"Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)" is a popular rock novelty song written in late 1954 by the rhythm and blues partnership of Forest Gene Wilson and Eunice Levy,Malcolm Mcfarlane and Ken Crossland, Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record (McFarland, 2009):97. and also credited to Jake Porter. One of the earliest rock and roll songs,Larry Birnbaum, Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012):312. it was probably "the most extensively recorded rock 'n' roll song of that time".Charlie Gillett, The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, rev. ed. (Pantheon Books, 1984):53.
Originally recorded by rhythm and blues duo Gene and Eunice (Wilson and Levy) in November 1954 on the Combo label and again in January 1955 on the Aladdin label, it was covered by at least 17 different musicians in the first few months of 1955 alone, including Perry Como, The Crew-Cuts, The Charms, Louis Armstrong and Gary Crosby, Goldie Hill & Red Sovine, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Rita Robbins, The Hutton Sisters (Marion Hutton and Betty Hutton), The Flamingos, Ronnie Aldrich and The Squads, Tito Rodríguez, Big Dave and His Orchestra, Marvin & Johnny, Barry Frank (with the Four Bells), Bill Darnell & Betty Clooney, Jack Cardwell with Jackie Hill, and The Dooley Sisters. Andy Griffith also recorded a satirical parody of the song.
The song spent 15 weeks in the Billboard charts from January to May 1955, and peaked at #3 in its Honor Roll of Hits in the week ending March 2, 1955.The Billboard(March 19, 1955):30. The version by Perry Como, RCA's first rock 'n' roll release,Malcolm Mcfarlane and Ken Crossland, Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record (McFarland, 2009):96-97. was the most successful, reaching #2 on the Billboard charts in February 1955, while a version by The Crew-Cuts reached #6 on the Pop charts that same month.Jay Warner, American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006):109. Gene and Eunice's two versions were on the charts for 7 weeks and reached #6 on the Billboard R&B charts.
History Forrest Samuel Wilson Jr. (born September 3, 1931, in San Antonio, Texas; died on July 24, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada) (known professionally as Gene Forrest) and Eunice Hazel Russ (known professionally as Eunice Levy) (born March 12, 1931, in Texarkana, Texas; died May 26, 2002),Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997. Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services. Microfiche.Russ had married a building contractor named Harold Levy. After her marriage to English record distributor Jack Frost, she was known as Eunice Levy Frost. See [www.geocities.ws/shakin_stacks/eunicelevy.txt] (March 9, 2003). who were romantically involved with one another (and later married) and known as "The Sweethearts of Rhythm & Blues",Nick Talevski, Rock Obituaries- Knocking On Heaven's Door (Omnibus, 2010):368. wrote the song together by the Spring of 1954. Classified as a rhythm and blues song, it featured Dave Bartholomew's much-used (or even over-used)Robert Palmer, An Unruly History of Rock & Roll (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995): 60. tresillo three-beat Caribbean or Latin riff,Rick Coleman, Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll (De Capo, 2007):125. and a habanera bassline.
Gene and Eunice Performing under the name Gene and Eunice, in the Fall of 1954 Forrest and Levy made the first recording of the song, backed by Jonesy's Combo (which included saxophonist Brother William Woodman's band), in the studio in the basement of veteran musician Jake Porter's home, and released in November 1954 on his Combo label (Combo 64) as their first single.The Billboard (January 15, 1955):33. Late in 1954 The Billboard magazine reported: "Uptowners also digging the stellar treatment issued by newcomers Gene and Eunice and their Combo 'Ko-Ko-Mo' slicing".Galen Gart, First Pressings: The History of Rhythm & Blues: Volume 4: 1954 (1954).
On the 78 rpm version (Combo 64-A), the songwriting was credited to G. Forest and Porter (as V. Haver), with no credit given to Levy; however, the 45 rpm version (Combo 45 64-A) credited Forrest (as F. Wilson), Porter, and Levy as the songwriters. The song was copyrighted to Wilson, Porter, and Levy and the Meridian Music Corporation on January 10, 1955,Library of Congress. Copyright Office, Catalog of Copyright Entries (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1956):125. and reviewed positively in The Billboard magazine on January 15, 1955."Reviews of New R&B Records", The Billboard (January 15, 1955). Played by influential pioneer rock and roll disc jockey Alan Freed on his program on 1010 WINS from New York City,Michael Lydon, Ray Charles: Man and Music, Updated Commemorative Edition (Routledge, 2004):118. this version of the song "hit it big in New York and Chicago very quickly",Galen Gart, ed., First Pressings: Rock History as Chronicled in Billboard Magazine (Big Nickel Publications, 1990):6. as well as in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Los Angeles by mid-January 1955.The Billboard (January 15, 1955):60 and (January 22, 1955):43.
However, in January 1955, Aladdin Records, which had Wilson on contract as a solo artist, claimed ownership of the team of Gene & Eunice, and had them record another version of the song"Gene, Eunice's Aladdin Disk", The Billboard (January 29, 1955):22. with Johnny Otis's band (billed as Johnny's Combo—perhaps as a slap at Combo Records) (Aladdin 3276).Martin Popoff, Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948-1991 (Krause Publications, 2010):484.Arnold Shaw, Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues (Macmillan, 1978):234. While the songwriting was credited to Wilson, Porter and Levy, Aladdin also claimed the publishing rights, which Porter had only a few weeks earlier sold to the E.H. Morris Publishing Company for an advance of $5,000,The Billboard (January 15, 1955):38. with the result that Forrest and Levy received very little of the songwriting royalties due them. Aladdin released the re-cut version on January 17, 1955.David Edwards and Mike Callahan, "Philo/Aladdin Singles Discography" (April 17, 2007). Aladdin, a much larger independent label than Combo, ran an ad in Billboard announcing: "Don't Be Fooled! This Is The Gene & Eunice Ko Ko Mo." Combo Records responded on January 22, 1955, proclaiming: "This is it! The original Ko Ko Mo".The Billboard (January 22, 1955):43.
