The Mysterious Origins of Keep a Knockin'

I have written on previous occasions about recent or contemporary musical artists "borrowing" or "stealing" songs from the past and claiming them as their own. Another example came to light for me during the course of this past week.


I was listening to Volume 2 of 'The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records' and came across the track 'Keep a Knockin' an' You Can't Come In' by James "Boodle It" Wiggins. You can hear it for yourself by clicking here. What immediately struck me was the similarity between that track and 'Keep a Knockin'' by Little Richard which you can listen to here.

I checked Little Richard's 1957 recording and found it credited to Penniman (Richard's given name), Williams and Mays though the version I have by Fleetwood Mac on 'Live in Boston' is simply credited to Richard Penniman.

So who actually wrote the song?

Well, as is so often the case in the blues genre, the answer is unclear. Some claim that the song was written by J Mayo Williams (possibly the Williams referred to on the Little Richard recording). He was a talent scout for Paramount Records and gained the nickname "Ink" owing to his ability to get artists to sign or make their mark on Paramount contracts through fair means or foul (he was known to ply suitable candidates with drink to cajole them into signing). There are also stories that suggest that he claimed writing credits for a number of songs yet I have no evidence that he was actually a musician or songwriter, in fact he had previously been a professional NFL football player.

According to the liner notes from the album 'Stomp 'em Down; Piano Blues 1927-1937' (Black Snake Records, 1970), the song had its origins in New Orleans, not in blues, but in jazz under the title 'Bucket's Got a Hole in It'. This was recorded by a host of jazz artists including Louis Armstrong. You can watch Satchmo performing it live in 1962 by clicking here and you will clearly hear that the second verse begins with the line "You keep a knockin' but you can't come in'.

How Little Richard came to claim the song as his own is therefore yet another mystery in the world of music copyright. Yet it has proved to be extremely successful gaining Richard a number 8 hit and being covered by artists including the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Mississippi John Hurt, Mott The Hoople, The Blasters and the Flaming Groovies.

Regarding "Boodle It" Wiggins, unfortunately little is known. He was born in Louisiana (date unknown) and recorded with Paramount between 1928 and 1929. The track referred to was recorded in Chicago in February 1928 with Bob Call on piano and Wiggins on vocals and kazoo. His final recordings were made in October 1929 with Blind Leroy Garnett replacing Bob Call on piano and he died either later that year or the following year.

Incidentally if you happen to own a good quality copy of Wiggins' Paramount 78 RPM recording, you have yourself a disc worth up to $1500.

Get searching in those attics and basements.