Woo-Hoo is most famous for it's appearance in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 as performed by garagebilly band the 5.6.7.8's. Today we're looking at the song's original recording by The Rock-A-Teens from the late 1950's.
Though the song is credited to record label owner George Donald McGraw it was originally written by The Rock-A-Teens themselves. Shortly after Woo Hoo's release the Teens were hit with a lawsuit from Arthur Smith for plagiarism (reportedly the band didn't understand how or why) and reverted the credit to McGraw in order to avoid a costly legal entanglement. Sadly the song would prove to be the one major hit for The Rock-A-Teens, but due to the universality of the lyric it would be a hit heard around the world.
The track is largely instrumental, with riotous drums, sax and guitars blowing out microphones left right and center, creating a dense and sweaty whirl of rockabilly poses and jive shaking. On top of the chaos Vic Mizelle's gentle vocals billow across like a leaf caught in a tornado.
The song, recorded in 1959, is in many ways a love letter to the passing of rockabilly as the predominant form of rock and roll. Every key instrument, from the acoustic guitar to the drums, gets a solo while riffing on the genetic heritage of all rock music: the twelve bar blues. Mizelle presides over it all with his gentle 'Woo-Hoos,' like the ghost of rockabilly come back down to Earth for one final twist.
Thank you for writing about this song. My dad (Eddie Robinson) was their saxophone player. Unfortunately, he passed away last year. It always amazed him to know people still listened to this song. By the way, my dad's favorite Rock-A-Teens song was always "Oh My Nerves" (it's my favorite too!). :)
ReplyDeleteHi Eclipsante, it was a pleasure to write- more people need to hear this song! Just had a listen to 'Oh My Nerves' and you're right it's a fabulous song. Great sense of groove and paranoia at once, particularly helped by those roaring sax lines (I can see why it would've been your fathers favourite). Thanks for dropping a line!
ReplyDelete-Dashiell Asher