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"Too Much Booty Shaking" Sir Jonathan Burton Composed by Jonathan Burton
July 1, 2016:
NEW ALBUM ALERT!
Sample/Buy Sir Jonathan Burton's new LONELY AT THE TOP CD at Soul Blues Music.
Listen to Sir Jonathan Burton singing "Gone Fishin'" on YouTube.
Listen to Sir Jonathan Burton singing "Pouring Water On A Drowning Man" on YouTube.
 Listen to Sir Jonathan Burton singing his cover of Keisa Brown's "Some Bridges Need Burning Down" on YouTube.
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For the latest updates on Sir Jonathan Burton, scroll down to the "Tidbits" section. To automatically link to Sir Jonathan Burton's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and other citations and references on the website, go to "Burton, Sir Jonathan" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
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Listen to Sir Jonathan Burton singing "Too Much Booty Shakin' Up In Here" on YouTube.
Daddy B. Nice's Original Profile:
"It's too much,
Too much,
Too much booty shaking
Up in here."
Your Daddy B. Nice begins this Artist Guide with a column I wrote for DBN's Corner about Sir Jonathan Burton and "Too Much Booty Shaking" at the height of the song's popularity in the summer of 2011.
June 25, 2011: "Too Much Booty Head Shakin'"
Many years ago, Jerry "Boogie" Mason told your Daddy B. Nice how surprised he was by the success of Theodis Ealey's single, "Stand Up In It." "I never saw that one coming," he said.
That's the way I've been feeling recently about Sir Jonathan Burton's surprisingly resilient single, "Too Much Booty Shakin'."
I've been scratching my head wondering how in the hell this simple, basically one-chord-plus-harmonies ditty by the formerly Sir-less producer/singer/songwriter has captured so much attention and love. I never really warmed to the tune, but I sure do acknowledge its success.
Listen to Jonothan Burton's "Too Much Booty Shakin' Up In Here" on YouTube while you read on.
A recent press release from CDS Records proclaims "Too Much Booty Shakin'"'s dominance of Southern Soul radio as follows:
#1 Soul And Blues Report
#1 Southern Soul Top 20
#1 Blues Critic Radio
#1 American Blues Network
Granted that these internet radio sites aren't exactly the equivalent of Billboard's Top 100, this is still a pretty compelling consensus. And Soul & Blues Report--the first site mentioned--actually represents an entire legion of indie Southern Soul stations across the land.
So the verdict is in, and has been coming in consistently for at least three months: "Too Much Booty Shakin'" is the most popular Southern Soul single in a long time.
What's not to like? Hard to say. It's all a matter of taste. When a Southern Soul musician goes mainstream, he may mimic Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry (Theodis Ealey's "Stand Up In It"); or he may be influenced by James Taylor (L. J. Echol's "From The Back") or any number of mainstream types.
"Too Much Booty Shakin'" reminds me a lot of Lebrado's "Fire," another song I was never crazy about. My favorite Lebrado single is his first: "I'm Missing You, Babe." It's a real song, with a sinuous texture.
"Fire," on the other hand, is--like Burton's "Too Much Booty Shakin'"--more of a chant, with lots of shouting and minimal harmonic chord changes.
If you're going for the mainstream, I prefer--say--a sinuous, swamp-rhythmed, Creedence Clearwater-type sound (of which "I'm Missing You, Babe is a folkish example) over the marching-band, bombastic style of Bruce Stringsteen, of which Lebrado's "Fire" and Sir Jonathan Burton's "Too Much Booty Shakin'" are prime examples.
Again, it's a matter of taste.
But in searching for the secret ingredients to "Booty Shakin'"'s success, I've found one explanation that seldom is considered, probably because it's so obvious.
Very much like "Stand Up In It" (written by William Travis, aka El' Willie), "Too Much Booty Shakin'" has strong and memorable lyrics.
"Stand Up In It," you'll remember, played on the never-before-utilized metaphor that once you're inside a woman, you can't just curl up and go to sleep on the sofa. You can't just go limp and soft. You have to get up. You have to stand up in it.
This fascinating mental play on words--never really taken to X-rated lengths--caught on with listeners, including recording artists, who couldn't resist referring to the phrase in their own songs.
A Southern Soul metaphor was born and became a part of the musical canon.
