♫ Li’l Red Riding Hood ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I can’t believe I haven’t played this one here before!  My inspiration for thinking of it today was a thought I had upon reading about yet another ‘Christian’ organization vilifying the LGBTQ community … the thought process that led from point A to point X will be explained elsewhere, no doubt, but I was excited to see that I have yet to play this one, so … something different for a change!

Written by Ronald Blackwell and produced by Stan Kesler, this was the second big semi-novelty hit for the Texas band Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs. Their debut hit Wooly Bully (my favourite!) also made it to #2.  It also made #2 in Canada and a big #46 in the UK!

Sam, whose real name is Domingo Samudio, developed his act in the Dallas area where he played lots of local dances. With the Pharaohs, he became a comedy act, touring in a hearse and wearing turbans and Egyptian garb on stage. Some of their other songs were The Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin, I Couldn’t Spell †&%$@?! and Pharoah A-Go Go.

The group’s female backup singers were known as The Sham-Ettes, and when Little Red Riding Hood took off, the group’s record label, MGM, had the Sham-Ettes release an answer song called Hey There Big Bad Wolf.

The Big Bopper released a slightly different version called Little Red Riding Hood in 1958.

Li’l Red Riding Hood

Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs

Awooh!
Who’s that I see walkin’ in these woods?
Why, it’s Little Red Riding Hood

Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are lookin’ good
You’re everything a big, bad wolf could want
Listen to me

Little Red Riding Hood
I don’t think little big girls should
Go walkin’ in these spooky ol’ woods alone
Awooh!

What big eyes you have
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad
So just to see that you don’t get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways

What full lips you have
They’re sure to lure someone bad
So until you get to Grandma’s place
I think you ought to walk with me and be safe

I’m gonna’ keep my sheep suit on
Until I’m sure that you’ve been shown
That I can be trusted, walking with you alone
Awooh

Little Red Riding Hood
I’d like to hold you if I could
But you might think I’m a big, bad wolf, so I won’t
Awooh!

What a big heart I have
The better to love you with
Little Red Riding Hood
Even bad wolves can be good

I’ll try to be satisfied
Just to walk close by your side
Maybe you’ll see things my way
Before we get to Grandma’s place

Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are lookin’ good
You’re everything that a big, bad wolf could want
Awooh! I mean baa
Baa? Baa

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Ronald Blackwell

Li’l Red Riding Hood lyrics © Sony/atv Acuff Rose Music

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23 thoughts on “♫ Li’l Red Riding Hood ♫”

  1. Haha always love learning about new songs from you, Jill. Never heard a musical take on Little Red Riding Hood before. I will bookmark this to listen to later. Have a nice weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

    • I’m so glad I’ve introduced you to some new ones! I hope you enjoy it when you listen to it! I am having a nice weekend … I took today off from blogging, went to the bookstore with the girls, then came home and read for a couple of hours — a rare treat! I hope yours is happy as well!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Does anyone remember the cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood? It was a 1943 M-G-M cartoon directed by the great Tex Avery, and I consider it plausible that the song may have been inspired by the cartoon. . Red is a hot nightclub singer, the wolf is a Hollywood wolf and Grandma is a man-chaser. The original cartoon had to be toned down to get past the censors, but uncut copies circulated among US troops. It was voted the 7th best cartoon of all time in a 1994 poll of animators, film historians and directors, and for years was banned from television as too provocative. There were a number of sequels and follow-ups to this cartoon, and all of them were also banned from TV for many years. I could not find the complete cartoon online, but there are many excerpts on YouTube, and the restored original can be found on the DVD collection Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1.

    A bit of warning if you decide to look this one up: Tex (aka Fred) Avery’s cartoons are quite surreal. I once watched a two hour collection of his cartoons and the effect was much like having had several stiff drinks. During his tenure at Warner Brothers animation, Avery was one of the direcctors who contributed to the early development of the characters of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. His 1940 cartoon A Wild Hare is one of the earliest appearances of the rabbit that became Bugs. His most prolific period was his post-Warner years at M-G-M, and in the 1960s, when the big filmmakers gave up on cartoons, he opened his own animation studio and among his best known works were the animated bugs in the Raid commercials.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Wow!!! No, I hadn’t ever heard of “Red Hot Riding Hood”!!! Very interesting, though! Thanks so much for sharing that bit of history … I’m betting few, if any, of my readers were aware of it!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Okay, here goes (I didn’t want to just throw it out there):

        <

        blockquote>Little Red Riding Hood was going through the deep dark woods on her way to her grandma’s house, when the Big Bad Wolf jumped out into the road blocking her way. “I’m going to eat you, Little Red Riding Hood!” the Wolf snarled. Red just rolled her eyes and said, “Oh, criminy! Doesn’t anybody screw anymore?”

        Liked by 2 people

    • 😱 OH NO!!!! I’m so sorry! You’re right … I knew that it was in my mind for some reason, but had forgotten how it got there! Yes, you deserve a shout out, but it’s rather late in the game now. Thank you, though, for planting the seed and for the reminder!

      Liked by 1 person

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