During the presidential campaign of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson heard recordings of the George Barnes & Carl Kress guitar duo on his campaign train (thanks to the impeccable programming taste of Willis Conover, jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America). LBJ couldn’t get enough, and requested the duo’s presence at the White House Staff Christmas Party in 1964 – the same year First Daughter Luci became famous for dancing the Watusi in New York discos.

Immediately after receiving the invitation, George composed “Watusi for Luci” in her honor, and George and Carl rocked the East Room with the song’s debut, 52 years ago today. Mrs. GB was there, too; she clearly recalls how tall and charming LBJ was -- and that he offered her his elbow to shake instead of his hand, as he’d lost his grip after thousands of campaign handshakes!

A few weeks later, George and Carl went into the studio to record George’s big band arrangement of “Watusi,” joined by the cream of New York horn players, including Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Bill Watrous, Wayne Andre, Al Cohn, and Bill Stegmeyer, and a stellar rhythm section featuring Carl, Panama Francis and Milt Hinton. Recorded at A&R Recording by engineer Joe Jorgensen, the record got fair airplay and became the theme for the American Bandstand-style Clay Cole Show. 

When the single hit the charts, they were invited to appear at Palisades Amusement Park, where they, like every other performer at the park, would sync their performance to their record. GB didn’t think the kids in the audience would respond to two middle-aged guys in suits, so he asked his 11-year-old actress/dancer daughter, Alexandra, to put on her go-go boots and join them onstage. 

The DJ placed the single on the turntable without noticing it was a 33 1/3 rpm promo copy and ran it at 45! George and Carl looked at each other and laughed while Alexandra gamely danced in double-time until the DJ realized his mistake. GB later professed his pride in his professional daughter, who, as he told all of his friends, “shook up a storm and never missed a beat!”

WATUSI FOR LUCI

Tarry One More Day

Apologies to Franz Schubert and the General Motors Corporation

WATUSI FOR LUCI

GeorgeBarnesLegacy

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