Wilson Pickett – Land of 1000 Dances

This song has to have a world record attached to it… song most used in pep rallies. I heard the na na na parts from elementary to high school. It was high school before I heard the actual song.

The original version was by Chris Kenner, a New Orleans R&B singer and songwriter, first recorded and released “Land of 1000 Dances” in 1962 and it only made it to #77 on the Billboard 100. Kenner wrote the song as well. He promised Fats Domino a writing credit if he recorded it…Fats did but it didn’t go anywhere. On some copies, he is listed as a co-writer.

This song has been covered a lot. Secondhandsongs says it has 150 cover versions which is very good. Cannibal and The Headhunters covered it in 1965 and they peaked at #30 on the Billboard 100 but Wilson Pickett had the highest charting position for the song. It’s no telling how many times it’s been played live by famous and nonfamous artists.

Land of 1000 Dances peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #22 in the UK in 1966 for Pickett. The sound of this record is great…it has a raw edge that only Stax had at the time.

Land of 1000 Dances

One, two, three
One, two, three
Ow! Uh! Alright! Uh!

Got to know how to Pony
Like Bony Moronie
Mash Potato
Do The Alligator
Put your hand on your hips, yeah
Let your backbone slip
Do the Watusi
Like my little Lucy

Ow! Uh!
Na, na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
Na-na na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
Need somebody help me say it one time!
Na, na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
Na-na na-na na-na
Na-na na-na

Wow!
Ow!
Uh!
You know I feel alright?
Hah!
Feel pretty good, y’all
Uh-hah!

Na, na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
Na-na na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
C’mon y’all, let’s say it one mo’ time!
Na, na-na na-na
Na-na na-na
Na-na na-na na-na
Na-na na-na

Ohh!

Dancin’ in the alley
With Long Tall Sally
Twistin’ with Lucy
Doin’ the Watusi
Roll over on your back
I like it like that
Do that Jerk, oh
Watch me work, y’all

Ow! Do it!
Wow! Do it!
Watch me do it
Ohh, help me!
Ohh, help me!
Ohh, help me!
Ohh, help me!

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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.

37 thoughts on “Wilson Pickett – Land of 1000 Dances”

  3. I didn’t realize this was used at pep rallies. That might make “na, na” the most popular sound at those, since “Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye” was also heavily used for athletic events.

    I remember the Cannibal and the Headhunters version being a hit. I don’t think I’d ever heard the original. But there’s nothing like that Stax/Volt sound on the Wilson Pickett version!

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  15. Nice one. My favourite version of this is a live one by The Rezillos, with the brass replaced by Jo Callis’s punk guitar. Check it out Max and see how it compares!

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  16. Definitely a well-covered song, so many people did it. The one I first heard was this one, then a trio you might or might not have heard of called The Walker Brothers did it, too. (Not brothers at all, but three Americans who became well-known in the UK in the 60s. Scott Engel (aka Walker) then went solo and had some good songs here too. Though his much later stuff is just dire (or maybe just liked by a minority of people.) But anyway, they did this at their live shows in the 60s to the deafening screams of teenage girls – of which, I’m embarrassed to say – I was one!)

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    1. I just looked up the Walkler Brothers…I know some about them…I always got them mixed up with the Hudson Brothers…I know…two totally different groups.
      They sounded great and that is all that counts.

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    1. I HATE how WP has changed everything. In my posts I cannot use CTRL V anymore…it will wipe out the entire post and post whatever I’m posting on top…I work in classic mode though…I tried it in block…and it did the same.

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      1. Can’t say I’m surprised. Was one of the reasons I stopped blogging (though by no means the main one.) Does it do the same in comments? Nope – just tried it. Works fine. What a bloody nuisance for you.

        Apparently WP are now letting some company use AI to ‘steal’ data from people’s blog posts. Lovely people run this site. Not.

        Anyway – concentrate: Walker Brothers!!

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      2. That doesn’t surprise me about WP…I swear they change things just to change things at times. It’s much harder now to navigate into reader and back to the admin panel as well. I’ve just bookmarked it now to make it easy.

        I sure will!

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  19. I was reading something on another blog, one devoted more to the sound than what the sound consists of, who mentioned an album this song is on. What the writer said struck a chord (no pun intended, which is definitely unusual for me). The writer, one Rudy Rudelic, said, “These are records to put on and enjoy without fussing over hearing every last detail.”

    Yeah, put on and enjoy.

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