• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What's wrong with "Mustang Sally?"

#27
It is a kind of odd phenomenon how much audiences seem to love that song. It was never a big hit -- the 1966 Wilson Pickett version only reached #23 on the charts. (I keep Joel Whitburn's "Top 40 Hits" reference book on my desk, it's always fun to flip through).

I think the song mostly appeals to women, especially to women who otherwise aren't into blues music. They're the ones who jump up excitedly as soon as the song starts and drag the men onto the dance floor. You could play a hundred blues songs that are basically just like it, but none would have the same effect. It's the one blues song that they like.

I think people like the slow groove of it -- it's easy to dance to, even for bad dancers. The women like the theme of being a rebel in a fast car. And of course they like the singalong "ride, sally ride" thing.

But I agree that it's become a bit of a cliché for cover bands. I'm personally very bored with the song. I only enjoy hearing it if the band actually has a horn section to add some color to it.
 
#28
Vandelay said:
It is a kind of odd phenomenon how much audiences seem to love that song. It was never a big hit -- the 1966 Wilson Pickett version only reached #23 on the charts. (I keep Joel Whitburn's "Top 40 Hits" reference book on my desk, it's always fun to flip through).

I think the song mostly appeals to women, especially to women who otherwise aren't into blues music. They're the ones who jump up excitedly as soon as the song starts and drag the men onto the dance floor. You could play a hundred blues songs that are basically just like it, but none of them would have the same effect.

I think people like the slow groove of it -- it's easy to dance to, even for bad dancers. The women like the theme of being a rebel in a fast car. And of course they like the singalong "ride, sally ride" thing.

But I agree that it's become a bit of a cliché for cover bands. I'm personally very bored with the song. I only enjoy hearing it if the band actually has a horn section to add some color to it.
Click to expand...

It can get a little tiresome, especially since we milk it for a pretty long time when we play it. But, one thing making me laugh while we play it lately is that our leader/guitarist/keyboard player - we're a trio - has taken to doing call and response stuff himself. A line on the guitar, a line on the keyboard. Then he's also been doubling the same line on both at the same time. Definitely makes me laugh. He looks like he's possessed when he's doing it. :)
 
#29
I don't mind it so much- we funk it up quite a bit, and the musical comedian that I am, I have discovered that the bass line for "Low Rider" by War actually fits nicely! :D:D:D So I play Low Rider, the rest of the band plays Mustang Sally, problem solved! The audience gets to dance and sing and act a fool, the band gets to play Mustang Sally, and the few in the audience who get the joke laugh like maniacs! (Mostly other musicians...;))
 
#30
It's The Commitments' fault. Once that movie came out, the song took on another life!

Agreed though, EVERYONE wants to hear it. Some bands I play it in do a fine job, one band I was in did like the Young Rascals version UGGGGHHH!!! If you don't know that version, don't worry, you're not missing anything!

Another band the drummer and I said we would do it, but we had to do the Wilson Pickett groove (one of the BADDEST grooves of all time!) or we wouldn't do it all! I did it with another band where we did a funked up sped-up version that everyone always loved.
 
#31
Did you ever hear The Young Rascals version of "Mustang Sally"?
It's a slower version of the song very "soulful" We play it that way in my band, the people seem to like it. To KPJ- You sound like a couple of guys I used to play with, they didn't like the Rascals version either, Well to each their own! Everone should listen to it and make up their own minds That whole album is great!
 
#32
elmohoof, I'll set you up with the guys who wanted to play it the Young Rascals way!

I'll admit too that that the recording the guitarist gave me to learn from was poor quality. Some songs once heard one way, are hard to take any other way. I can't hear Mustang Sally without comparing it to the Wicked Pickett's version. I usually take every recording I hear on its own merit, but that song I can't!
 
