Helloooooooo, Baby!

It’s odd that the work of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., known more commonly as The Big Bopper, doesn’t get reissued nearly as much as one would think. The Big Bopper was, along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, one of the victims of the infamous Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash – “The Day the Music Died,” as any rock fan can attest – but for some reason, Richardson gets short shrift. Buddy Holly got a fantastic box set last year from Hip-o Select and Valens got a similarly expansive box in 1998. Until now, the Bopper enjoyed a Rhino compilation in 1989, but that was it.

Whatever the reason – the comparatively smaller amount of material or the (admittedly wrongheaded) argument that Richardson was better known as a DJ or novelty act than the more musicanly Holly or Valens – that’s about to be rectified. German reissue label Bear Family has set a new compilation of Big Bopper material, entitled Hellooo Baby – You Know What I Like!, for a June 1 release.

This new compilation includes all 19 tracks included on the previous Rhino set (Hellooo Baby! The Best of The Big Bopper 1954-1959) plus a few more tracks (including rare single-only versions of some of his tracks). As an added bonus, there are an additional eight cuts featuring tributes and answer songs to some of the Bopper’s most beloved tunes. Accompanied by generous liner notes by Johnette Duff, writer-producer of an upcoming Big Bopper film, this looks to be a great set devoted to one of rock’s early legends.

If that’s what you like (and The Second Disc knowwwwws what you like!), hit the jump and get the tracks (with some partial annotations too).

The Big Bopper and Various Artists – Hellooo Baby – You Know What I Like! (Bear Family BCD 17109 AH, 2010)

1. Chantilly Lace
2. Little Red Riding Hood
3. Big Bopper’s Wedding
4. Pink Petticoats
5. Strange Kisses
6. Preacher and the Bear
7. It’s the Truth Ruth (Version 2) **
8. Walking Through My Dreams (Version 2) **
9. Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor
10. White Lightning
11. The Clock
12. Old Maid
13. One More Chance
14. It’s the Truth Ruth (Version 1) **
15. Walking Through My Dreams (Version 1) **
16. That’s What I’m Talking About
17. Someone Watching Over You (Version 2) **
18. Monkey Song (You Made a Monkey Out of Me) – Jape Richardson with The Echoes
19. A Teen-age Moon – Jape Richardson with The Echoes
20. Beggar to a King – Jape Richardson and The Japetts
21. Crazy Blues – Jape Richardson and The Japetts
22. Someone Watching Over You (Version 1) **
23. Bopper’s Boogie W00gie
24. Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor – Gordon Ritter
25. Bopper 486009 – Donna Dameron
26. The Man I Met (A Tribute to The Big Bopper) – Ray Campi
27. Three Stars – Eddie Cochran
28. That Makes It – Jayne Mansfield
29. She Giggles – Don Terry
30. Egg Head and Chantilly Lace Cha-Cha – Bill Kimbrough
31. Sweet Lips – Gordon Ritter

** There is some confusion over which versions – the #1s or #2s – are the single versions and which are the LP versions. It is for now assumed that #1s are the singles and #2s are the LPs. As such, at least some of these tracks are either rare or entirely new to CD.

Tracks 1-8 and 10-12 released as Chantilly Lace LP – Mercury MG 20402, 1959
Tracks 1 and 9 first released as single – Mercury 71343, 1958
Tracks 2-3 first released as single – Mercury 71375, 1958
Track 14 and 16 released as single – Mercury 71451, 1959
Track 15 and 22 released as single – Mercury 71416, 1959
Tracks 18-19 released as single – Mercury 71312, 1958
Tracks 20-21 released as single – Mercury Starday 71219, 1957
Track 23 from Hellooo Baby! The Best of the Big Bopper 1954-1959 – Rhino R2 70164, 1989
Track 25 released as single A-side – Dart 113, 1959
Track 26 released as single A-side – D 1047, 1959
Track 27 released as U.K. single A-side – Liberty LIB 10249, 1959
Track 29 released as single B-side – Lin 5018, 1958