Shake a Tail Feather

Not to be confused with Shake Ya Tailfeather.

"Shake a Tail Feather"
Single by The Five Du-Tones
from the album Hairspray soundtrack
Released	1963
Format	Single
Recorded	1963
Genre	Soul
Length	2:24
Label	One-DERFUL!
Writer(s)	Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, Andre Williams

"Shake a Tail Feather" (Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, and Andre Williams) is a song originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group The Five Du-Tones. (This version was featured on the soundtrack of the 1988 film Hairspray). A 1967 version by James & Bobby Purify reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Cover versions

"Shake a Tail Feather" has been covered by many other artists over the years, perhaps most notably by Ray Charles, who 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.

The song was also covered by The Cheetah Girls, for the 2005 Walt Disney Pictures film, Chicken Little.

The Kingsmen included the song on their 1966 The Kingsmen Up And Away album.

The Monkees performed the song in 1968 on the band's television special, 33​¹⁄₃ Revolutions Per Monkee.

Hanson included the song in a medley with "Gimme Some Lovin'" on their 1998 release, Live from Albertane.

Japanese garage punk band Teengenerate recorded the song for their 1994 10" vinyl release "Audio Recording".

In 2012, one of the songwriters, Andre Williams included the song on his 2012 Alive album, Life.

In November 2013 The Overtones recorded the song for their album Saturday Night at the Movies.

Other notable artists who have recorded the song include Ike & Tina Turner (as re-created in the film What's Love Got to Do with It), Mitch Ryder, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Tommy James and the Shondells, and The Romantics.