Johnny Otis – Willie and the Hand Jive

I believe I first heard this by Eric Clapton in the late seventies when I was a kid. I always liked the song but this version is great as well. It’s the cool rhythm that draws me in. One of the best and most copied rhythms in rock.

In some circles, Otis was known as “the godfather of rhythm and blues.” He was a multi-talented musician, known primarily as a drummer, vibraphonist, pianist, singer, and composer. He led his own band, the Johnny Otis Orchestra, which played a significant role in the development of West Coast rhythm and blues.

He earned that title. He helped in discovering and promoting such musicians as Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, and Jackie Wilson. Otis was a white musician who immersed himself in black music and culture. He was accepted in that community and became an advocate for racial integration and civil rights. Otis was also a popular radio DJ, hosting shows that showcased rhythm and blues music and spreading the word of that genre.

Johnny wrote this song and released it in 1958. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts and #9 on the Billboard 100. It’s one of the most catchy rhythms in rock and roll next to the Bo Diddley rhythm or Who Do You Love…it very well could be called a variation of Bo Diddley.

When he played this live his audience would mimic a dance and clap they had to the song. Some had said that the song was about masturbation…something that Johnny Otis denied until he passed away in 2012 at the age of 90. I think some people spend their lives trying to find something controversial in everything. I guess I’m guilty of it at times.

According to secondhandsongs.com there are 69 versions of this song. Artists that covered the song include Cliff Richard, The Crickets, Sonny Burgess, The Gentrys, The Tremeloes, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, George Thorogood, and I’ve heard The Grateful Dead do it live on a few clips I’ve seen.

Willie and the Hand Jive

I know a cat named Way-Out WillieHe got a cool little chick named Rockin’ BillieDo you walk and stroll with Susie QAnd do that crazy hand jive too?

Papa told Willie “you’ll ruin my homeYou and that hand jive has got to go”Willie said “papa, don’t put me downBeen doin’ that hand jive all over town”

Hand jive, hand jiveHand jive, doin’ that crazy hand jive

Mama, mama, look at uncle Joe, look at himHe’s doin’ that hand jive with sister FloEven gave baby sister a dime, hey, heySaid “do that hand jive one more time”

Well, a doctor and a lawyer and a indian chiefThey all dig that crazy beatWay-Out Willie gave them all a treat, yeahWhen he did the hand jive with his feet

Hand jive, hand jiveHand jive, doin’ that crazy hand jive, hey, heyCome on, sugar, yeah!

Well, Willie and Billie got married last fallThey had a little Willie Junior and that ain’t allYou know that baby got greatness and it’s plain to see, hey, heyDoin’ that hand jive on T.V., come on

Hand jive, hand jive(Why don’t you) hand jive, doin’ that crazy hand jive

Hey, hey, wellYeah, yeah

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

26 thoughts on “Johnny Otis – Willie and the Hand Jive”

  1. I remember my big sister teaching me the Hand Jive. I was 5 when the record came out. His son Shuggie played guitar in his band, wearing a painted-on mustache to pass for older. Later in life Johnny Otis had a Saturday morning radio show on KPFA in Berkeley, when he lived in Sepastopol and I was in San Francisco. In ’92 he released “Spirit of the Black Territory Bands”, hearkening back to his 1940s career leading a big band.

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  2. This is my first-time hearing Clapton cover this song and I am most familiar with the New Riders of the Purple Sage playing this song. Otis said that he got the inspiration for the tune from a chain gang song that he heard, and hand jive became a series of hand movements done to the song because in some early rock concerts the audience was forbidden from getting up and dancing.  So, they would clap and do these coordinated hand gestures, while remaining in their seats.

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    1. I grew up with the Eric Clapton single…I never knew this existed. Otis hit on a winner here…it does have some of the same changes as “Bo Diddley” but many songs do.

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      1. On June 3, 1956, city authorities in Santa Cruz, California, announced a total ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “Detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.” In early 1957, at Wake Forest in North Carolina, trustees voted to allow chaperoned dancing on campus which were banned since 1937, but the ban was upheld. The vote “set off the rockingest dance Wake Forest College is ever likely to see.” 1,000 students rushed to the Quad, shouting, “We wanna dance!” They rolled the trees with toilet paper, shot off fireworks, set a bonfire, burned an effigy of the convention president and changed the campus entrance sign to “Wake Forest Monastery.” Most of all they danced, doing the bunnyhop and the jitterbug and rocking to “Wake Up Little Susie” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

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  3. catchy beat to it. It’s one I’ve known since who knows when, certainly heard it when I was young, but wouldn’t have known who first did it, nor for that matter who was the version I heard. Eric’s is pretty good but doesn’t sound ‘familiar’. Guess that leaves 68 other possibilities!

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    1. Well that wasn’t the single version by Clapton…I always liked this one…it’s a fun song and the remakes I’ve heard doesn’t improve on the original to me.

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  4. I was quite pleased to see a piece on Johnny Otis. He really did hit on a winner with this song. I’ve run across several accounts of his influence, certainly for a young Etta James he was pivotal.

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    1. This is the first time I really read about him when I wrote this a month or so ago. What a man he was and he was a very important guy…I heard of him but never knew much about him.

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  7. It’s a kickass song. I knew Clapton’s was a cover but never knew the original. I’ve listened to 461 Ocean Blvd. probably more than any other EC album (except for the Cream ones.) The Johnny Otis video is all-out hilarious. The white man wrote a hit song, but these white dancers can’t keep up with it.

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  9. Like you I knew that song because of Eric Clapton’s rendition and always dug it. My first Clapton album on vinyl was the 1982 compilation “Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton”, which included “Willie and the Hand Jive.” Your post was actually the first time I heard Johnny Otis’ original – glad I finally did. It sounds great as well!

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    1. Oh I had that album as well! I got it from Columbia House.
      Don’t feel alone…it was the first time I heard it also…it’s really good!

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      1. If I remember correctly, I bought it primarily because of “After Midnight.” I loved Clapton’s version of it. Initially, I was less enthusiastic about his version of the other JJ Cale song on that collection: “Cocaine.” I had really come to love Cale’s original, and it took me a while to fully warm to Clapton’s cover. His rendition of “I Shot the Sheriff”, on the other hand, I loved right away, even though I had heard Bob Marley’s original first and come to love it. Anyway, perhaps too much info! 🙂

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  11. Johnny Otis was an interesting character in a period of music I don’t know much about. I associate him with Oakland in Northern California and then Los Angeles. He had a church, and a radio show…

    The question of regionalism comes up. I know Willie and the Hand Jive was a national hit for Otis, and his r&b band toured the nation. But was there more?

    And his ear for other musicians was phenomenal…

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