"Willie and the Hand Jive"
The Hand jive is a dance particularly associated with rock and roll and rhythm and blues music of the 1950s. It involves a complicated pattern of hand moves and claps at various parts of the body, following and/or imitating the percussion instruments. It resembles a highly elaborate version of Pat-a-cake. Hand moves include thigh slapping, cross-wrist slapping, fist pounding, hand clapping, and hitch hike moves.
In 1957 when film-maker Ken Russell was a freelance photographer, he recorded the teenagers of Soho, London hand-jiving in the basement of The Cat's Whisker coffee bar, where the hand-jive was invented. According to an article in the Daily Mirror,[1] "it's so crowded the girls hand-jive to the band as there's no room for dancing." Russell told interviewer Leo Benedictus of The Guardian[2] that "the place was crowded with young kids... the atmosphere was very jolly. Wholesome... everyone jiving with their hands because there was precious little room to do it with their feet... a bizarre sight. The craze fascinated me. It seemed like a strange novelty; I used to join in."
The hand-jive was particularly popularized by Johnny Otis's 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive". Miles Davis has a track named "Hand Jive" on his album "Nefertiti" from 1967. Eric Clapton did a version of the Johnny Otis song in 1974 that reached the Top 40.[3] The hand jive is also featured prominently in the Broadway musical Grease through the song "Born to Hand Jive"; in the movie adaptation of the musical, the song is performed by Sha Na Na. On a DVD audio commentary for the movie, choreographer Patricia Birch mentions that the dance also went by the much more risque name "hand job", but the title was changed as Grease was aimed at a family audience. The long-running Walt Disney World show Festival of the Lion King uses this during the song "Hakuna Matata," and the performers and audience do it while singing the song. The audience is taught the hand jive some time before the show begins.
Additionally, "Willie and the Hand Jive" was played on several occasions by the Grateful Dead and also by the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia, Sony, 1972[4]
This song exhibited the Bo Diddley beat, a rhythm that originated in Latin music and brought into mainstream American music by Bo Diddley. It has since influenced generations of musicians.
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers recorded a version of the song and a music video.[5]
Laurin Rinder & W. Michael Lewis made a disco version of "Willie and the Hand Jive" for their 1979 album Warriors.[6]
The term is also used by some jugglers in reference to certain hand motions in the Mills Mess juggling pattern.
In recent years, the dance has been utilized for accompaniment with the Gorilla Zoe track "Hood Nigga." The song was also a considerable hit in Britain for Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later Shadows)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ioannis Alexandros Veliotes[1] (December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012), better known as Johnny Otis, was an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, impresario and pastor[2]. Born in Vallejo, California,[1] he is commonly referred to as the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".[3]
Otis was the child of Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter.[1][4]
He was the older brother of Nicholas A. Veliotes, former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (1978–1981) and to Egypt (1984–1986).
Otis was well-known for his choice to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community.[5][6][7] He has written, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."[8]
He was the father of musician Shuggie Otis.
The Hand jive is a dance particularly associated with rock and roll and rhythm and blues music of the 1950s. It involves a complicated pattern of hand moves and claps at various parts of the body, following and/or imitating the percussion instruments. It resembles a highly elaborate version of Pat-a-cake. Hand moves include thigh slapping, cross-wrist slapping, fist pounding, hand clapping, and hitch hike moves.
In 1957 when film-maker Ken Russell was a freelance photographer, he recorded the teenagers of Soho, London hand-jiving in the basement of The Cat's Whisker coffee bar, where the hand-jive was invented. According to an article in the Daily Mirror,[1] "it's so crowded the girls hand-jive to the band as there's no room for dancing." Russell told interviewer Leo Benedictus of The Guardian[2] that "the place was crowded with young kids... the atmosphere was very jolly. Wholesome... everyone jiving with their hands because there was precious little room to do it with their feet... a bizarre sight. The craze fascinated me. It seemed like a strange novelty; I used to join in."
The hand-jive was particularly popularized by Johnny Otis's 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive". Miles Davis has a track named "Hand Jive" on his album "Nefertiti" from 1967. Eric Clapton did a version of the Johnny Otis song in 1974 that reached the Top 40.[3] The hand jive is also featured prominently in the Broadway musical Grease through the song "Born to Hand Jive"; in the movie adaptation of the musical, the song is performed by Sha Na Na. On a DVD audio commentary for the movie, choreographer Patricia Birch mentions that the dance also went by the much more risque name "hand job", but the title was changed as Grease was aimed at a family audience. The long-running Walt Disney World show Festival of the Lion King uses this during the song "Hakuna Matata," and the performers and audience do it while singing the song. The audience is taught the hand jive some time before the show begins.
Additionally, "Willie and the Hand Jive" was played on several occasions by the Grateful Dead and also by the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia, Sony, 1972[4]
This song exhibited the Bo Diddley beat, a rhythm that originated in Latin music and brought into mainstream American music by Bo Diddley. It has since influenced generations of musicians.
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers recorded a version of the song and a music video.[5]
Laurin Rinder & W. Michael Lewis made a disco version of "Willie and the Hand Jive" for their 1979 album Warriors.[6]
The term is also used by some jugglers in reference to certain hand motions in the Mills Mess juggling pattern.
In recent years, the dance has been utilized for accompaniment with the Gorilla Zoe track "Hood Nigga." The song was also a considerable hit in Britain for Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later Shadows)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ioannis Alexandros Veliotes[1] (December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012), better known as Johnny Otis, was an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, impresario and pastor[2]. Born in Vallejo, California,[1] he is commonly referred to as the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".[3]
Otis was the child of Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter.[1][4]
He was the older brother of Nicholas A. Veliotes, former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (1978–1981) and to Egypt (1984–1986).
Otis was well-known for his choice to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community.[5][6][7] He has written, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."[8]
He was the father of musician Shuggie Otis.
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