HORSE FEVER!
Dance the 'Horse' in Philly!!
(and elsewhere...)
by Larry Grogan
Updated 8.28.02

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The 1960’s were a hot time for dance craze records. Thanks to American Bandstand and scores of locally based dance party shows, America’s teens became prolific consumers of soul and funk 45’s aimed at the dance-floor. From the Twist and the Mashed Potato to the Camel Walk and the Funky Chicken (as well as dozens of Boogaloo discs), dance records were a constant presence on the charts.

If you had your radio tuned to WHAT in Philadelphia in the summer of 1968, the chances were good that Sonny Hopson ‘The Mighty Burner’ was helping you to get your groove on to ‘The Horse’. The tune, the instrumental version (and b-side) of Cliff Nobles & Co.’s ‘Love Is All Right’ , which was released at the end of February, languished as the flip of an excellent, but mostly ignored vocal. That was until a disc jockey in Tampa, Florida flipped the record over and made it a hit (the disc reportedly sold 10,000 copies in Tampa alone in the first week). The record became a national smash, peaking at #2 on the pop charts for three weeks in July of 1968, kept out of the #1 spot by Hugh Masekela’s ‘Grazing In The Grass’. It was by far the biggest hit for Philadelphia’s Phil L.A. of Soul records (a solid source of soul and funk classics for many years), and provided fodder for high school and college marching bands for years.

It also spawned a ‘Horse’ cottage industry in Philadelphia, as well as all over the country. However, it wasn’t the first ‘Horse’ record. That title belongs to ‘Get-E-Up (The Horse)’ by New York’s Preparations (on the Heart & Soul label) which preceded it by a few months. This upbeat dancer, propelled by a riff modeled on the ‘Cool Jerk’, with its female backing vocals repeating ‘Get-e-up, get-e-up…’ in the chorus made it to #30 on the national R&B charts in the spring of ‘68.

Ultimately it was no match for the Cliff Nobles ‘Horse’.

Cliff Nobles was born in Alabama (where he was eventually elected into the state’s Music Hall of Fame), and moved to Norristown, PA as a young man. In Norristown he was discovered by Philly soul performer/songwriter/entrepreneur Jesse James, and it was through him that Nobles made his was to Phil L.A. of Soul records. His first 45 for the label, ‘The More I Do For You Baby’ b/w ‘This Love Will Last’ in January of ’68 went nowhere. ‘Love is All Right’ b/w ‘The Horse’, which were written by James would catapult Nobles into the limelight (somewhat ironic since as a vocalist he had little or nothing to do with the hit side of the single). Though ‘Love Is All Right’ features a powerful vocal by Nobles, and could well have been a hit on it’s own, ‘The Horse’ is a killer. It’s driving drums (by Philly great Earl Young), bass and guitar (Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris and Bobby Eli) , and memorable horn lines made it a floor-filler.

Following the natural progression of things (for a record label), Phil L.A. of Soul decided to capitalize on the popularity of ‘The Horse’ by attempting to clone it’s success. They followed it with the Fantastic Johnny C’s ‘Hitch it to the Horse’ b/w ‘Cool Broadway’ in the early summer. Sounding at times like a more energetic, funky version of his own ‘Boogaloo Down Broadway’ (the opening guitar riff is a direct reference), ‘Hitch It To The Horse’ is a groover that attempts to splice the ‘Horse and the ‘Funky Walk’. For a time in July of ’68 ‘Hitch It To The Horse’ and ‘The Horse’ were both on the charts.

Jesse James got into the act himself with ‘The Horse’ b/w ‘The Mule’ by the James Boys. Featuring the same instrumental track as the Nobles 45, but now sporting a vocal by James with new dance-specific lyrics (strangely enough, this is the variation I remember from when I was a kid), this is the ‘Horse’ version I like the best. The flip, ‘The Mule’ is just an instrumental dub of Fantastic Johnny C’s ‘Hitch It To The Horse’.

Nobles himself got back into the act that July with ‘Judge Baby I’m Back b/w ‘Horse Fever’.  ‘Horse Fever’ is just an instrumental dub of ‘Judge Baby…’ (one of Noble’s best tunes), but it still managed to make it into the Top 50 in September of 1968. It was to be the last of the ‘Horse’ tunes to see release on Phil L.A. of Soul (not counting appearances by these tunes on LP’s by Nobles and Fantastic Johnny C), but not the last of the Philadelphia-based ‘Horse’ cash-ins. There was the ‘Philly Horse’ by Tony Alvon & The Belairs (creators of the funk classic ‘Sexy Coffee Pot’) on Atlantic with 'Don't Be A Drag (Giddy Up) on the flip, ‘High Horse Pts 1&2’ by the Virtue Orchestra on Virtue and ‘Paul's Midnight Ride’ and ‘King Of The Horse’ (flip side of Philly funk classic ‘Do Your Thing’) by The Delights Orchestra (basically the same musicians that played on the Phil L.A. of soul sides) on Atco. ‘King of the Horse’  is a great, funky groover. It is (deliberately) reminiscent of ‘The Horse’ and has a fantastic horn line. 'Paul's Midnight Ride' , the instrumental track of the Sweet Delight's tune on the singles A-side is also cool. Nobles himself returned with ‘Pony The Horse’ on Moonshot.

There were also a bunch of ‘Horse’ records from outside of Philly, most of them bearing at least a superficial structural/stylistic resemblance to the original. One of the coolest is the Eddie Bo written/produced ‘Horse With a Freeze’ by Roy Ward on Seven B (out of New Orleans). It manages to work snippets of the ‘William Tell Overture’ into the mix and still remain funky.

The Soul Brothers (as in Benny Gordon and the…) had ‘Horsing Around’ on Newmiss, with solid drums and a great blaring horn bit in the chorus. Memphis, Tennessee’s Johnny Jones and the King Casual’s backed their classic version of ‘Purple Haze’ with another (completely different) ‘Horsing Around’. Their tune is a little more laid back, with a bluesy edge and a great guitar lead. The most frantic of the lot is ‘The Gallop’ by the Chevelles on Flaming Arrow. Drenched in reverb it features a fast drum track and lots of blaring horns that tie it directly to the Nobles version. The only cover I’ve heard that departs almost completely from the Nobles template is ‘Funky Funky Horse’ by Lester Young and the California Playboys on Unity. Opening with a hint of ‘Yankee Doodle’ on the organ and taken at a much slower pace than the other ‘Horse’s the tune is a loose, blues inflected cut with great soulful vocals by Young. There were also versions by Booker T. & The MG’s, the Ventures and Marvin Holmes and the Uptights.

In addition to all of this there appears to have been ANOTHER vogue for the “Iron Horse” a year later with the following tunes:
‘Iron Horse’ by the Soul Agents (Dust Bowl)
‘Ride The Iron Horse’ by Fred Lowery with Big Bo and the Arrows (Cotillion)
‘Iron Horse’ by the Marlboro Men (Nite Beat)
‘The Iron Horse’ by Merle Saunders and Heavy Turbulence (Galaxy)

French picture sleeve (above) and 45 (below)