The Little Black Egg
{{short description|Nightcrawlers song}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Little Black Egg
| cover =
| alt =
| caption = The Little Black Egg LP
| type =
| artist = the Nightcrawlers
| album = The Little Black Egg
| released = 1965
| format =
| recorded = 1965
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Garage rock{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fydjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR24|title=Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music|last=Chusid|first=Irwin|date=2000|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-55652-372-4|page=24}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4egLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|title=Who Did It First?: Great Rock and Roll Cover Songs and Their Original Artists|last=Leszczak|first=Bob|date=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-44223-322-5|page=127}}|jangle pop{{cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/12/jangle-bell-rock-a-chronological-non-holiday-antho.html |title=Jangle Bell Rock: A Chronological (Non-Holiday) Anthology… from The Beatles and Byrds to R.E.M. and Beyond |last=LaBate |first=Steve |publisher=Paste |date=December 18, 2009 |accessdate=October 14, 2019}}|bubblegum pop{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwVqhErG5OIC&pg=PA263|title=Moguls and Madmen|last=Farr|first=Jory|date=2001|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-74322-893-0|page=263}}}}
| writer = Chuck Conlon{{Citation needed|reason=See talk page|date=December 2018}}
| producer =
}}
"The Little Black Egg" is a song first performed by Daytona Beach, Florida garage band the Nightcrawlers in 1965. It was a minor hit in both the US and Canada, reaching number 85 on the US Billboard charts in 1967, while doing slightly better in Canada, where it hit number 74.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.10038.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - February 11, 1967}} The song has been since covered by multiple artists including Inner City Unit, the Lemonheads, Neighb'rhood Childr'n, Tarnation, the Primitives and the Cars. It was the Nightcrawlers' only hit.
Original recording
The song was written in 1965 for an Easter concert, in which the band opened for the Beach Boys.[http://abitlikeyouandme.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-nightcrawlers-sally-in-our-alley.html#story "The Nightcrawlers - Sally in Our Alley (1966)"] The song was originally recorded in 1965 by sound engineer Lee Hazen and released on Hazen's record label Lee Records; the 1965 release became a regional hit in the Nightcrawlers' home state of Florida and in the Midwest. The song was re-released on Kapp Records in 1966, finally charting nationally in both the US and Canada early the following year. AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald describes the song as a "slightly bizarre nursery rhyme", with lyrics about a rotten bird's egg.
Other versions
"The Little Black Egg" was included in the influential compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 on the 1998 CD reissue, as a bonus track. {{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
Ohio punk band the Pagans recorded the song in the late 1970s. In 1981, during recording sessions for Shake It Up, members of the Cars recorded a version featuring Ric Ocasek on lead vocals.
The song was later stripped of Ocasek's vocals and re-sung by fashion model Bebe Buell, whom Ocasek had befriended. The version with Buell's vocals was included on her 1981 EP Covers Girl;
the Cars' version was released on 1995's Just What I Needed anthology.
Other recordings of "The Little Black Egg" include a 1985 version by garage rock band the Rattlers, on their only full-size album, Rattled!; a 1991 version by the Primitives, released on their Galore album; a 1993 version by the Lemonheads, released on their Into Your Arms CD single; a 1966 version by the Music Explosion featuring lead singer Jamie Lyons, available on their Anthology CD; and a 1997 version by the Paula Frazer-led country band Tarnation, released on their Mirador album. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the Tarnation version of "The Little Black Egg" as a highlight of Mirador.
The Minus 5 covered it on the 2000 release In Rock.
References
{{reflist|refs=
| title = Skydog: the Duane Allman story
| first = Randy
| last = Poe
| page = 20
| publisher = Backbeat Books
| date = September 1, 2006
| isbn = 0-87930-891-5
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nBC5wukMKXIC&q=%22The+Little+Black+Egg%22&pg=PA20 }}
| url = http://allmusic.com/song/the-little-black-egg-t4342253
| title = The Nightcrawlers: The Little Black Egg
| first = Matthew
| last = Greenwald
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = January 24, 2011 }}
| title = The Billboard book of one-hit wonders
| first = Wayne
| last = Jancik
| page = 223
| publisher = Billboard Books
| year = 1998
| isbn = 0-8230-7622-9 }}
| title = Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2002
| first = Joel
| last = Whitburn
| author-link = Joel Whitburn
| page = 511
| publisher = Record Research Inc.
| date = June 1, 2004
| isbn = 0-89820-155-1
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PSYKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22The+Little+Black+Egg%22 }}
| title = Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
| title-link = Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
| others = The Cars
| year = 1995
| first = Brett
| last = Milano
| pages = 16–17
| publisher = Rhino Records }}
| title = Rebel Heart: An American Rock 'n' Roll Journey
| first1 = Bebe
| last1 = Buell
| author-link = Bebe Buell
| first2 = Victor
| last2 = Bockris
| page = 368
| publisher = St. Martin's Griffin
| date = July 19, 2002
| isbn = 0-312-30155-3
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gORJt0vP6z0C&q=funtime&pg=PA368 }}
| url = http://allmusic.com/album/just-what-i-needed-the-cars-anthology-r226720
| title = The Cars: Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
| first = Greg
| last = Prato
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = January 24, 2011 }}
| url = http://allmusic.com/album/galore-r593414
| title = The Primitives: Galore
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = January 25, 2011 }}
| url = http://allmusic.com/album/into-your-arms-cd-single-r334998
| title = The Lemonheads: Into Your Arms (CD Single)
| first = Jason
| last = Ankeny
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = January 24, 2011 }}
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/anthology-mw0000125864
| title = The Music Explosion: Anthology (Sundazed)
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = September 6, 2012 }}
| url = http://allmusic.com/album/mirador-r259546
| title = Tarnation: Mirador
| first = Stephen Thomas
| last = Erlewine
| work = allmusic
| accessdate = January 24, 2011 }}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Black Egg}}
Category:The Music Explosion songs