Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Robert Higginbotham, a.k.a. Tommy Tucker was born in Ohio in 1933 and died of poisoning in 1982. He composed and performed Hi-Heel Sneakers in 1964, a very clever tune that I defy you to listen through without tapping your feet or bobbing your head.

You can hear this great song here.

This song was covered by a number of artists including The Searchers and also Elvis Presley, if I am not mistaken.

I can't understand why it was not a very big hit, as simple and straightforward as it may be. Clever lyrics, a catchy melody and a bluesy feel make this number memorable for me. I consider that it deserved more credit than it received.

I'm lucky enough to have an AM radio station near me that plays all this type of stuff and actually plays this song once in a while, yeah this is great stuff. It's a nationally syndicated format called Scott Shannon's True Oldies so maybe there is one near you, not everything they play is this cool but it is by far the best station I have found in a long time.

'Hi Heel Sneakers' was one of John Lennon's favorites.

Lennon had the 45 single in his home jukebox.

A lot of different people covered this song however, I remember it from when I was a teenager but not his version.

Lennon had Tucker's version on 45.

I think this song was a top 25 hit in '64, but I'll have to check again. I've got a blues collection cd with the info on it, so I'll found out and report back.

Let's not forget Jose Felicanos version done in the 70's. Jose did lots of cover songs, "Light My Fire" was one of his biggest, then he had his biggest hit "Fleas On My Dog" they always play it at Christmas time.

Yes that's right Dale. Jose also covered "Hi-Heel Sneakers". "Light My Fire" was a terrific recording for him.

That's the first time I've been able to actually listen to a sound clip posted here. That is absolutely magic, Peter. I shut my eyes and pictured some beautiful swingin' hips!!

Yeah that song is hypnotising. I love that kind of blues.

Thats the kind of stuff I get to hear and play every week at the blues jam I go to Bob! You can hear some of it at this site. This guy goes to the jam and makes some fabulous pickups, and he has some soundclips from the jam in the reviews section of his site. All the sounds are people playing his pickups. Theres some REALLY good players there.

http://www.sdpickups.com/reviews.shtml

Blues is very big around here Greg, I'm the house bass player at a jam in CT. and there are many jams within one hour of my home, I live near Boston. These jams are good also, different ones have different flavors, for ex. one may cater to harp players and be centered around 50's and 60's blues, others may cater to guitar players and be more modern. It all depends on who runs the jams. Billy Sheehan stopped in at one one night, I didn't see him, damn! but I guess there was lots of lead bass playing that night, they said he could also settle down and just play bass very well also, haha!
The one I play in is fairly new and has a harp player-singer who knows a lot of swing and old blues. The guitarist also has been backing up harp players for a long time. I play both electric and upright at this jam. It's fun to play on the edge all afternoon. It's an Sunday afternoon jam.