It was originally recorded by The Robins in August 1954, in Los Angeles and released on Leiber and Stoller's label Spark Records in October of that year as the B side of Loop De Loop Mambo.
Jerry Leiber talks about the song, saying, "Another rap took the form of a police drama.
We called it "Framed" and gave it a subtext that, despite the humor, refers to the legal brutality that impacted the black community".
Music producers and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller took former Robins members Nunn and Carl Gardner, recruited singers Leon Hughes and Billy Guy, and formed the Coasters.
[2] The song has been covered by Ritchie Valens (1958),[3] Lowell George and The Factory (with some lyrics changed, 1969), Jerry Reed 'KO-KO JOE' (1970), the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1972) and Cheech & Chong (with some lyrics changed, 1976).