It
Jelly
Jelly
Back
Booty
Rump
Booty
Rump
Bottom
Groove Thang
Figured out what we’re talking about yet?
Throughout the history of popular music artists have come up with different words for the buttocks. Maybe it’s because “buttocks” is kind of a hard word to rhyme with or because using euphemism for this body part got around the censors. But it’s probably because using slang is simply more fun. And one of the first songs in popular music to sing about the buttocks was “Shake A Tail Feather.”
Most people know this song from the Ray Charles performance in The Blue Brothers.
There were many memorable scenes from this film, considered by many the best films inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit, but few capture the sheer joy of soul music like Ray Charles convincing the Jake and Elwood the quality of a second hand organ by singing “Shake A Tail Feather.”
The origins of this song begin almost twenty years earlier when the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones originally recorded “Shake a Tail Feather in 1963.
A joyous and carefree song, “Shake A Tail Feather” portrays a man trying to convince a girl to go out dancing with him. The four lines of first and only verse in this song act as an invitation to dance building up to the chorus.
The chorus starts with a bang on the word “Twist it” but then pulls the momentum back down building up from “bend over, let me you see you shake your tail feather” back up into the beginning of next chorus in an celebratory and infectious way.
The Five Du-Tones recording of this song is a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. It’s got a great groove but it’s not exactly steady and though the vocals are soulful they are a little out of control at moments, but all these shortcoming don't really matter. There’s an electricity and energy in the dirtiness of this recording that you rarely hear in music of today.
In the 1970s as part, Ike & Tina Turner included “Shake A Tail feather” as part of their famous touring review. While there is no doubt that Ike Turner was physically and emotionally abusive to Tina Turner, he was a musical genius polishing soul music up for the masses without loosing its grit and soul.
This recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” is ferocious featuring Tina’s voice, one of the most powerful in rock music. The hilarious exchange between Tina and her back-up singers goading each other on to shake each other’s “tail feather” is hilarious, fun and kind of dirty.
Then in 2003 came “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Nelly featuring Puff Daddy and Murphy Lee, a rap song written for the Will Smith film Bad Boys 2.
Even though this song won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or a group, this song is a mediocre showing that completely drops the ball on an amazing musical opportunity. Instead of sampling “Shake a Tail Feather” or utilizing the phrase with any prominence, it is uttered at the end of the chorus. This song lacks any of the infectious energy that both Nelly and Puff Daddy often featured in their music.
Groove Thang
Figured out what we’re talking about yet?
Throughout the history of popular music artists have come up with different words for the buttocks. Maybe it’s because “buttocks” is kind of a hard word to rhyme with or because using euphemism for this body part got around the censors. But it’s probably because using slang is simply more fun. And one of the first songs in popular music to sing about the buttocks was “Shake A Tail Feather.”
Most people know this song from the Ray Charles performance in The Blue Brothers.
There were many memorable scenes from this film, considered by many the best films inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit, but few capture the sheer joy of soul music like Ray Charles convincing the Jake and Elwood the quality of a second hand organ by singing “Shake A Tail Feather.”
The origins of this song begin almost twenty years earlier when the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones originally recorded “Shake a Tail Feather in 1963.
A joyous and carefree song, “Shake A Tail Feather” portrays a man trying to convince a girl to go out dancing with him. The four lines of first and only verse in this song act as an invitation to dance building up to the chorus.
The chorus starts with a bang on the word “Twist it” but then pulls the momentum back down building up from “bend over, let me you see you shake your tail feather” back up into the beginning of next chorus in an celebratory and infectious way.
The Five Du-Tones recording of this song is a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. It’s got a great groove but it’s not exactly steady and though the vocals are soulful they are a little out of control at moments, but all these shortcoming don't really matter. There’s an electricity and energy in the dirtiness of this recording that you rarely hear in music of today.
In the 1970s as part, Ike & Tina Turner included “Shake A Tail feather” as part of their famous touring review. While there is no doubt that Ike Turner was physically and emotionally abusive to Tina Turner, he was a musical genius polishing soul music up for the masses without loosing its grit and soul.
This recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” is ferocious featuring Tina’s voice, one of the most powerful in rock music. The hilarious exchange between Tina and her back-up singers goading each other on to shake each other’s “tail feather” is hilarious, fun and kind of dirty.
Then in 2003 came “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Nelly featuring Puff Daddy and Murphy Lee, a rap song written for the Will Smith film Bad Boys 2.
Even though this song won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or a group, this song is a mediocre showing that completely drops the ball on an amazing musical opportunity. Instead of sampling “Shake a Tail Feather” or utilizing the phrase with any prominence, it is uttered at the end of the chorus. This song lacks any of the infectious energy that both Nelly and Puff Daddy often featured in their music.
Someone needed to record this song again and bring the song back to its original glory. It is a travesty that a generation credit a mediocre rap song for introducing the phrase "shake a tail feather." Someone had to do something about this and two years later one band brought this song back to its roots: THE CHEETAH GIRLS!!!
Yeah, you heard me right, the Cheetah Girls.
A rock group created for a Disney television film (ala Hannah Montana), the Cheetah Girls recorded a version of “Shake A Tail Feather” for Disney’s CGI remake of Chicken Little.
Their version is exactly what you expect out of a Disney pre-teen orientated rock band. It’s poppy, fun, 60s inspired with the Disney’s characteristic musical sheen. Now watching the music video and seeing the silhouettes of the girls with actually tail feathers is a little disturbing and honestly do these girls have to be singing so sensually?
Sigh, whatever at least we are getting back to the roots of this song . . . wait a second . . . now that I think about it, isn't comparing a girl to a chicken isn't exactly flattering. Also, isn't this song a little demanding? He doesn't so much invite the girl to dance but demand it. The connotations imply a specific gender paradigm in which . . . Tang! STOP your brain and just enjoy the song. . . geez. . .
Yeah, you heard me right, the Cheetah Girls.
A rock group created for a Disney television film (ala Hannah Montana), the Cheetah Girls recorded a version of “Shake A Tail Feather” for Disney’s CGI remake of Chicken Little.
Their version is exactly what you expect out of a Disney pre-teen orientated rock band. It’s poppy, fun, 60s inspired with the Disney’s characteristic musical sheen. Now watching the music video and seeing the silhouettes of the girls with actually tail feathers is a little disturbing and honestly do these girls have to be singing so sensually?
Sigh, whatever at least we are getting back to the roots of this song . . . wait a second . . . now that I think about it, isn't comparing a girl to a chicken isn't exactly flattering. Also, isn't this song a little demanding? He doesn't so much invite the girl to dance but demand it. The connotations imply a specific gender paradigm in which . . . Tang! STOP your brain and just enjoy the song. . . geez. . .
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