Little Bitty Pretty One

"Little Bitty Pretty One"
Single by Thurston Harris and the Sharps
B-side"I Hope You Won't Hold It Against Me"
ReleasedSeptember 1957
GenreDoo-wop[1]
Length2:22
LabelAladdin
Songwriter(s)Bobby Day

"Little Bitty Pretty One" is a 1957 song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day. The same year, the song was popularized by Thurston Harris.[2] Produced by Aladdin Records (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), and featuring the Sharps on backing vocals,[3] Harris's version reached No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Best-Sellers chart and No. 2 on the R&B chart.[4] The Bobby Day version reached No. 11 in the Canadian CHUM Chart.[5]

In 1991, Jacqueline Byrd, the widow of songwriter Bobby Day, told lawmakers that she had intercepted a letter addressed to her husband. The letter from the Copyright Office stated that the copyright to "Little Bitty Pretty One" was not renewed, thus ending royalty payments to Day and the song's publisher. Byrd never told her husband, who was dying of cancer, about the letter. If the song's copyright were renewed, Byrd and her four children would have received royalty payments until 2037.[6]

"Little Bitty Pretty One"
Single by The Jackson 5
from the album Lookin' Through the Windows
B-side"If I Have to Move a Mountain"
ReleasedApril 4, 1972
Recorded1972
StudioMotown
GenreR&B
Length2:22
LabelMotown
Songwriter(s)Bobby Day
Producer(s)Mel Larson, Jerry Marcellino
The Jackson 5 singles chronology
"Sugar Daddy"
(1971)
"Little Bitty Pretty One"
(1972)
"Lookin' Through the Windows"
(1972)
  1. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 429. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  2. ^ Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (Da Capo Press, 1999), 429.
  3. ^ The Lamplighters at Allmusic
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 246.
  5. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - November 18, 1957".
  6. ^ "Bush Likely to OK Bill That Would Renew All Pre-1978 Copyrights." Billboard 20 June 1992.