"Groove Me" is a song recorded by R&B singer

King Floyd King Floyd (February 13, 1945 – March 6, 2006) was a New Orleans soul singer and songwriter, best known for his top 10 hit from 1970, "Groove Me". Early career King Floyd III was born in New Orleans in 1945. His musical career started as a s ...

. Released from his

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

album in late 1970, it was a crossover hit, spending four non-consecutive weeks at number-one on Billboard Soul chart and peaking at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was recorded and produced by

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 ...

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

recording studios during the same session as another Quezergue-produced song,

Jean Knight Jean Knight (née Caliste; born January 26, 1943)Official records state that Jean Caliste, aged 16, married in June 1954, indicating a birth year of 1938. is an American R&B and soul singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Launching her profession ...

's "

Mr. Big Stuff "Mr. Big Stuff" is a song by American singer Jean Knight. The song was released in 1971 as a single from Knight's debut album of the same title, and became a big hit, reaching No. 2 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was certified double plat ...

". "Groove Me" was originally released as the B-side to Floyd's "What Our Love Needs" on the Malaco subsidiary Chimneyville. When

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

disc jockey George Vinnett started playing the B-side, the song began meriting attention, and as the record emerged as a local smash, Atlantic Records scooped up national distribution rights.

Personnel

No credits are listed for the Malaco studio musicians on the record. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes from the 1999 box set, ''The Last Soul Company: Malaco, A Thirty Year Retrospective'', the musicians for this session included: *Jimmy Honeycutt – saxophone *Bob Cheesman – trumpet *

– organ *Jerry Puckett – guitar *Vernie Robbins – bass *

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...

– drums During this time at Malaco, horn lines were typically played by saxophonist Hugh Garraway and trumpeter Perry Lomax.

Origin

According to Rob Bowman, Canadian professor of ethnomusicology, "Groove Me" had been inspired by a young college student who had worked about twenty feet away from Floyd at an east L.A. box factory. In Floyd's words: "She'd just watch me and smile at me all day. When I went to the water fountain, she would make it her purpose to come up to the water fountain. But, I was so shy. So, I decided one day that I was gonna write this poem and give it to her and I wrote 'Groove Me.' Believe it or not, after I finished it she never came back to work. It blew me away. So, I never gave her the poem. Man, I'd sure like to meet her one day just to thank her!"

Cover versions

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, respecti ...

covered the song in their hit 1978 album ''

Briefcase Full of Blues ''Briefcase Full of Blues'' is the debut album by The Blues Brothers, released on November 28, 1978, by Atlantic Records. It was recorded live on September 9, 1978, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, when the band opened for comedian ...

'', giving the song a Jamaican reggae feel. *In 1979,

Fern Kinney Fern Kinney (born Fern Kinney-Lewis, July 11, 1949), is an American R&B and disco singer, who is best remembered for her releases, " Groove Me" and " Together We Are Beautiful". Career Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Kinney orig ...

, who sang backing vocals on King Floyd's original version, released a disco version of the song on her album ''Groove Me'', which reached No. 6 on the Billboard dance chart.

References

{{authority control 1970 singles Funk songs Etta James songs 1970 songs Atlantic Records singles The Blues Brothers songs