Shake That Thing

"Shake That Thing" is a song recorded by Papa Charlie Jackson in 1925, one of the earliest blues standards and a forerunner of hokum. Paramount Records issued it on the B-side of the then standard 10-inch 78 rpm shellac record on July 11, 1925. The song is also known as a first hit record where the male singer accompanies himself. The title of the song (oft-repeated in the lyrics) contains double entendre: at the time "shake it" was a vulgar euphemism for coitus (on the innocent side, it was quite likely a directive for female dancers to shake their hips, the author Stephen Calt thinks that the expression became indecent as a result of the success of the song).