"Barefootin'" is a 1966 song written and performed by Robert Parker. "Barefootin'" was
arranged
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...
Wardell Quezergue
Wardell Joseph Quezergue ( ; March 12, 1930 – September 6, 2011) was an American composer, arranger, record producer and bandleader, known among New Orleans musicians as the "Creole Beethoven". Steeped in Music of New Orleans#Jazz, jazz, he was ...
in 1965. Parker's record label,
Nola Records
Nola Records was an American independent record label based in New Orleans.
Overview
The label was established in the summer of 1963 by composer and bandleader, Wardell Quezergue along with music producer Clint Scott and Ulis Gaines.
Chart performance
The song reached No.2 on the U.S.
Hot Rhythm & Blues 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 ...
Cash Box Top 100
The Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles (also known as the Cash Box Top 100) was a record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Cash Box'' magazine, which began publication in 1942. As a close competitor to ''Billboard
A billb ...
in June 1966. Outside the US, the track reached No.7 in Canada in June 1966 and No.24 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in September 1966.
Other versions
In 1987 a
claymation
Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay.
Tra ...
music video was produced by
Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...
taking place in outer space with aliens singing. Aardman Animations were approached by
Charly Records
Charly Records is a British record label that specialises in reissued material.
Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania.
History
Charly Records was founded in Fra ...
who owned the back catalog rights to many classic R&B tracks. In the late '80s, classic R&B charted at the lower 100 on the charts and sometimes the owner would spend some marketing money on a song hoping to kick it into the top 20.
The song is included as a full-length performance by Walter "Wolfman" Washington and house band in the 2005 documentary film '' Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
,
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
.
The song was covered on the 1989 album Southern Star by the American country music band
. Lead vocals were sung by the bands lead guitarist/fiddler
Jeff Cook
Jeffrey Alan Cook (August 27, 1949 – November 7, 2022) was an American country music artist. He was best known for being a founding member of the band Alabama, in which he contributed to lead vocals, guitar, fiddle, piano and other musical in ...