2:07
single, 1964
Written by James Crawford, Barbara Hawkins, Rosa Hawkins & Joan Johnson
A schoolyard chant, almost, with hand percussion. The ladies were just fooling around in the studio, the story goes, using drumsticks on ashtrays and chairs, singing what they thought was a traditional song their grandmother used to sing. The producer ran the tapes, cleaned it up, added some instrumentation, and there was a hit. It's catchy and you cal clap along, and the vocals are pitch perfect. This song had some legal trouble. They were sued by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, who had a similar hit with Jock-a-Mo, and he got his name on the credits. Then they were sued by Joe Jones, previously encountered on this blog as the writer of the Rivieras' hit "California Sun," but this suit was unsuccessful. There's probably a rich history of "fooling around in the studio, only to become a hit" songs. Maybe the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" could join this one.
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