AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Thurston Harris

Artist:Thurston Harris

Song:Little Bitty Pretty One

Album:Little Bitty Pretty One

Little Bitty Pretty One was a top ten hit in 1957. It was the only big hit for Thurston Harris though a couple of his other songs charted so he is not technically a one hit wonder. Today it's one of the best loved oldies of the era though I'm sure most folks know nothing about Harris or the song. Harris was born July 11, 1931 in Indianapolis. He grew up singing in church and in groups like the Canaan Crusaders. Later he was in the Indiana Wonders with his brother William. It was while he was in the US Army in the late 40s that Harris got into R&B groups like The Dominoes and The Five Royales. After his discharge, Harris moved to Los Angeles and thought he could bluff his way into the music business by claiming that he was lead singer of The Five Royales. This led to Harris becoming lead singer of The Lamplighters. They recorded several unsuccessful singles for Federal Records. The problem with The Lamplighters is they were always arguing with each other. When Harris signed with Aladdin Records in 1957, he brought The Lamplighters with him but the name was changed to The Sharps. They probably couldn't use the old name. The Sharps sang backup on Little Bitty Pretty One. Bobby Day wrote the song and had just released his version. Aladdin owner Eddie Mesner thought Thurston could sing the song better. Along with The Sharps and Los Angeles studio musicians like Plas Johnson on sax, Pete Lewis on guitar and Earl Palmer on drums, Harris' recording of Little Bitty Pretty One reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 while Day's original recording stalled at #57. Of course Day would go on to have his own big hit with Rockin' Robin in 1958. Harris' second single Do What You Did reached #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Harris had little success after that. The Sharps would go on to be The Rivingtons and they recorded the 1962 hit Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow. Meanwhile, when Imperial Records bought Aladdin in 1962, they dropped Thurston Harris. After recording for Cub, Dot, Imperial and Reprise, Harris sunk into homelessness and alcoholism. Capitol owns all the Aladdin recordings and they license them to reissue labels like Jasmine. So I know these are original recordings. And it's available at a reasonable price. After making a brief comeback as a blues singer in the 80s, Thurston Harris died from a heart attack on Apr. 14, 1990 at age 58. Here's a video for Little Bitty Pretty One by Thurston Harris. Thanks to the website TIMS for the bio.