[INTRO] - [DATE] - [RECORDINGS]
Date
The year of recording has been stated as 1964 or 1965 depending on
who you ask. 1965 would seem to be the correct one. There is nothing
to indicate that Hendrix would have been in Los Angeles in early
1964, whereas a postcard exists written by Jimi himself in January
1965 on which he writes that he's playing with Little Richard and
they are heading for Los Angeles, Arthur Lee said that when he met
Hendrix he was playing with Little Richard.
Also, the B-side of the 45, "Utee" includes a reference to dancing "The Jerk". "The Jerk" was a hit for the Los Angeles based group the Larks in the end of 1964. The 7" "The Jerk / Forget Me" (Money 106) entered the Cashbox Top 100 chart of the week ending on 7th November 1964 at #81.
Also Revis 1012 (the Rosa Lee Brooks single catalog nr is 1013), a single with The Kinfolks - Recipe on the A-side and The Rosaletts and the Kinfolk Orchestra - Do You Wanna Dance on the flip includes a reference to "The Jerk".
The Revis single references quoted:
The Rosaletts and the Kinfolk Orchestra - Do You Wanna Dance
" Can you do the jerk, let me see you work"
Rosa Lee Brooks - Utee
" Can you do the jerk and you look so fine"
The original lyrics by the Larks:
The Larks -
The Jerk (released around October 1964)
" Work it out,right on time
Everybodys got the beat,hey look at me
Doin' the jerk,yeah,now watch me work
Girl,now do the jerk, hey ,do the jerk"
And other tracks of relevance where "The Jerk" pops up:
Little Richard
- Dancing All Around the World (Recorded in the first half of
1965)
" Now we are jerkin', we're gonna jerk all around the world, alright
The music got me jerkin' from my head down to my feet"
The Isley Brothers
- Simon Says (Recorded 29 Jan 1965)
" Simon said jerk, everybody work, everybody rock'n'roll, that's
what Simon said"
The Isley Brothers
- Move Over and Let Me Dance (Recorded 5 Aug 1965)
" Come on babe, I wanna jerk and shout now"
Hendrix was on the West Coast during February - April 1965, after which time he returned to New York, so the Rosa Lee Brooks single was recorded during this period.
