Willie and the Hand Jive

[TheSavage]

On a search, you know, I tried and tried, but this thing didn't come up! Frankly, it seems to be a long time coming. - But I hadn't really heard much of the Cliff/Shadow work, and thought I'd amend that. - This one stands out, and really gets the juices flowing. My eventual question is this: Was this a cover of a previously known song, and if so, who was the culprit?

[noelford]

Er... where did you search? I did a Google search and instantly got loads of info. Wikipedia, for instance...

[dave robinson]

Willie & The Hand Jive was originally a hit for America's Johnny Otis Show.

[JimN]

I've always like the Cliff/Shadows version of Willie And The Hand Jive.

The Johnny Otis version is very showbiz, but Hank treats it more like Bo Diddley would have, with the throbbing tremolo provided by his Selmer Stadium amp (with its version of the Fender "vibrato" circuit). Maybe a bit of distortion would have improved things a tad, but his sound on that 1959 recording (issued mid-1960) is pretty near perfect for the song and style.

[cockroach]

Was 'Wille did the ChaCha' a follow-up to that song? Cliff and the boys did both songs I think?

[humdrum]

On a search, you know, I tried and tried, but this thing didn't come up! Frankly, it seems to be a long time coming. - But I hadn't really heard much of the Cliff/Shadow work, and thought I'd amend that. - This one stands out, and really gets the juices flowing. My eventual question is this: Was this a cover of a previously known song, and if so, who was the culprit?

If you like this track then I reccomend you listen to "Mumbling Mosie" by Cliff/Shads. It is also a Johnny Otis song in the same vein as Willie & the hand jive. it also contains some of Hanks finest backing guitar ever.......Well worth a listen.

[Billyboygretsch]

I agree Hank doing some great licks and fill ins. Just what I used to remember I wanted to sound like - still trying