2:35
single, 1958
Written by Johnny Otis
I had only ever heard the Eric Clapton version before; this is the original. Otis is an interesting guy; born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes to Greek parents, as a youth he decided to identify as a black man. The song is about a man named Rockin' Willie who became famous doing a mysterious dance with his hands which is never described. (However, according to Wikipedia, "The dance consisted of clapping two fists together one on top of the other, followed by rolling the arms around each other.") I personally always wondered if the song was a double entendre about masturbation. I mean, it seems like it is, but that doesn't fit the lyrics that well. Sure, there's the hand jive being disapproved of by his father. But then why would Willie do it on TV? Why would the grandmother give the sister a dime to do it again? What would that mean?? But the music. It's a jump blues shuffle, a Bo Diddley beat, it's got handclaps. Great stuff.
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