The Camel / Lets Do That Camel Walk

[Roburt]

With the current thread on soul dances, I thought I'd ask some questions about the above 2 tracks.

Cliff Nobles & Co cut vocal & instrumental tracks (with producer Jesse James) for Phil LA of Soul back in 1968.

The instro version ("The Horse") of Cliff's vocal track became a big hit after a radio DJ flipped the 45. That hit prompted tracks to be cut for an album, the album featuring both vocal & instro cuts. One of the tracks on the LP (a 1968 release) was the instro "The Camel" ......

... no doubt the dance was just supposed to be a variation on "The Horse".

 

Anyway, in 1969 "The Camel" was lifted from the LP and put out on a Phil LA of Soul 45 (C/W "Gettin Away" -- another instro).

Whatever the reason (perhaps Phil LA were experiencing problems getting airplay on the Cliff Nobles & Co version), Jesse decided he wanted to put out a vocal version of the cut.

He 'borrowed' Kenny Hamber from Jimmy Bishop's Arctic Records and took Kenny straight into a Philly studio.There Kenny added his vocals to the original instro track and a single was quickly issued on Mean Records (the B side of this 45 again featuring the instro take on "The Camel").

 

It's noted on the net that Kenny's version features his usual live backing band -- Baltimore based the Hitchhikers -- but that info is totally false.

....... QUESTIONS ........

1/ Anyone know why Jesse didn't just get Cliff Nobles to add a vocal to the instro track ? (I know Cliff was pissed coz the records bore his name but his vocals weren't featured on any of the hit sides).

2/ Anyone know why Jesse chose to put out the Kenny Hamber version on Mean Records

...  Was Phil LA of Soul having difficulties at the time -- mid 69. 

3/ Are there any other releases on the Mean label ?

4/ Why does this Mean 45 seem to be rare (though there are both demo & issue versions of it out there) ?

5/ Why have two 45's out there at almost the exact same time that featured the same track ("The Camel" instro) especially as it had also been put out a year earlier on an album ?

6/ DANCE RELATED Q ..... is there actual footage out there (youtube?) of people actually doing 'The Horse' dance ??

 

 

[boba]

the horse dance was pretty simple, it pretty much involved pretending you were riding a horse. The Camel Walk was a pretty big dance, totally different and predated the horse. here is some video. I think there is one more release on Mean but I can't think of it, or I might be thinking of another obscure j/g green label that I can't think of...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7WEbwOXN2c

[George G]

The only Camel Walk that matters

 

 

More Dromedary dorkiness....

 

[boba]

obviously the labrenda ben is the most soul version relevant to this group. how dare you drag sleazy rock into the thread!

[boba]

also if you listen to the lyrics of this song they actually say how to do the camel walk. they also say it's an old dance.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7chVXIEnJiU