Doo Wop

The song “Charlie Brown” by the great R&B, doo-wop group The Coasters does not have anything to do with comic strip character Charlie Brown. This novelty song about a class clown who always causes trouble is known for the line: “Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” The famous team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote and produced the song. (They wrote for many artists, including Ben E. King, The Drifters, and Elvis Presley.) King Curtis plays the saxophone on the record. In 1959, “Charlie Brown” reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100  and #2 on the R&B Chart.

The Coasters formed in 1955 out of the group The Robins, a Los Angeles R&B group. There were a number of personnel changes, but the group for this recording was Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Cornell Gunter, and Will “Dub” Jones. The Coasters had many hits, including “Young Blood,” “Down in Mexico,” “Yakety Yak,” “Searchin’,” “Poison Ivy,” “Along Came Jones,” and “Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)” among many others. There were plenty of personnel changes after that, and The Coasters still perform today.

Here are the lyrics to “Charlie Brown” by The Coasters:

“Fe-fe, fi-fi, fo-fo, fum
I smell smoke in the auditorium

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown
He’s a clown, that Charlie Brown
He’s gonna get caught
Just you wait and see
(Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me)

That’s him on his knees
I know that’s him
Yeah, from 7 come 11
Down in the boys’ gym

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown
He’s a clown, that Charlie Brown
He’s gonna get caught
Just you wait and see
(Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me)

Who’s always writing on the wall
Who’s always goofing in the hall
Who’s always throwing spit balls
Guess who (who, me) yeah, you

Who walks in the classroom, cool and slow
Who calls the English teacher, Daddy-O

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown
He’s a clown, that Charlie Brown
He’s gonna get caught
Just you wait and see
(Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me)

[Instrumental Interlude]

Who walks in the classroom, cool and slow
Who calls the English teacher, Daddy-O

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown
He’s a clown, that Charlie Brown
He’s gonna get caught
Just you wait and see
(Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me)”

For more songs by The Coasters: “Young Blood,” “Poison Ivy,” “Little Egypt,” and “Yakety Yak.”

For More Golden Oldies Music  

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday NIght, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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