Ray Charles - Shake a Tail Feather

Artist ----  Ray Charles

Song   ----  Shake a Tail Feather

Album  ----  Movie: The Blues Brothers (1980)

Background: This is the Ray Charles version of a song originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group The Five Du-Tones (The original was featured on the soundtrack of the 1988 film Hairspray). "Shake a Tail Feather" has been covered by many other artists over the years. The Ray Charles version is probably the most famous one, he performed the song during his scenes in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. This version of the song includes calls for various 1960s dances, including the Twist, the Monkey, The Frug and The Mashed Potato, to be performed by a crowd gathered outside Ray's Music Exchange.

Trivia: In the movie, Ray sells the Rhodes piano to the band for 2000USD and even offers to throw in the black keys for free.

My two cents: Everybody has to move his feet along with this song. Ray Charles, in this movie still alive and well, just needs to play himself in order to act like a music shop owner and amazing musician. The Blues Brothers movie is one of the greatest music films out there, in my opinion. I've also seen the movie Ray, where you get the big picture of Ray Charles' life and mostly the dark sides of it. But also an amazing film to watch. In this scene, look how the people start to dance on the streets outside, this is fun to watch!

Cite: Do The Mashed Potato!