Shotgun

Label

Soul

Genre

Soul

Composer(s)

Autry DeWalt

Entered Chart

Feb 13, 1965

Peak Date

Apr 3, 1965

Released

February 13, 1965

Recorded

1964 Studio Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A), Detroit, Michigan

Catalog #

Soul 35008

B-Side

Hot Cha

The "Shotgun" is a dance. There were many dance crazes in the '60s, and two of them are mentioned in the lyrics: The Jerk ("Do The Jerk, baby") and The Twine ("It's Twine Time"). The Shotgun dance is more freeform, but you should sometimes stagger about like you've been shot. "Shotgun" was the first hit for Junior Walker & The All Stars, who were signed to the Motown label Soul. Walker, whose real name was Autry DeWalt, was a saxophone player who made his vocal debut on this song. Walker recorded the vocals because the singer who was assigned to the session didn't show up. He didn't expect his tracks to make the cut, but the Motown producers liked the sound and left them in. Junior Walker wrote this song. He got the idea after watching some kids in a club doing a dance he'd never seen before. As explained in The Motown Story: Volume 1, the sound at the beginning that simulates a shotgun was created by kicking an amplifier. >> Motown president Berry Gordy produced this track himself. When he heard the rough version, he took a personal interest in the track because he knew it could be a hit - if he could clean it up. Walker's band wasn't used to studio work and weren't nearly as polished as Motown's in-house all-stars, the Funk Brothers. So Gordy had the Motown musicians record parts and either replaced or augmented what was on the original. "Shotgun" was a #1 R&B hit and rose to #4 on the Hot 100. The group had several more hit songs, including "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" (also #1 R&B) and a cover of the Supremes song "Come See About Me." Walker played sax on Foreigner's "Urgent" before his death in 1995. Vanilla Fudge covered this song, taking it to #68 in 1969.

I said shotgun shoot 'em 'fore he run now do the jerk baby do the jerk now.
(Hey).
Put on your red dress and then you go down yonder.
I said buy yourself a shotgun now, were gonna break it down baby now.
We're gonna load it up baby now 'a then you shoot 'em 'fore he run now.

I said shotgun shoot 'em 'fore he run now do the jerk baby do the jerk now.
(Hey).

I said shotgun shoot 'em 'fore he run now do the jerk baby do the jerk now.
(Hey).
I said Put on your high-heeled shoes.
I said we're goin' down here and I listen to 'em play the blues.
We're gonna dig potatoes, we're gonna pick tomatoes.
I said shotgun shoot 'em 'fore he run now do the jerk baby do the jerk now.
(Hey).