Rock and Roll

Oh, the life of teenagers. As the song says, it seems like there are always more chores to do and an attitude to fix. Yakety yak? Don’t talk back. This story song was written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was a big success for The Coasters in 1958 and  went to #1 on both the R&B Chart and  the U.S. Pop Chart. The recording features King Curtis on the tenor saxophone. The Coasters were a spin-off of the Los Angeles group The Robins, with Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn following Leiber and Stoller to New York. “Yakety Yak” features Gardner, Billy Guy, Cornell Gunter, and Will “Dub” Jones. There have been numerous personnel changes over the years. They continue to tour and perform.

Here are the lyrics to “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters:

“Take out the papers and the trash
Or you don’t get no spendin’ cash
If you don’t scrub that kitchen floor
You ain’t gonna rock and roll no more
Yakety yak
(Don’t talk back)

Just finish cleanin’ up your room
Let’s see that dust fly with that broom
Get all that garbage out of sight
Or you don’t go out Friday night
Yakety yak
(Don’t talk back)

Just put on your coat and hat
And walk yourself to the laundromat
And when you finish doin’ that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak
(Don’t talk back)

Don’t you give me no dirty looks
Your father’s hip, he knows what cooks
Just tell your hoodlum friends outside
You ain’t got time to take a ride
Yakety yak
(Don’t talk back)

Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak”

For another fun story song from The Coasters: “Charlie Brown.”

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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