Shout it from the stands
July 27, 2023 4:05 AM

I'm looking for recordings featuring musicians shouting call-and-response backing vocals across the studio. Two perfect examples are "Call it off!" in Harry Connick Jr.'s version of "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "Jump!" in Paul Anka's cover of Van Halen's Jump. Do you know any others?

These two are both jazz (one small combo and one big band). I think jazz and jazz-adjacent genres are what I'm most interested in, but I'm open to examples from other genres. I think, for instance, "Tequila" by the Champs just barely counts because of the very last "Tequila!", which they all shout together, but it's a stretch, since the first two "Tequila!"s are solo lead vocal into a mic, and it's only really a call-and-response if you consider the sax line as the call.

Here's a full list of criteria:
- Multiple voices
- Shouting (unpitched), not singing
- Slightly muffled or distant - i.e. picked up from a stand mic for an instrument, or a room mic across the studio
- As the response of a call-and-response ("let's ... / call it off!" "might as well jump ... / jump!")

Related question: both of my before-the-fold examples are sort of slightly knowing latter-day jazz - Paul Anka is more tongue-in-cheek, but Harry's definitely drawing from nostalgic inspirations. Are these both taking specific inspiration from Rat Pack or other classic big band arrangements? What's the earliest example of this kind of thing?

For anyone that's interested, here's a Spotify playlist, currently very sparse, that I will continue to add to. Thanks for your help!
posted by spielzebub to Media & Arts (15 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
Cab Calloway, Minnie the Moocher
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:16 AM on July 27, 2023


Dooley Wilson, Knock On Wood
posted by yankeefog at 5:08 AM on July 27, 2023


Chuck berry my dingaling
posted by chasles at 5:20 AM on July 27, 2023


The Isley Brothers, Shout Pts 1 & 2, perhaps.
posted by gauche at 5:21 AM on July 27, 2023


Louis Prima & Keely Smith, Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody.

David Lee Roth also did a cover but I'd stick to the original.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:22 AM on July 27, 2023


Came to say Louis Prima. His peak era with Keely Smith, Sam Butera, and the Witnesses has this on a number of songs.

(It's also some of the most enjoyable, energetic pop music in the American canon.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:46 AM on July 27, 2023


Another from Cab Calloway: Jumpin' Jive

A cover of Shout by Otis Day & the Knights from Animal House
posted by falsedmitri at 6:56 AM on July 27, 2023


Oh yeah, Queen/Freddie Mercury at Live Aid
posted by falsedmitri at 7:26 AM on July 27, 2023


It seems a common Cab Calloway technique! Here's Are You Hep To The Jive
posted by TimHare at 10:02 AM on July 27, 2023


Unchained, Van Halen, which contains one of the most delightfully Louis Prima-esque breaks by David Lee Roth before he went solo and could totally inhabit that spirit.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 12:47 PM on July 27, 2023




Maybe Beware by Louis Jordan? ("Should I tell 'em about th- " - "Tell 'em EVERYthing!")
posted by kristi at 5:53 PM on July 27, 2023


Violent Femmes - Kiss Off

and in honor of this hot hot summer — “Leaving in July” by Notel Motel
posted by credulous at 10:38 PM on July 27, 2023


Another occurrence in a Harry Connick Jr. cover: It's Alright With Me.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:32 AM on July 28, 2023


Look over there! Where?
posted by bink at 2:33 PM on July 29, 2023


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