cut by Elvis is probably the best-known among them.

See the full list of 50 Songs that Gave Birth to Rock and Roll