Baby Scratch My Back

As cool rocking names go, Slim Harpo is in the freezer. His sonic stylings are just as frigid. A narrow minded man would say he sounds too much like Jimmy Reed. An eloquent man would talk about his lazy-sounding vocal style, the sinewy guitar, the backbeat you can drive a Cadillac through, how less is most deliciously more. But I’m neither of those.

Instead I’ll mention some titles: ‘I Need Money’, ‘Shake Your Hips’, ‘Baby Scratch My Back’….What economy and directness. The lyrics are just as straightforward, stories of simple pleasure that often contain well-observed truth.

Did he make this up right before the tape rolled? --

Ohhh, I dig those crazy clothes
Let me feel those fishnet hose
Cut low at the top
And high at the bottom
In fact, I don't see
How we ever did without 'em

Slim is from Louisiana. Maybe that explains his magic.

“Baby Scratch My Back”



The British beat guys dug his sound. Slim recorded this song as “Shake Your Hips”.



On ‘Exiles On Main Street’, the Rolling Stones did it as “Hipshake”. I like the version on record because about halfway through they noticeably speed up.

The Stones on Beat Club in Germany



Slim’s most famous song is “King Bee’. The Stones did it of course, but let’s hear Pink Floyd’s version. Syd Barrett’s solo is a perfect filter of Slim Harpo through Wind In The Willows.

Pink Floyd – (I’m A) King Bee