Big Long Slidin' Thing
{{short description|1954 R&B song sung by Dinah Washington}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Big Long Slidin' Thing
| cover =
| type = single
| artist = Dinah Washington
| album =
| B-side = (No, No, No) You Can't Love Two
| released = June 1954
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Rhythm and blues
| length = 2:59
| label = Mercury
| writer = Leroy Kirkland & Mamie Thomas
| producer =
}}
"Big Long Slidin' Thing" is a 1954 rhythm and blues song written by Leroy Kirkland and Mamie Thomas, sung by Dinah Washington, and arranged by Quincy Jones. It has been covered by a number of different artists, and has been rated as one of the best double entendre songs of all time.
Double entendre
File:Dinah Washington 1952.jpg in 1952]]
The song was written by Leroy Kirkland and Mamie Thomas.{{cite web|title=The Definitive Dinah Washington|publisher=Discogs|accessdate=February 27, 2024|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/11025903-Dinah-Washington-The-Definitive-Dinah-Washington}} It is remembered for its sexual double entendre lyrics, referring to the singer's trombonist boyfriend and his skill in playing his instrument. The lyrics describe the singer's search in every bar and honky tonk for her trombone-playing man "with that big long slidin' thing". She encounters a guitar player who hitches his guitar amp in her "plug" and then "planked it" and "plunked it", but he is not "good enough" because she needs her daddy with that "big long slidin' thing". A piano player proposes "tinklin'" on her piano keys, but she wants her daddy. She describes how he can "blow through here" while working his finger and thumb, and "slide it right up" then "slide it back again".{{cite web|title=Big Long Slidin' Thing|publisher=International Lyrics Playground|access-date=November 9, 2020|url=https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/b/biglongslidinthing.html}}
Upon its release, the song caused outrage over its sexually suggestive lyrics.{{cite news|title=The Devil's Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned and Embraced Rock 'N' Roll|author=Randall J. Stephens|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2018}} One newspaper predicted it would "probably be banned in Boston and on the networks."{{cite news|title=Record Reviews|newspaper=The Times|date=July 17, 1954|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62842129/big-long-slidin-thing/|via=Newspapers.com}}
In 2014, Salon rated "Big Long Slidin' Thing" as one of the 19 greatest double entendre songs of all time.{{cite web|title=The 19 greatest double entendre songs|work=Salon|date=June 28, 2014|url=https://www.salon.com/2014/06/28/the_19_greatest_double_entendre_songs/}}
The record was dedicated to Washington's boyfriend and trombonist, Gus Chappell. However, three months after the song's release, Washington was injured when Chappell struck her in the head with a music stand.{{cite news|title=Dinah Washington Says Accompanist Slugged Her|publisher=Jet|date=August 12, 1954|page=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ob8DAAAAMBAJ&q=%22big+long%22+slidin%27+thing+%22dinah+washington%22&pg=PA55}}
Versions
=Original=
The song was first recorded by Dinah Washington and released in 1954 as a single on Mercury Records. It was the first collaboration between Washington and Quincy Jones.{{cite news|title=Quincy Jones Has a Story About That|publisher=GQ|author=Chris Heath|date=January 29, 2018|url=https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story}} Washington's original version of the song was re-issued in 1992 on Rhino Records' compact disc, Risque Rhythm, a compilation of classic R&B songs featuring sexually suggestive lyrics.{{cite news|title=Risque Rhythm|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=July 5, 1992|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62842936/risque-rhythm/|via=Newspapers.com}}
===Covers===
The song has subsequently covered by various artists, including:
- Michelle Wilson on Evil Gal Blues (1994){{cite web|title=Evil Gal Blues|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/evil-gal-blues-mw0000116424}}
- Miranda Louise on Face in My Dreams (1997){{cite web|title=Face in My Dreams|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/teach-you-a-lesson-mw0002037247}}
- Sandra Hall on One Drop Will Do You (1997){{cite web|title=One Drop Will Do You|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/one-drop-will-do-you-mw0001884288}}
- The Randy Oxford Band on Festival and Teach You a Lesson{{cite web|title=Festival|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/festival-mw0002184475}}{{cite web|title=Teach You a Lesson|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/festival-mw0002184475}}
- Denise Perrier on Live at Yoshi's: Blue Monday Party (2004){{cite web|title=Live at Yoshi's: Blue Monday Party|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-yoshis-blue-monday-party-mw0000429221}}
- Jeannie Lambert on Jeannie-ology (2005){{cite web|title=Jeannie-ology|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/jeannie-ology-mw0001121774}}
- Kristie Agee on Use What You Got (2006){{cite web|title=Use What You Got|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/use-what-you-got-mw0001118874}}
- Candye Kane on Burlesque Swing (2011){{cite web|title=Burlesque Swing|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/burlesque-swing-mw0002366973}}
- Ingrid Lucia & the Flying Neutrinos on Don't Stop (2007){{cite web|title=Don't Stop|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 8, 2020|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-stop-mw0001645393}}
Additionally, A Mad World, My Masters, presented in 2013 by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, opened with Linda John-Pierre, backed by a jazz band, singing "Big Long Slidin' Thing" at a night club referred to as the Flamingo Club.{{cite journal|title=A Mad World My Masters|journal=Shakespeare Bulletin|author=José A. Pérez Díez|date=Spring 2014|page=146|jstor=26355017|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/26355017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Dinah Washington}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Rhythm and blues songs