The Combo and Aladdin singles, counted as one unit by Billboards compilers, entered the Billboard R&B charts in the week ending January 26, 1955,The Billboard(February 12, 1955):56. and spent 7 weeks in the charts,Arnold Shaw,Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues (Macmillan, 1978):234. before it reached #7 in the week ending February 16, 1955,The Billboard(February 26, 1955):56. before peaking at #6 on the R&B charts.
Cover versions Encouraged by findings of the US Federal Court in the A Little Bird Told Me case that permitted cover versions,Russell Sanjek, American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years Volume III: From 1900 to 1984 (Oxford University Press, 1988):340. and fueled by advance rumors that the song was a likely hit, by the middle of January 1955, cover versions had been recorded by Perry Como (RCA Victor 20-5994A) on January 4, 1955, in New York city; The Crew-Cuts;The Billboard (January 15, 1955):1, 33.Jay Warner, American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006):132-133. The Hutton Sisters (Marion Hutton and Betty Hutton) (Capitol 303); the Bill Darnel & Betty Clooney duo (X Records "X"-0087; 4X-0087);The Billboard (January 15, 1955):1, 42.The Billboard (February 12, 1955):23. and The Dooley Sisters (Tampa 100) that "broke loose in Pittsburgh".The Billboard (January 15, 1955):38.
By the end of January 1955, there were also a jazz version by Louis Armstrong and Gary Crosby (Decca 29420),The Billboard(February 12, 1955):46.Michel Ruppli, ed., The Decca Labels: A Discography. Vol. 1: The California Sessions(Greenwood Press, 1996):539. that was recorded on January 18, 1955, in Los Angeles;Michael Meckna, Satchmo: the Louis Armstrong Encyclopedia (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004):176. The Charms (De Luxe 6080).Marv Goldberg,"Otis Williams & The Charms: Based on Interviews with Otis Williams" (2003; 2009). Uncamarvy.comThe Billboard(February 12, 1955):32.Jon Hartley Fox, King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records (University of Illinois Press, 2009):104.Jay Warner, American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006):109, 110. a "vigorous country" version by Alabama disc jockey Jack Cardwell with Jackie Hill (King 1442),The Billboard(February 26, 1955):58.The Billboard(March 19, 1955):48. that was recorded on January 20, 1955, at radio station WKAB in Mobile, Alabama; a country version by Goldie Hill & Red Sovine (Decca 29411); and a rockabilly/Western swing version by country singer Hawkshaw Hawkins with Rita Robbins (Victor 47-6022);The Billboard (March 19, 1955):30.
However, pioneer rock and roll disc jockey Alan Freed refused to play the copycat 'cover' versions of R&B hits (including "Ko Ko Mo") which were rapidly being turned out by the major pop labels,Ian Whitcomb, After the Ball: Pop Music from Rag to Rock (Penguin Books, 1974):221. as he believed that they were imitative of the originals and that his audience quickly detected their lack of authenticity.Henry T. Sampson, Swingin' on the Ether Waves: A Chronological History of African Americans in Radio and Television Programming, 1925-1955, Vol. 2 (Scarecrow Press, 2005):1144. Other disc jockeys refused to play any R&B songs, including Marc Jennings, of WCMI in Huntington, West Virginia, who indicated in May 1955: "Tunes like 'Kiss the Baby', 'Hearts of Stone', 'Ko Ko Mo' and 'Tweedle Dee' are products of the mass hysteria prevalent in our world today.""Vox Jox", The Billboard (May 14, 1955):44.
Perry Como
The most popular and commercially successful version of Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So) was that of Perry Como, "the quintessential white pop crooner of the 1950s",Kenneth J. Bindas, America's Musical Pulse: Popular Music in Twentieth-century Society (Greenwood Press, 1992):272. who recorded his version at Webster Hall, New York on January 4, 1955, as the first rock 'n' roll release on the RCA Victor label. Shapiro and Pollock viewed Como's version as part of "the industry effort to whitewash the racy, raunchy music of rhythm and blues before anyone's daughter heard it".Nat Shapiro and Bruce Pollock, Popular Music, 1920-1979: a Revised Cumulation, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. (Gale Research, 1985):49.
Como's version was reviewed positively in The Billboard magazine in its January 15, 1955, issue,"Talent Corner", The Billboard (January 15, 1955):46 and "Review Spotlight on Records", 54. and the label promoted it extensively in a two-page advertising spread in the same issue,"Ko Ko Mo Belongs to Como", The Billboard (January 15, 1955):44-45.Michael T. Bertrand, Race, rock, and Elvis (University of Illinois Press, 2000):76. headlined as "DIG PERRY IN ACTION ON A GREAT 'ROCK-AND-ROLL' RECORD".Nick Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll in the Wild Years Before Elvis, rev. ed. (Harmony Books, 1991):9. Como also performed the song on his television program "The Perry Como Chesterfield Show" in mid-January,"This Week's Best Buys", The Billboard (January 22, 1955):30. and again on February 18, 1955.