We writers are such a downtrodden species we tend to downplay the worth of the lyrics in favor of what we justifiably see as the predominance of the raw music. The raw music is like the body--the Halle Berry physical essentials--of the song. The lyrics are just the brains. They're important, but in the instinctual world of music not as important as the musical substance underneath. Or so we poor wretches who only write about the music think.
Songs like "Too Much Booty Shakin'" and "Stand Up In it" remind us that to the ordinary music lover, lyrics mean a lot. In the minds of the typical music fan, the music itself may even be "invisible." The music--like a lovely actress--may draw the listener in, but what is said (the lyrics) is what hooks the imagination and keys the hit-making process.
In truth, "Too Much Booty Shakin'" has just a fraction of the wit of Theodis' "Stand Up In It." What it does have in spades is "booty" talk, and anyone who has been watching the longevity of Steve Perry's "Booty Roll" over the last year or attended Southern Soul concerts over the last couple of years has seen the phenomenon: hips and pelvis grinding and thrusting in metronome-like fashion.
And "booty-rolling" isn't restricted to the soul music or hiphop audience. I saw a movie the other night--"The Wild & Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia"--in which modern-day descendants of the Appalachian Hatfields and McCoys booty-roll it with as much obscene savagery as any big mama on a Southern Soul stage.
And if you really want to go back in time, you could catch blue-eyed soul brother Peter Gabriel onstage singing "Sledgehammer" with a big cod piece some twenty-five years ago.
But "booty-rollin'" is perhaps at its zenith right now in 2011, and Sir Jonathan Burton's "Too Much Booty Shakin'" is the consummate expression, its minimal wit contained in its purely superficial denial: "too much."
Yesterday, in the shower, with the day's troubles sliding away with the water down my back and legs, I couldn't get the darned tune out of my head. I was smiling, getting off on its champagne-like fizz and enthusiasm.
That's what a popular song does. No matter how much you resist it at first, it eventually wears you down until you join the rest of the crowd in saying. "I give up. I like it. I surrender."
--Daddy B. Nice
Watch Line-Dance Video of "Too Much Booty Shakin'".
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--Daddy B. Nice
About Sir Jonathan Burton
A native a New Brunswick, New Jersey, Jonathan Burton got his start in the music business playing guitar and other instruments for The Manhattans ("Shining Star"). On a trip to Detroit with the band Burton met Don Davis, a legendary producer who had worked with Johnnie Taylor and many others. Soon Burton went to work for Davis (who was producing The Dramatics at the time) and became an in-demand session musician and producer, working with a "who's who" of R&B artists.
Burton moved to North Carolina in the 90's, and his first solo CD, Undeniable (Kick-Quick), a derivative and rough effort, was released in 1993.
A Little Music With A Lotta Soul followed in 1997 on Three Gems, the longtime label of Carolinian Roy C.
Southern Soul diva Keisa Brown ("I've Been Lonely For So Long") met Jonathan Burton in the Carolinas and recommended him to Frederick Knight, the Malaco-associated writer/producer and author of many Southern Soul classics, who had recently started a label (Juana) that had released a Brown CD.
The result was Burton's third CD release, Funky House Party (Juana 2002). With the title tune and a ballad, "The Best Time Of My Life," leading the way, Burton crossed over from the beach music market to the chitlin' circuit market for the first time.
However, a fourth album, Cruise Control and the Best Yet (Slip A Mill, 2006), coming four years later, did not capitalize, passing without a ripple, at least in the Southern Soul market.
In 2011 Burton--under a new performing name, Sir Jonothan Burton--hooked up with Carolinas-based Aviara Records, who in partnership with Dylann DeAnna's California-based CDS Records released Burton's In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1, with the hit Southern Soul single "Too Much Booty Shaking (Up In Here)." The deal with CDS gave Burton (for the first time in his career) the publicity machine needed to push the single, and the rest is history. (Related above.)
Scroll down to "Tidbits" for the latest updates on Jonathan Burton.
Sir Jonathan Burton Discography:
Album Discography
1993 Undeniable (Kick-Quick)
1997 A Little Music With A Lotta Soul (Three Gems)
2002 Funky House Party (Juana)
2006 Cruise Control & The Best Yet (Slip A Mill)
2011 In The Zone: Southern Soul Style, Volume 1 (Aviara)
2012 On & On: Southern Soul Style, Volume 2 (Aviara)
2013 Juke Box Party (CDS)
2014 Southern Soul Christmas (CDS)
2015 New Swing Soul" (CDS/Music Access)
Browse through all of Jonathan Burton's albums in Daddy B. Nice's CD Store.
