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For the Amos Lee song, see Sweet Pea (Amos Lee song).

1966 single by Tommy Roe

"Sweet Pea" is a bubblegum pop song written and performed by Tommy Roe. It was produced by Gary S. Paxton[1]

and featured on his 1966 album, Sweet Pea.[2] In the lyrics, the singer spots a girl at a dance whom her friends call "Sweet Pea." There`s no explanation of how she got this nickname. After dancing with her, he suggests they go for a walk where he tells her he loves her and wants her to be his girl.[3]

Chart performance

The song reached number 1 in Canada,[4] number 1 in New Zealand, number 7 in Australia,[5] and number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.[6]

It ranked number 44 on Billboard magazine`s Top Hot 100 songs of 1966.[7]

Other versions

• The Ventures included an instrumental version on their 1966 album, Wild Things![8]
• Roger Williams made it the B-side to his single "Love Me Forever" in April 1967.[9]
• Friar Tuck recorded it as the B-side to his single "Alley-Oop" in May 1967.[10]
• Manfred Mann released it as a single in May 1967 that reached number 36 in the United Kingdom.[11]
• Donald Lautrec put out a single in 1967.[12]
• Gang Starr sampled Roe`s version on their 1989 song "Movin` On" from the album No More Mr. Nice Guy.
• Big Audio Dynamite`s song "Rush" samples the drum break from Roe`s "Sweet Pea".
• The 2007 re-release of Cub`s 1993 album Betti-Cola featured a cover of the song.

In media

• Samantha Morton performs a frenetic dance to the tune in the 1999 film Jesus` Son.[13]
• The song is also played in the background in two episodes of the Hulu drama mini series, The Girl from Plainville (2022).