Willie and the Hand Jive
| "Willie and the Hand Jive" | |
|---|---|
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| Single by Johnny Otis | |
| Released | 1958 |
| Format | 7" |
| Recorded | 1958 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Label | Capitol |
| Writer(s) | Johnny Otis |
| "Willie and the Hand Jive" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Eric Clapton | ||||
| from the album 461 Ocean Boulevard | ||||
| B-side | "Mainline Florida" | |||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Blues, rock | |||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | RSO | |||
| Writer(s) | Johnny Otis | |||
| Producer(s) | Tom Dowd | |||
| Eric Clapton singles chronology | ||||
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"Willie and the Hand Jive" is a song written by Johnny Otis and originally released as a single in 1958 by Johnny Otis Show, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #5 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song has a Bo Diddley beat and was partly inspired by the music sung by a chain gang Otis heard while he was touring. The lyrics are about a man who became famous for doing a dance with his hands, but the song has been accused of glorifying masturbation. It has since been covered by numerous artists, including The Strangeloves, Eric Clapton, Cliff Richard, Kim Carnes, George Thorogood and The Grateful Dead. Clapton's 1974 version was also released as a single and also reached the Billboard Top 40, peaking at #26. Thorogood's 1985 version reached #25 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The Johnny Otis Show original version of the song produced by Tom Morgan has an infectious Bo Diddley beat, much of it provided by drummer Earl Palmer. Johnny Otis biographer George Lipsitz describes Jimmy Nolen's guitar riff on the song as "unforgettable". The music was based on a song Otis had heard a chain gang singing while touring, combined with work Otis did as a teenager when he was performing with Count Otis Matthews and the West Oakland House Stompers.
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