Fortune Teller (song)

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For the song written by Dyer and Basil Hurdon, see Fortuneteller (song).
"Fortune Teller"
Fortune Teller song cover.jpg
Single by Benny Spellman
A-side"Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)"
Released1962
GenreR&B
LabelMinit Records
Songwriter(s)Naomi Neville
Producer(s)Allen Toussaint
Official audio
"Fortune Teller" on YouTube

"Fortune Teller" is a song written by Allen Toussaint under the pseudonym Naomi Neville and first recorded by Benny Spellman. It was issued in 1962 as B-side of the single "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)" on Minit Records (Cat 644).

It tells the story of a young man who is pleased to learn from a fortune teller that he will find love "When the next one arrives". Next day he returns, angry that nothing has happened, but falls in love with the fortune teller. They get married and are as "happy as we could be", and he gets his "fortune told for free".

Cover version[]

Cover versions exist by The Rolling Stones, on their first live album, Got Live If You Want It!, overdubbed with screaming fans (a scream-free version appears on the 1964 Decca Records compilation album Saturday Club as well as on the 1972 compilation More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)). There are further covers by The Hollies, The Stellas (CBS Records, 1965), The Who (on the re-release of Live at Leeds, as well as on Live at Hull 1970 and Live at the Fillmore East 1968), The Merseybeats, Tony Jackson, The Downliners Sect, The Iguanas, Strawberry Alarm Clock (recording as Thee Sixpence), and many others. It was included on the October 2007 album Raising Sand, by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and the song was recorded, with a new arrangement by , on the 2018 album Old Souls and Long Term Goals (Mint 400 Records).[1]

The song was also a hit in Australia, recorded by The Throb; released in February 1966 and charted in the Top 5 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.[2][3]

References[]

  1. ^ https://tonysaxon.bandcamp.com/album/old-souls-long-term-goals
  2. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "'The Throb' entry". Whammo Homepage. Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 3 October 2013. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  3. ^ "Fortune Teller". Where Did They Get That Song?. PopArchives (Lyn Nuttall). Retrieved 3 October 2013.

External links[]


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