Slow Poke

Slow Poke

"Slow Poke" is a popular song. It is credited to three writers: Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, and Chilton Price. Actually Price wrote the song in 1951, as she thought the song described her friend, King, very well. King recorded the song and Stewart did the vocal. Price gave rights to the other two in exchange for publicity, as she felt she knew nothing about the music distribution business. The song did so well commercially that when Price wrote the song "You Belong to Me" the next year, she felt she could do better by ceding partial credit for authorship to King and Stewart than trying to publicize the song herself, so that song as well was credited to King, Stewart, and Price, though Price was the sole author.cite news|url=http://www.cincypost.com/2002/sep/27/cloon092702.html|title=To Chilton goes all the credit|author=Nick Clooney|first=Nick|last=Clooney|authorlink=Nick Clooney|work=The Cincinnati Post|publisher=E. W. Scripps Company|date=2002-09-27|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050817174123/http://www.cincypost.com/2002/sep/27/cloon092702.html|archivedate=2005-08-17]

The recording by Pee Wee King was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 21-0489 (78rpm) and 48-0489 (45 rpm). It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on October 21, 1951 and lasted 22 weeks on the chart, peaking at #3. cite book
last = Whitburn
first = Joel
authorlink = Joel Whitburn
title = Top Pop Records 1940-1955
publisher = Record Research
year = 1973 ] It was his only crossover from the country genre to score on the pop chart. It first reached the country charts on September 21, 1951 and lasted 31 weeks, peaking at #1 and remaining there for 15 weeks. cite book
last = Whitburn
first = Joel
authorlink = Joel Whitburn
title = Top Country Singles 1944-1988
publisher = Record Research
year = 1989 ]

The next-best known version was the recording by Arthur Godfrey, which was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39632. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 28, 1951 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #12. This song was one side of a two-sided hit; the flip side, "Dance Me Loose," also reached #12.

The version by Hawkshaw Hawkins, which was released by King Records (USA) as catalog number 998, reached #7 on the country charts, having first charted on December 8, 1951. It lasted 4 weeks on the charts.

The recording by Helen O'Connell was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1837. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 7, 1951 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #16.

The recording by Roberta Lee was released by Decca Records as catalog number 27792. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 7, 1951 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #28.

The recording by Ralph Flanagan was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4373 (78rpm) and 47-4373 (45 rpm). It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on January 18, 1952 and lasted 2 weeks on the chart, peaking at #29.

The recording by Tiny Hill was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 5740. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on January 4, 1952 at #30, in its only week on the chart.

In the United Kingdom the song was called "Slow Coach." The lyric was changed to fit the British title, wherever the title occurs in the lyric. Pee Wee King also recorded a version with that title, with the major British versions being by Johnny Brandon and the Ray Ellington Quartet.

Yet another recording made by Pee Wee King used the title "Slow Bloke" (and appropriate lyric changes). This would seem to have been made for the British market ("bloke" being a British word) but since all other British versions (and the previously-mentioned King recording) use the title "Slow Coach" the actual reason for this recording is unclear.

This song was sampled for the song "Punk" by British singer Red Face in 2007.

Recorded versions

* As "Slow Poke":
**The Ray Conniff Singers (1964)
**Ralph Flanagan and his orchestra (vocals: The Singing Winds) (1951)
**Arthur Godfrey (1951)
**Tiny Hill (1951)
**Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys (1951)
**Roberta Lee (1951)
**Helen O'Connell (1951)
* As "Slow Coach":
**Johnny Brandon
**Dyd Dean
**The Ray Ellington Quartet
**Dinah Kaye
**Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys
**The Radio Revellers (1951)
* As "Punk":
**Red FaceJimmie Rodgers in the mid-1960s.

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • slow|poke — «SLOH POHK», noun. Informal. a very slow person or thing …   Useful english dictionary

  • slow-poke — intransitive verb Etymology: slow poke : to go like a slowpoke slow poked up and down the river Louis Armstrong …   Useful english dictionary

  • slow-poke, you —    An American variant of ‘slow coach’, used of a person who is moving too slowly, according to the speaker. The ‘poke’ is difficult to explain, but may refer to the slow movement of a poke horse, where ‘poke’ refers to the packs, or bags, being… …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

  • slow·poke — /ˈsloʊˌpoʊk/ noun, pl pokes [count] US informal : a person who moves, acts, or works very slowly We re going to be late if that slowpoke doesn t hurry up. called also (Brit) slowcoach …   Useful english dictionary

  • poke — poke; poke·lo·gan; shike·poke; shite·poke; slow·poke; more·poke; poke·lo·ken; …   English syllables

  • slow — fore·slow; for·slow; slow; slow·hound; slow·ish; slow·ly; slow·ness; slow·poke; slow·worm; …   English syllables

  • poke|sy — «POHK see», adjective. slow moving; easygoing. ╂[variant of pokey2] …   Useful english dictionary

  • poke — poke1 pokable, adj. /pohk/, v., poked, poking, n. v.t. 1. to prod or push, esp. with something narrow or pointed, as a finger, elbow, stick, etc.: to poke someone in the ribs. 2. to make (a hole, one s way, etc.) by or as by prodding or pushing.… …   Universalium

  • poke — poke1 [pəuk US pouk] v ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(with a finger/stick etc)¦ 2¦(through a space/hole)¦ 3¦(be seen)¦ 4 poke a hole 5 poke holes in something 6 poke fun at somebody 7 poke your nose into something 8 poke the fire 9¦(sex)¦ Phrasal verbs 　 …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • poke — Synonyms and related words: Roman candle, aid to navigation, alarm, amber light, amble, arouse, assault, awaken, bag, balefire, balloon, bang, bash, bat, beacon, beacon fire, bear, bear upon, bearing, beat the bushes, beat the drum, beating,… …   Moby Thesaurus

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