Jr. Walker & The All-Stars – Shotgun

Good R&B song from Jr. Walker and The Allstars. A little trivia on this song. If you look at the live video below, you will see a young Jimi Hendrix in the background playing guitar. They were on a show called Night Train, and it was videotaped at Channel 5, at that time, WLAC in Nashville. He didn’t play on the original recording, but it’s cool to see him here playing guitar in 1965. 

Walker, whose real name was Autry DeWalt, was a great saxophone player who made his vocal debut on this song. He recorded the vocals because the singer didn’t show up. He didn’t expect his vocal track to make the cut, but the Motown producers liked the sound and left it in. Junior Walker & The All Stars were Motown, but I would have sworn they were Stax. They had more of a raw, unpolished sound than Motown usually had. 

This was the first hit for Junior Walker & The All Stars, who were signed to the Motown label. The “Shotgun” is a dance. There were many dance crazes in the ’60s, and 2 of them are mentioned in the lyrics: The Jerk “Do The Jerk, baby”, and The Twine “It’s Twine Time”. The band had several more hit songs, including What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) and a cover of the Supremes’ song Come See About Me. Walker also played sax on Foreigner’s Urgent before he died in 1995.

The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts in 1965. It was written by Jr Walker himself. 

Here is the video of their performance on Channel 5. Jimi Hendrix is on the right side of the drummer when you are looking at it, and of course, playing left-handed. 

Shotgun

I said shotgunShoot ’em for he run nowDo the jerk babyDo the jerk nowHey

Put on your red dressAnd then you go downtown nowI said buy yourself a shotgun nowWe’re gonna break it down, baby nowWe’re gonna load it up, baby nowAnd then you shoot him for he run now

I said shotgunShoot ’em for he run nowDo the jerk babyDo the jerk nowHey

ShotgunShoot ’em for he run nowDo the jerk babyDo the jerk nowHey

Put on your high heel shoesI said we’re goin’ down here to listen to ’em play the bluesWe’re gonna dig potatoesWe’re gonna pick tomatoes

I said shotgunShoot ’em for he run nowDo the jerk babyDo the jerk nowHey

I said it’s twine timeI said it’s twine timeI said it’s twine timeHey, what’d I say?

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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.

55 thoughts on “Jr. Walker & The All-Stars – Shotgun”

  1. That’s cool seeing young Jimi there! Definitely a Motown classic that lives on through movies and commercials, though I personally like their other 2 hits you mention more than this one. Talented guys in the group even without Hendrix

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  2. Pingback: Jr. Walker & The All-Stars – Shotgun – MobsterTiger

      1. I had a ticket for the 1970 show with Joe Cocker and Ronnie Hawkins and Stone the Crows were supporting acts on the bill at the Filmore East. Someone broke into my gym locker in High School and took my ticket, so I never got to be there, and all my friends kept telling me what a great show I missed.

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      2. That sucks Jim! That would have been a great show!
        Just seeing the stage and the seats there…it looked like a great place to see a show. The Grateful Dead and Allmans on the same bill! Which you saw them together later on at Watkins Glen.

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  9. Great, great song and group. The drum break after each verse and chorus is my favorite on record. Air drums! I will comment on your other post later. I’m on a very short break from work.

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  16. Pingback: Jr. Walker & The All-Stars – Shotgun – Opumie David

  21. Reading this made me think about how a groove inhabits the body before the mind has finished registering it. The way that driving rhythm and phrasing lock together created a sense of movement that was hard to shake off even after finishing the piece.

    What lingered for me was not any factual detail but the quiet insistence of the pulse, the way it seems to propel everything else forward. That stubborn energy stayed with me more than anything else.

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    2. What lingered for me was not any factual detail but the quiet insistence of the pulse, the way it seems to propel everything else forward. That stubborn energy stayed with me more than anything else.

      Yes, sir. What a great comment.

      And I think we respond to that stubborn energy, as you call it. The quiet insistence of the pulse. And not just to rock and roll.

      Yes, sir. Worth repeating. What a great comment.

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  22. This is one of the classic songs from the Motown era for me, Max. That video of Jimi is truly amazing – I had no idea. I also forgot about Walker playing on Urgent with Foreigner. That was such a cool collab. Walker crushed it on that tune.

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  23. I love this track. For me, a white kid from the San Fernando Valley, and one who paid attention to the labels and such, I never put this together with Diana Ross. The Temptations? Absolutely.

    As for the lyrics, I never got beyond the single word title.

    Great stuff.

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