"Shake Your Hips" (sometimes known as "Hip Shake") is a song written by Louisiana

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

man

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born Isiah Moore or James Isaac Moore; February 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970)Martin Hawkins, "Slim Harpo at 100", ''Blues & Rhythm'', No.384, June 2024, p.23 was an American blues musician, a leading exponent of the swamp blues styl ...

. He recorded it in February 1966 for producer

J. D. Miller J, or j, is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. J may also refer to: * Palatal approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet * J, Cyrillic letter Je Astronomy * J, a provisional designation prefix for some objects discovered bet ...

for a follow-up single to his hugely successful "

Baby Scratch My Back "Baby Scratch My Back" is a 1965 rhythm and blues song by blues singer Slim Harpo. It is mostly an instrumental piece with occasional monologue and harmonica fills by Harpo. Although it had some success with rock audiences (reaching number 16 ...

". Miller's

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Louis Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

released it as a single in June 1966 and in October, the song became the lead track for Slim Harpo's 1966 album ''Baby Scratch My Back'', which was a long-term release in Excello's catalogue. Slim Harpo biographer Martin Hawkins describes it as a "dance-instruction song ith afast-paced, hypnotic shoeshine beat". He notes contributions by

Lazy Lester Leslie Johnson (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018), known as Lazy Lester, was an American blues musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered swamp blues, and also played harmonic ...

on percussion and

Katie Webster Katie Webster (January 11, 1936 – September 5, 1999), born Kathryn Jewel Thorne, was an American boogie-woogie pianist. Career Webster was initially best known as a session musician behind Louisiana musicians on the Excello and Goldband re ...

on organ.

Reception and influence

A June 18, 1966, "Spotlight Singles" review in ''Billboard'' magazine included "Harpo follows up his hit '

' with two blues-based sides. Dance-teaching tune is backed by a solid blues weeper with harmonica backing". The review predicted that the single would reached the top 60 of the magazine's

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

singles chart, however, it stalled at number 116 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart for July 23, 1966. Hawkins notes "It seems that 'Shake Your Hips' was a more influential disc than its chart position indicated, and it sold widely over a long period".

The Rolling Stones version

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

recorded the song for their album '' Exile on Main St.''. It was

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

's idea to record it for the album. The Stones recorded this in London, but reworked it at

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

' villa in the South of France, where the band was staying on their "exile." It was recorded to sound like a '50s record.

Other renditions

The song has been recorded by many artists, including

Love Sculpture Love Sculpture were a Welsh blues rock band that was active from 1966 to 1970, led by Dave Edmunds (born 15 April 1944 in Cardiff, Wales), with bassist John David (born 19 January 1946 in Cardiff) and drummer Rob "Congo" Jones (born 13 August ...

for their 1968 album ''Blues Helping''. Other renditions include those by the

Legendary Shack Shakers The Legendary Shack Shakers (originally Those or Th' ) are an United States, American rock band from Murray, Kentucky that was formed in 1995 by J.D. Wilkes. The original line-up formed the band out of a shared interest in rockabilly, blues and ...

on ''

Cockadoodledon't ''Cockadoodledon't'' is the third studio album by American rock band Legendary Shack Shakers. Released on April 22, 2003, the album established the band's presence on the alternative country scene. Musical style ''The Houston Press'' categoriz ...

'' (2003) and

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

on '' Bring It On Home'' (2012).

References

{{Authority control Slim Harpo songs 1966 songs 1966 singles Blues songs Songs about dancing The Rolling Stones songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Songs written by Slim Harpo Excello Records singles