Music |
Slim Harpo
By
Published: Jan 14, 2020
Category:
Blues
Slim Harpo was born James Isaac Moore in Louisiana in 1924. At 15, he became an orphan when both his parents died. He left school, worked as a dock hand, started playing harmonica with local bands.
He had an early understanding of popular taste. He could deliver dirty blues riffs; he could also write songs that sounded suspiciously like Country & Western. Then his producer created an echo, giving his records a seductive distance that made you want to move into it. He was successful — to a point. He was never a full-time musician; even when he had hits, he operated a trucking business. In 1964, the Rolling Stones recorded one of his songs. Wider exposure followed. He died before he could build on it: heart attack, at 46.
I’m listening often to Slim Harpo because so many of his songs are ferociously danceable: “I’m A King Bee,” “Got Love If You Want It,” “Shake Your Hips.” These and more are on “The Best of Slim Harpo,” an essential collection. [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here.]
My total obsession is “Shake Your Hips.” It could not be simpler, or more urgent:
I wanna tell you ’bout a dance
That’s goin’ around,
Everybody’s doin’ it
From the grownups down.
Don’t move your head,
Don’t move your hands,
Don’t move your lips,
Just shake your hips.
Do the hip shake, babe,
Do the hip shake, babe,
Shake your hip, babe,
Shake your hip, babe.
What you don’t know
Don’t be afraid
Just listen to me
And do what I say.
Don’t move your head,
Don’t move your hands,
Don’t move your lips,
Just shake your hips.
Do the hip shake, babe,
Do the hip shake, babe,
Shake your hip, babe,
Shake your hip, babe,
Well, I met a little girl
In a country town
She said, “What do you know
There’s Slim Harpo!”
Didn’t move her head,
Didn’t move her hands,
Didn’t move her lips,
Just shook her hips.
Do the hip shake, babe,
Do the hip shake, babe.
This music is bullet proof. It does not tolerate a new interpretation; it was born perfect, and must be obeyed. Here’s the original. Slim Harpo:
Here are the Rolling Stones, circa 1972. They’ve modified it; no harp, but a masterful Keith Richards. And has anyone ever done more with less than Charlie Watts?
The song is gender-neutral. Here’s a super-heated Joan Osborne:
[To download the MP3 of “Shake Your Hips” from Amazon for 99 cents, click here.]
Saturday night party music — that’s the theme here. “Got Love If You Want It,” for example:
[To download the MP 3 of “Got Love” from Amazon for 99 cents, click here.]
As they say on TV when the show ends with live music, let’s let the band play us out. In this case: royally.
