Sally Go 'Round the Roses

Infobox Single
Name = Sally Go 'Round the Roses


Artist = The Jaynetts
from Album = Sally Go 'Round the Roses
B-side = (Instrumental)
Released = 1963
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1962
Genre = Pop, Dance, Soul, R&B
Length = 3:04
Label = Tuff Records
Writer = Malouney, Parkinson
Producer = Abner Spector
Certification = Gold (US)
Last single =
This single = "Sally Go Round the Roses" (1963)
Next single =
Misc =

"Sally Go 'Round the Roses" is the name of a song by The Jaynetts, a vinyl 45 rpm single release that peaked at #2 on the "Billboard" Pop Singles Chart on September 28, 1963. The haunting lyrics were inspired by an old English nursery rhyme.

With a new chorus added to fit the screaming organ and the incessant, funky beat [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wnfoxqugldje~T1] , the lyrics have spawned rumors about their "true" meaning: that they describe the mental breakdown of a young girl who saw her "baby" with "another girl," a closeted lesbian affair, [http://www.history-of-rock.com/jaynetts.htm] or even a religious experience.

The Jaynetts were a combination of singers from The Clickettes and The Hearts organized by J&S Records owner Zelma "Zell" Miller, whose daughter Johnnie Louise Richardson was among the five vocalists on the released version of the song (the other four were Ethel Davis, Mary Sue Wells, Yvonne Bushnell and Ada Ray).

Chess Records Producer Abner Spector put the group into a recording studio for a week, using as many as 20 people on a project that possibly cost a then-unheard of $60,000, Richardson later estimated.

The unique arrangement was the brainchild of Broadway composer Artie Butler, who says that though he never got paid for his work, the record gave him his very first credit as an arranger. He played and separately recorded all the instrumental tracks himself except for the guitar, adding a different kind of reverb for each instrument. The B-side consisted of just the band tracks without vocals.

Cover versions

The song has been recorded by Tim Buckley, Pentangle, Fanny, Henry Kaiser, Holly Golightly, Voice Farm, and Donna Summer, who sang her version while still billed as Donna Gaines. It also appears on The Great Society's "Conspicuous Only in its Absence" live LP.