"Ubangi Stomp" is an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

song. Written by Charles Underwood and first released on record by Warren Smith in 1956, the song did not chart, but went on to become a rockabilly standard, covered by many artists. "Ubangi Stomp" – usually Smith's recording – appears on many compilation albums, including '' The Sun Records Collection'' and '' The Best of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour''. "Ubangi Stomp" is a straightforward

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

song; the lyrics, of no great literary depth ("''Ubangi stomp ubangi style / When the beat just drives a cool cat wild''"), tell in first person the story of a sailor who goes to Africa ("''I rocked through Africa and... Seen them cats doin' the Ubangi stomp''") and, enamored of the local

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, jumps ship to

go native Go Native (foaled in 2003 in Ireland, died 23 November 2012) was an Irish Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse, born to sire Double Eclipse (horse), Double Eclipse and dam Native Idea.tom-tom A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...

) are mixed into the ostensibly African setting. The Ubangi Stomp Festival, an annual international exposition of America roots and rockabilly music, takes its name from the song, as does the Ubangi Stomp Club, a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

organization that organizes and promotes roots concerts and gigs. Saxophonist

Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 – October 28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which h ...

released an instrumental piece titled "Ubangi Stomp" in 1954, but this has no relation to Underwood's song beyond the title.

Notable recordings

* Warren Smith (single) (1956,

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

#250) *

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

, on the album ''

'' (1958, Sun) *

The Trashmen The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962. The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer. Along with Co ...

(single) (1965, Argo #5516) *

Carl Mann Carl Richard Mann (August 22, 1942December 16, 2020) was an American rockabilly singer and pianist from West Tennessee. He was referred to as "The Last Son of Sun", as he was one of the final artists introduced by Sam Phillips of Sun Records. B ...

, on the album ''The Sun Story, Volume 6: Carl Mann'' (1977) *

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, on the album '' Lace and Whiskey'' (1977,

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) *

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

, on the album '' Pink Cadillac'' (1979,

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) *

The Cichlids Formed in early 1979, The Cichlids were composed of Debbie DeNeese on vocals and guitar, Bobby Tak on drums and vocals, Allan Portman on guitar and vocals, and Susan Robins on bass. "The act was widely considered one of the first alternative Flori ...

on the album ''Be True To Your School'' (1980, TK) *

The Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in th ...

, on the album ''

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'' (1981, Arista) * Gary Young (single) (1981) *

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, on the album ''

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'' (1984, Fur) *

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(single) (1996) *

Danny Gatton Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American virtuoso guitarist who combined blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a musical style he called "redneck jazz". Career Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. was born in ...

and

Robert Gordon Robert Gordon may refer to: Entertainment * Robert Gordon (actor) (1895–1971), silent-film actor * Robert Gordon (director) (1913–1990), American director * Robert Gordon (singer) (1947–2022), American rockabilly singer * Robert Gordon (scr ...

, on the live album ''The Humbler'' (recorded 1981, released 1996, NRG) *

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, on the album ''Hard Luck Guy'' (1999, Capricorn) The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Juke Joints (on their album ''20 years''), the Top Cats (on their album ''Full Throttle Rockabilly''), The Slippers (on their album ''Ubangi Stomp''), The Sundowners (on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of their 1959 single "Snake Eyed Woman"),

The Velaires The Velaires were an American rock and roll band from Sioux City, Iowa. Early years The group began as The Screamers in 1958. Founding member Don Bourret explained the origin in a 2013 newspaper article:We were the Screamers in 1958 at Central ...

(on the B-side of their 1961 single "It's Almost Tomorrow"), Bobby Taylor (on the B-side of his 1962 single "Seven Steps to an Angel"), and others.

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes Rory Storm (born Alan Ernest Caldwell; 7 January 1938 – 28 September 1972) was an English musician and vocalist. Born in Liverpool, Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contempora ...

recorded the song at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

in 1964, but this version was never released.

Foghat Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. The band has achieved eight gold records, one platinum and one double platinum record, and despite several line-up ...

recorded a version during the sessions for their first album, ''

'', but the song was not included on the album. It was included on their 1992 compilation ''Best of Foghat Volume 2'' and on their ''The Definitive Rock Collection'' in 2006.

References

Notes

{{Authority control Rockabilly songs 1956 singles Stray Cats songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Alice Cooper songs John Prine songs The Trashmen songs 1956 songs Songs about Africa