Written by: Brown, Johnny Terry
Produced by: Ralph Bass
Released: Feb. '56 on Federal
Charts: 2 weeks
Top spot: No. 95
On parole after three years in a Georgia juvenile pen, Brown hooked up with vocal group the Famous Flames for his debut single: a screaming, pleading burst of R&B. It caught the ear of talent scout Bass, who got the group signed to King/Federal Records, despite label head Syd Nathan's opinion that the song was "a piece of shit." Kicking off with Brown's solo shriek, the single drove women wild, but the original Flames, feeling upstaged, quit the group a year later.
Appears on: 50th Anniversary Collection (UTV/Polydor)