"Shake a Tail Feather" is a song written by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, and

Andre Williams Andre Williams may refer to: * Andre Williams (musician) * Andre Williams (American football) * Andre Williams, British DJ better known as Shy FX {{hndis, Williams, Andre ...

and originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones. The original recording reached #28 on ''Billboard''s

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart and #51 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

Background

The song references a number of dance styles/moves including the

Boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...

, The Twist, The fly, The Bird,

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

, the Mashed Potato, the duck and the Watusi.

Notable cover versions

"Shake a Tail Feather" has been covered by many other artists over the years: *In 1966, Tommy James and the Shondells included it on their debut album, '' Hanky Panky''. *A 1967 version by

James & Bobby Purify James & Bobby Purify were an R&B singing duo, whose biggest hits were "I'm Your Puppet" in 1966, which reached number six in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and in a re-recorded version number 12 in the UK Singles Chart (in May 1976), and ...

reached #25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. * Ike & Tina Turner recorded their version in 1968 for their album '' So Fine''. It is also performed in the movie about their lives, '' What's Love Got To Do With It''. *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

covered and performed the song during his scenes in the 1980 film ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...

'' where he was surrounded by dancers performing the move referenced in the song whilst he himself played a

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

and sang.

References

Songs written by Andre Williams 1963 songs 1963 singles 1967 singles The Five Du-Tones songs James & Bobby Purify songs Ray Charles songs The Blues Brothers songs Tommy James and the Shondells songs Bell Records singles {{1960s-pop-song-stub