(Do The) Mashed Potatoes
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__NOTOC__ "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" is a
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
. It was recorded by
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
with his band in 1959 and released as a two-part
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
in 1960. For
contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
ual reasons the recording was credited to "Nat Kendrick and the Swans".


Circumstances of the recording

The recording of "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" arose out of James Brown's success in using the
Mashed Potato Mashed potato or mashed potatoes ( American, Canadian, and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt, and pepper. It is general ...
dance as part of his stage show. Brown wanted to record a Mashed Potatoes-themed instrumental with his band in order to capitalize on the dance's popularity. However, King Records head
Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...
, a frequent critic of Brown's proposals, would not allow it. (The first instrumental recorded by Brown and his band, titled "Doodle Bee" and credited to Brown's
tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
J.C. Davis, had not sold well when it was released on King's sister label
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to rhythm & blues releases. The comp ...
.) Brown approached
Henry Stone Henry Stone (June 3, 1921 – August 7, 2014), born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was be ...
, a friend in the music business who ran the Dade Records label, about recording the piece with him. Stone, although nervous about crossing Nathan (with whom he did business), arranged for Brown to record at his
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
studio. "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes" was recorded with Brown playing the piano and shouting the song's title. To prevent Brown's voice from being recognized, Stone
overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
bed shouted vocals by Carlton "King" Coleman, a local radio DJ, onto the recording, though Brown's voice remains audible in the background. Leadership of the band was officially credited to Nat Kendrick, who was Brown's drummer at the time, while the writing was credited to "Dessie Rozier", a
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
for Brown. A simple
twelve bar blues The twelve-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly base ...
tune, "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" became a Top Ten R&B hit in 1960 and fed what would eventually grow into a national
dance craze ''Dance Craze'' is a 1981 documentary film about the British Two-tone (music genre), 2 Tone music genre. The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness (band), Madness, whom he met during th ...
. The band recorded several more singles under the Nat Kendrick & the Swans name, including "Dish Rag", "Slow Down", and "Wobble Wobble", but none was successful. Eventually made aware of Brown's outside success, Syd Nathan relented and allowed him to release future instrumentals on King, starting with the 1961 single "Hold It" b/w "The Scratch".
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
had a second Mashed Potatoes-themed hit with " Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." in 1962.


Personnel

''"Nat Kendrick & The Swans"'': * Carlton "King" Coleman - lead vocal * Alfred Corley - alto saxophone * J.C. Davis - tenor saxophone * James Brown - piano, vocal yelps * Bobby Roach - guitar *
Bernard Odum Bertrand Odom (June 10, 1932 – August 17, 2004), known professionally as Bernard Odum, was an American bass guitar player best known for performing in James Brown's band in the 1960s. Biography Odum started playing with Brown in 1956 and ...
- bass * Nat Kendrick - drums


Charts

Steve Alaimo version:


Other versions

Steve Alaimo Stephen Charles Alaimo (December 6, 1939 – November 30, 2024) was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He later became a record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clar ...
released the song in 1962, also on album ''
Mashed Potatoes Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian, and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butt ...
''. The British
beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...
group The Undertakers recorded a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" in 1963. German beat group
The Rattles The Rattles are a German beat and rock band formed in Hamburg in 1960, best known for their 1970 psychedelic hit single "The Witch". Career The Rattles performed in Hamburg, and played at the same venues as The Beatles on several occasions i ...
recorded a version for their 1963 debut single A-side.
The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s American rock band from Portland, Oregon. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and has bec ...
covered the song on their 1964 album '' The Kingsmen In Person''. James Brown recorded a remake of "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" for his 1980 album ''
Soul Syndrome ''Soul Syndrome'' is a studio album by American musician James Brown, released in 1980 by TK Records. It was reissued in 1991 by Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member o ...
''.
Surf rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...
group
Man or Astroman Man or Astro-man? is an American surf rock group that was formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade. Primarily instrumental, "Man or Astro-man?" blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s, ...
released a cover of the song called "Space Potatoes" on their 1993 EP Captain Holojoy's Space Diner, with modified lyrics.


References

* Guralnick, P. (1986). ''Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom''. New York: Back Bay Books. . * Leeds, Alan M., and Harry Weinger (1991). Star Time: Song by Song. In ''Star Time'' (pp. 46–53)
D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#L ...
London: Polydor Records.
Nat Kendrick & The Swans.
Henry Stone Music, Inc. * White, Cliff, and Harry Weinger (1991). Are You Ready for Star Time? In ''Star Time'' (pp. 14–44)
D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#L ...
London: Polydor Records. * Wolk, Douglas. (2004). ''Live at the Apollo''. New York: Continuum Books.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Do the Mashed Potatoes James Brown songs Songs written by James Brown 1960 debut singles 1960s instrumentals 1959 songs Songs about dancing Novelty and fad dances Checker Records singles Hep Stars songs