Song's Transcendent Moment
"An old lady got on the grass.
She began to shake her ass.
DJ Crumple(?) said, "Let's get it started!"
A little boy jumped off the swings,
Threw down his chicken wings.
Said, 'Grandma!
That's just too much booty-shaking!'"
Tidbits
1.
March 3, 2012: YouTube offerings for Jonathan Burton:
Listen to Sir Jonathan Burton singing "Too Much Booty Shaking" on YouTube.
Listen to Jonathan Burton singing "It Took A Woman Like You" on YouTube.
Listen to Jonathan Burton singing "The Best Time Of My Life" on YouTube.
Listen to Jonathan Burton singing "She Poured It On" on YouTube.
Listen to Jonothan Burton interview with Darin Henley of Darin & Anita on Grand Strand on YouTube.
2.
Back To The Future: March 4, 2012
Nine months later, everything I wrote in 2011 still sounds sensible. I was a boy when rock and roll came on the scene in the late fifties, and I can distinctly remember certain songs, standard-bearers for the new genre, that weren't particularly compelling or capable of winning my loyalty, among them Bill Haley & The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" and Chuck Berry's "Maybelline." They were workmanlike, eminently danceable tunes that were in the right place at the right time, and they were songs that succeeded in great measure because they didn't take themselves too seriously.
In a 2011 interview with Darrin on Grand Strand Syndicated Radio Top 40 Carolina Beach Music, Jonathan Burton had an amusing comment regarding the genesis of "Too Much Booty Shaking."
"After awhile, desperation will make you write a hit song," Burton said. (To laughter.) "I wasn't getting no calls for gigs, I wasn't getting no calls for appearances, and finally when I wrote "Too Much Booty Shaking," the phones started ringing again."
Burton's remark speaks to his past, and Burton does have history on the Southern Soul circuit. When your Daddy B. Nice was assembling the first grouping of Southern Soul stars that would become the Top 100 Southern Soul Artists (90's-00's), Burton was one of a group of obscure, fringe artists--Fredrick Brinson, Stephanie McDee, Eric Perkins, (the group) Divine, Willie B., X-Man Parker--that in most cases were later bumped by newer, more viable artists from the chart.
Burton's credentials for the chart consisted of his song, "Funky House Party," released on the album of the same name on Frederick Knight's indie label, Juana, in 2002. Then, for all practical purposes, he disappeared from the Southern Soul scene for the better part of a decade.
In the same interview Burton explained the name change to "Sir" Jonathan Burton. Responding to Darrin's teasing question about being "knighted," Burton said:
"Well, you know, you have to step up the game, and sometimes--the artist--you know, you have to reinvent yourself. (Right.) I've found that there are so many "Jonathan Burtons" in the world. You know, we had a meeting about it. We did the name change to separate me, so now when you google "sir jonathan burton," only one "sir jonathan burton" comes up. (You get the real Jonathan Burton.) Exactly. You know, the one that knows you, and the one who knows all my people in Charlotte and the Carolinas. It's not an ego trip, man. I had to to do some things to re-invent myself. You know, like the "artist formerly known as Jonathan Burton." (Laughter.)
Your Daddy B. Nice first started taking "Too Much Booty Shaking" seriously as I came upon the preponderance of line-dance videos of the song on YouTube. One in particular, of two Asian-looking ladies working out the dance step to a boombox in an otherwise empty dance studio, spoke to the amazing connection the song made with women.
Watch Line Dance Moves while listening to Sir Jonothan Burton singing "Too Much Booty shaking" on YouTube.
Watch More Line Dance Moves while listening to Sir Jonothan Burton singing "Too Much Booty shaking" on YouTube.
Watch More Line Dance Moves while listening to Sir Jonothan Burton singing "Too Much Booty shaking" on YouTube.
Watch More Line Dance Moves while listening to Sir Jonothan Burton singing "Too Much Booty shaking" on YouTube.
When a previously risque practice such as booty-shaking is embraced by the rank and file of women, you're witnessing a culture change. (And if you have any doubt of booty-shaking's previously X-rated factor, check out live concert videos of Ms. Jody, Steve Perry and other X-rated grinders.)