#33
All I can say is play it at every gig for 10 or 15 years and then ask again what's wrong with it. Lots of blues bands in these parts, us included, simply refuse to play it. If you let a dozen obnoxious, noisy, drunk chicks determine your set list, you're in a world of hurt! Catering to the lowest common denominator might make you a few bucks in the short term but it's no way to live.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fastplant
#35
lonote said:
All I can say is play it at every gig for 10 or 15 years and then ask again what's wrong with it. Lots of blues bands in these parts, us included, simply refuse to play it. If you let a dozen obnoxious, noisy, drunk chicks determine your set list, you're in a world of hurt! Catering to the lowest common denominator might make you a few bucks in the short term but it's no way to live.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Interesting. I guess it all depends on what one is doing with music.

We're not out there getting famous - we simply want to entertain people and have a laugh, a drink, and a few bucks along the way. If they want Mustang Sally, and we can do a version with minimum cheese, they get Mustang Sally. :)

Not catering to the audience is a sure fire way to stop getting gigs.
 
#36
Well, I think you're better off attracting audiences who appreciate what you do rather than seeing how many $1.00 beers they can chug down during happy hour...but that's just me. It isn't the song itself, "Mustang Sally" is basically just a simple boogaloo groove, like tons of other songs. If I was in a cover band, I'd much rather do other, lesser known tunes with a similar groove, like Magic Sam's "You Belong to Me" or Lowell Fulson's "Tramp." People like those songs too but they haven't been played to death. I've heard too many bands, including bands I was in, do things to "Mustang Sally" that I wouldn't do to my worst enemy. We certainly don't want to alienate audiences but refusing requests for "Mustang Sally" (or "Free Bird" or "Brown Eyed Girl" or...) hasn't alienated anybody yet. We play 90% original blues and we have all the work we want. Ornery SOB, arent I? :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: hrodbert696
#37
lonote said:
We certainly don't want to alienate audiences but refusing requests for "Mustang Sally" (or "Free Bird" or "Brown Eyed Girl" or...) hasn't alienated anybody yet. We play 90% original blues and we have all the work we want. Ornery SOB, arent I? :D
Click to expand...

:)

Not at all. If we could be more selective and still work, we would, too. But, in my area, gigs are getting tougher to get, not easier. DJ's and Karaoke will soon rule my neighborhood.

A year ago, the leader of my band would have never allowed Mustang Sally. Now we're playing that, And Play That Funky Music. :)

But, we're playing. :)
 
#38
lonote said:
.....lesser known tunes with a similar groove, like Magic Sam's "You Belong to Me" or Lowell Fulson's "Tramp.".............
Click to expand...

"You Belong to Me" is a KILLER tune. It gets people up and dancing, and it isn't done to death. My last two bands have done that song, and it's a real fun song to sing and groove on.

Hat's off to you for even knowing that song!
 
#39
SBassman said:
Hmmm. Interesting. I guess it all depends on what one is doing with music.

We're not out there getting famous - we simply want to entertain people and have a laugh, a drink, and a few bucks along the way. If they want Mustang Sally, and we can do a version with minimum cheese, they get Mustang Sally. :)

Not catering to the audience is a sure fire way to stop getting gigs.
Click to expand...

There's a few clubs that I play where the OWNER/BOOKER expects to hear Mustang Sally.

I consider it a necessary evil.
 
#40
Been there, done that. We aren't full-timers, we play 60-75 gigs a year, which is plenty for middle-aged guys with jobs and families. We are a traditional-style blues band: guitar, harp, bass, drums and singer/band leader/songwriter. We have a slowly but surely expanding fan base (boy, does that sound hokey). We haven't been hurt too much by DJ's and karaoke yet but a lot of the rock acts have. We differ from a lot of (so called) blues bands in that we rehearse and have arranged, original tunes and few good covers. We play a few blues festivals in the summer months and occasionally open for national acts if the conditions are right, most recently Tab Benoit and Ronnie Baker Brooks. Really, most of our audience doesn't come to hear us play "Mustang Sally" but there's one in every crowd. I've been thinking of starting up a dating service...I'll match up the drunk chicks who scream for "Mustang Sally" with the drunken boneheads who bellow for "Free Bird." Talk about a match made in heaven!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back