Mustang Sally

Some songs puzzle me. It seems to me that there are some songs that come out of nowhere; they seem to be written by obscure songwriters, sung by largely unknown artists and yet leave colossal imprints on both pop culture and music history. These songs are more than just one-hit wonders, these songs are known and loved by all and yet few people know what they are actually about or what the lyrics really mean. Now I know that around RHT, not too many references get by the keen intellect of Shoe or DJ, but I still contend that there are some anomalies that even they may be forced to ponder. If not for song content at least sheer appeal and success of such unlikely tunes. Enter Exhibit A - "Mustang Sally"

Wikipedia says:

"Mustang Sally" is an R&B / straight-forward Blues song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It gained greater popularity when it was covered by Wilson Pickett the following year.

I say "Mustang Sally" is a phenomenon. This has to be one of the most requested, most played, most karaoked songs in history. After Filo Beddoe began playing out, we quickly learned that any band without this cure-all song was sorely ill-equipped. It is requested at nearly every show we have ever played. Running second place only to "Play some Skynyrd!", yelling for a Mustang Sally cover is nearly automatic. What is it about this song that makes everyone like it? (I challenge anyone to find someone who doesn't like someone's version of this tune!)

More history reveals some interesting tidbits about the tune. The song was rescued by Wilson Pickett only a year after Sir Mack Rice released it in 1965. If you wonder what I mean by "rescued" check out Sir Mack's version here. Troubled soul legend Wilson Pickett managed to get this song to #6 on the R&B charts. Honestly, how many other songs would you be able to sing along with from the 1965 R&B charts? How many could you not only play, but actually have requested at a place called "Mudpuppies" in southern Ohio? But Mustang Sally has a magic . . . .

The song grew out of a joke involving a friend of his, a drummer and band leader for Della Reese, and time they spent together in New York City."The guys in the band were telling me that it was his birthday coming up," Rice said, "and they said Della was probably going to buy him a big Lincoln, because she always buys band leaders big cars and stuff for their birthdays. And I told him, and he said, 'That's not what I want, man, I want that Mustang.' "Rice was not impressed. "In Detroit, we drive Cadillacs and Lincolns," he said. "Big. I said, 'I know you don't want that little car, man.' And he kept on, man, he loved it, he said, 'That's the car I'm going to get.' "So Rice took to teasing him, calling him a Mustang Mama, and growing the joke into a song that was built around what he called "an old, back-in-the-day nursery rhyme." Here is how it begins: Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer - "Ride, Sally, ride!"

So now that we know the story, its easy to see why this song is still going strong over forty years later, right? Right? Perhaps the secret is in the fact that Mack Rice was going to call the song "Mustang Mama" but the queen of soul herself, Aretha Franklin, told him "Mustang Sally" was a better choice?

Many claim "Mustang Sally" is the "Stairway to Heaven" of blues. During the 80s, many guitar store employees put up humorous "No Stairway to Heaven" signs to discourage the daily onslaught of noodlers playing the song. In that vein, John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room has had a sign on the stage for more than a decade that says, "No Mustang Sally."

Then we have the covers. Here is the partial list that Wikipedia provides as "notable" artists who have recorded the song:

The Chambers Brothers (1965; released 1997)
Wilson Pickett (1966)
The Kingsmen (1966)
The (Young) Rascals (1966)
Ken Boothe (1968)
The Mar-Keys (1969)
Silver Apples (1969; released 1998)
Muddy Waters (1974; released 1990)
Maurice Williams (1975)
Willie Mitchell (1977)
Magic Slim (1980)
Rufus Thomas (1980)
The Commitments (1991)
Buddy Guy (1991)
Sam & Dave (1995)
Fiona Day (1999)
Albert Collins (2000)
Los Lobos (2000), for the film Miss Congeniality
Solomon Burke (2004)
Bruce Springsteen (Live)
Chris Farrow Cent'anni Restaurant (2008)
Mike Huckabee Huckabee (2008)

I must note here that I find it interesting that Wikipedia considers Mike Huckabee a more "notable" artist than either ZZ Top or Eric Clapton, both of which have covered "Mustang Sally."

Nothing compares to the Wilson Pickett "original." Well, perhaps I shouldn't say nothing. How about sexy, but a little weirding-out chick Mustang Sally? Not for you? Try acoustic cowboy version complete with living room acoustics. Line dance Mustang Sally? At any rate, the song continues to kill all across the globe anytime those three familiar chords are fired up on the stage. In 2004, Rolling Stone named "Mustang Sally" as one of the top 500 songs of all time. This, my friends, is what we know. Why Sally insisted on speeding all over town, why she had flat-feet that were kept off the ground, and why this song endures as it does, remains a mystery. It's just one of those songs . . . .