Reet Petite

"Reet Petite"
Original U.S. issue of "Reet Petite"
Single by Jackie Wilson
from the album 'He's So Fine'
Released	August 1957
Format	Vinyl record 45rpm (7"), 78rpm (10")
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	2:40
Label	Brunswick US (1957) 9-55024 Coral UK (1957) Q 72290 SMP UK (1985) SKM 3 BR Music Belgium (1985) 1245095 Columbia US (1987) 07329 Carrere France (1987) 72012
Writer(s)	Berry Gordy, Roquel Billy Davis, Gwen Gordy Fuqua
Producer(s)	Dick Jacobs
Jackie Wilson singles chronology
"One Moment with You" (1957) as Billy Ward & the Dominoes "Reet Petite" (1957) "To Be Loved" (1958)

"Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)" (originally subtitled "The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet") is a song made popular by Jackie Wilson. It was his first solo hit after leaving the Dominoes and, over the years, has become one of his biggest international chart successes.

History

The song was written by Berry Gordy, Gwen Gordy Fuqua and Wilson's cousin Roquel "Billy" Davis^[1] (though credited under his pseudonym Tyran Carlo on the record) and produced by Dick Jacobs, and its title was taken from the Louis Jordan song "Reet, Petite and Gone". It was Jackie Wilson's first recording as a solo artist. The song peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1957 and reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart. With the success of the song, Gordy was able to fund the launch of Motown Records.^[2]

The song was reissued in 1986 following the showing of a clay animation video on the BBC Two documentary series Arena.^[3] The video was directed by Giblets, a London-based animation studio.

Cover of the 1986 UK reissue on SMP showing figures from the clay animation video

The reissued version proved so popular that in December 1986, almost three years after Wilson's death, the song became a No. 1 in the UK for four weeks (selling over 700,000 copies), some 29 years after its chart debut.^[4] This was the record for the longest time between a song's debut on the chart and it reaching number one, until it was overtaken by Tony Christie's "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" in 2005.

The clay animation video used was only ever meant for a showreel, thus one verse was cut out of the song on the music video.

Track lists

Side	Title	Length
Original release
A	"Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet)"	2:40
B	"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"	2:17
1986 re-release
A	"Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)"	2:40
B1	"You Brought about a Change in Me"	2:46
B2	"I'm the One to Do It"	2:34

Charts

Chart	Date	Position
Billboard Hot 100	September 1957	#62
United Kingdom	November 1957	#6
United Kingdom	November 1986	#1 (4 weeks)[4]
Ireland	December 21, 1986	#1 [5]
The Netherlands	February 14, 1987	#1 (2 weeks)[6]
Switzerland	March 8, 1987	#3 [7]
Austria	March 15, 1987	#3 [8]
France	April 11, 1987	#24 [9]
Germany	March 1987	#4 [10]
Norway	February 1987	#5 [11]
New Zealand	May 31, 1987	#4 [12]

Cover versions

• The song was covered in 1963 by Dee Dee Sharp.
• The song was covered in September 1964 by Dinah Lee and reached the #1 position in New Zealand^[13] and a #6 position in Melbourne (Australia did not have a national chart yet).^[14]
• The song was covered in 1972 by Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets
• The song was covered in 1979 by Darts
• The song was covered in 2006 by Colin James, on the album Colin James & The Little Big Band 3
• The song is covered in Neil Innes and Fatso's 2008 UK tour: it is sung by guitarist, Billy Bremner
• This song is mentioned in the lyrics of the Van Morrison song "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" from his 1972 album, Saint Dominic's Preview
• This song is mentioned in the lyrics of the David Bowie song "Red Money"
• This song is mentioned in the lyrics of the Marah song "Christian Street"
• This song is mentioned in the lyrics of the Warrant song "In The Sticks"
• This song was covered by Cee-Lo Green in 2011 for Jools Holland's Hootenanny
• This song was covered by Marcus Collins in 2011 in the Eight Series of The X Factor UK
• This song was covered by The Overtones in 2012, on their album Higher

See also

• List of posthumous number-one singles (UK)

References

1. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, 500 nr.1 hits uit de Top 40, page 235, 9023009444 (Book in Dutch)
2. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 25 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
3. "NUMBER ONE'S OF THE EIGHTIES: 1986 Jackie Wilson: Reet Petite". Eightiesnumberones.blogspot.com. 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 470. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
5. Jaclyn Ward. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
6. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 7, 1987". Radio538.nl. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
7. Steffen Hung. "Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
8. Steffen Hung. "Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
9. Steffen Hung. "Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
10. "INFINITY CHARTS: German Top 20". Ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
11. Steffen Hung. "Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
12. Steffen Hung. "Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
13. "Long Way To The Top". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
14. "Reet Petite - DINAH LEE (1964) - Pop Archives - Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s". Pop Archives. Retrieved 2014-05-02.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics