Taking into account the recent success of the 3D remake of Alice In Wonderland, most would assume that the title of this piece refers to the roly-poly twins — Tweedledee and Tweedledum — who were featured in that story. But we’re mostly about music here, and my focus is actually on a silly but memorable song from the 1950s, one that had at least two hit versions.
When composer Winfield Scott wrote a new song for LaVern Baker in 1954, the Chicago-born singer had already spent some time making her mark in R&B music, but stardom was still in her future. However, she took a big step in that direction when she recorded Scott’s “Tweedle Dee” and watched the bouncy novelty song with the infectious beat climb the charts. (Note: it’s pronounced “TweedLEE Dee” and is sometimes spelled that way.)
Her record nearly reached the top of the R&B charts, but fell far short of that lofty level on the regular listings, even though the composer had tried to aim for white music fans — a sure recipe for success in terms of sales dollars. LaVern Baker would go on to spin out many hits over the course of her career, including some that were crossover successes, such as “I Cried a Tear,” but it would be another singer who would have the biggest seller on this particular song.
During that era it was a very common practice for record producers to generate a ‘white’ cover of R&B songs (think Pat Boone vs Little Richard). It didn’t take long for several versions of “Tweedle Dee” to make their 
appearance, and the most popular of all was performed by Georgia Gibbs. Ironically, her rendition was so similar to the original that it would bug LaVern Baker for years, and even though it was legal (then and now) she tried unsuccessfully to get the laws changed.
A former big band singer who hailed from the Boston area, Georgia Gibbs hadn’t found a lot of success in the recording studio in the early part of her career, but in the 1950s she made up for it. Her “Kiss Of Fire” had already hit the top of the charts, as did “Dance With Me Henry,” another novelty song she recorded in the same year as “Tweedle Dee.” And even though the latter song didn’t quite make it to the top of the charts (it rose to number two) it was the best selling version, and is now probably the most remembered.
Geezer Music Club 