(1952) Sun ''Shake 'Em On Down'' (Take 1) Doctor Ross

STUDIO SESSION FOR DOCTOR ROSS AT THE MEMPHIS RECORDING SERVICE FOR SUN RECORDS 1952 SUN RECORDING STUDIO 706 UNION AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE STUDIO SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE(S) LATE 1952 STUDIO HOURS: UNKNOWN PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - SAM C. PHILLIPS Four songs survive from the second Doctor Ross session, ''That Ain't Right'' sung by the mysterious pianist Henry Hill (see Hill's session), and three vocals by Ross. On this first, ''Shake 'Em On Down'', Reuben Martin's washboard sounds remarkably like a slapped bass and for the first time, Ross himself is playing guitar. Henry Hill's piano is down in the mix, but reinforces the heavy-duty rhythm track. Ross said about ''Shake Ém On Down'', ''That was an old song recorded by Bukka White and in later years I thought I'd cut it again. I met him playing in a juke joint house in Mississippi when I was about 14. Sometimes my cousin and him played together''. (CE) (HD) "SHAKE 'EM ON DOWN" Composer: - Bukka White Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control Matrix number: - None - Take 1 - Not Original Issued (2:49) Recorded: - Unknown Date(s) 1952 Released: - 1996 First appearance: - Charly Records (CD) 500/200rpm CDSUNBOX 7-4-10 mono SUN RECORDS - THE BLUES YEARS 1950 - 1958 Reissued: - March 8, 2013 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17310-1-16 mono THE SUN BLUES BOX 1950 - 1958 Of the three takes of this number, this first one is the most confident and full-blooded. A pair of brief tape faults happening just before Ross' vocal begins are obviously the reason for the subsequent retakes. The tune is a Mississippi blues standard: Bukka White recorded "Shake 'Em On Down" in September 1937, Big Bill Broonzy replied with a "New Shake 'Em On Down" in the following May, and Tommy McClennan chose the same title for his recording two years later. Doctor Ross gives it a new dimension with some sterling harmonica work, including a lung-testing single note held for several measures. Henry Hill's piano is frequently lost during these takes, but he's able to make his presence suitably felt here. This is dance music at its best, proving that lyrics are overrated, and sometimes one chord is all you need. Alan Lomax recorded a woman named Lucille Walker singing it in the Sewing Room at the Women's Camp at Parchman. After the War, it survived in one form or another. Led Zeppelin included bits of it in ''Hats Off To (Roy) Harper, Savoy Brown'' and Fred McDowell cut it, and Jim Dickinson's early sixties punk blues version is an under-regarded classic. And this is as good as any of them. (CE) (HD) Name (Or. No. Of Instruments) Charles Isaiah Ross - Vocal, Harmonica and Guitar Henry Hill - Piano Reuben Martin - Washboard © - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

Added 13 May 2026