One particular dancer, choreographer Sue Ann Ehmann, seems to have made a mission of popularizing "Too Much Booty Shaking" among aerobically-minded, non-threatening, women-next-door types who wouldn't be caught dead at a Southern Soul gig watching the same moves in intimate proximity with a man.
Is Jonathan Burton a one-hit artist? At this point, you couldn't fault someone for saying so. Ironically, Burton has been recording at intervals, underneath the radar, since 1993, almost twenty years ago as of this writing.
A new Sir Jonathan Burton single, "The Party Don't Stop 'Till I Get There," and a supporting album is due out shortly. I've heard the "The Party Don't Stop" and it's pretty good, in the same vein as "Too Much Booty Shaking."
Burton's best songs (other than "Booty Shaking") are ballads in the classic Motown style, with string and/or brass choruses and resounding male background vocals, such as "That's The Way I Feel About Cha'" and "The Best Time Of My Life," a legacy of his apprenticeship under Don Davis, the vintage producer who has influenced and worked with many Southern Soul musicians.
Burton, who has spent the bulk of his career working for others, needs to hone his solo singing skills, but his vocals are already enticing on a raw level. He has a keen eye for how to please people, recording songs that are simple and accessible, produced and performed with admirable efficiency and intensity.
Most heartening, he seems to be at a point in his career when he wants to get down to business and put all the pieces together. When, in "Too Much Booty Shaking," he sings, "Those people know how to party," the line has a power you don't hear in ordinary conversation. In one fell swoop Sir Jonathan Burton takes care of one of the qualifications for being a Southern Soul star. You have to know how to party.
--Daddy B. Nice
3.
August 9, 2015:
RE-POSTED FROM NEW CD REVIEWS: DADDY B NICE'S "DUBIOUS" REVIEW OF SIR JONATHAN BURTON'S NEW SWING SOUL CD (SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE)
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April 18, 2015:
Sir Jonathan's Latest: See Daddy B. Nice's CD Reviews
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March 31, 2015: NEW ALBUM ALERT!
Sample/Buy Sir Jonathan Burton's NEW SWING SOUL CD.
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April 18, 2015: SIR JONATHAN BURTON: New Swing Soul (CDS/Music Access) Two Stars ** Dubious. Not much here. Jonathan Burton is an arranger/producer, not a songwriter, and it finally catches up with him on his latest CD, New Swing Soul.
Is your Daddy B. Nice the only one who sees the emperor wearing no clothes here? There are no songs on this album, although a couple of tracks towards the end of the set hint at being songs.
Burton doesn't have the wherewithal to construct chord changes. When great writers like Chris Mabry (Big Yayo) or Omar Cunningham sit down to write a song, they punch out a series of unique (or at least fresh) chords (notes) that constitute the structure of the entire tune. Listen to the first couple of bars of LaMorris Williams' "Impala" (written by Mabry) or J'Wonn's "I Got This Record" (written by JWonn & Mabry) and you'll hear these chords, naked and upfront. They're so beautiful and enticing they instantly grab your attention.
"Too Much Booty-Shaking" transcended Sir Jonathan's usual fare with just a hint more melody and a once-in-a-lifetime arrangement, one that built up so much suspense it became irresistible. Burton has basically been trying to repeat the "Booty-Shaking" formula ever since. On this set alone the signature tune is emulated with "Southern Soul Got A New Swing," "The Hole Inside The Hole In The Wall," "Southern Soul Showdown," "My Baby Can't Dance" and more.
But the formula was always weak: heavy on arrangements and bells and whistles, light on substance. It's not that it can't work. It's that it so much more often doesn't. All frosting, no cake. The inclusion of the best single from the album (with a wondrous arrangement), "Can't Touch This (Remix)" is apropos because Hammer's "Can't Touch This" was itself a chordless strip-down of Rick James much more musically phenomenal "Super Freak." And "Beachosity," which concludes the set, is yet another raiding of the Young Rascals' "Groovin'," the same bass line, the same treble-clef chords, the same tempo. "New Swing Soul," the title cut, isn't new at all. It came to the fore in the eighties and it's called funk.
Burton could accomplish so much more with a bona fide composer as collaborator. And yet, the self-written "Full Time Man," in which "the woman wants a full-time man," indicates that Jonathan can do more and do it well. There is actually a musical hook to this mid-tempo keeper. "Mind Your Business," too, has the hint of a melody, but it seems more like an after-thought in the overall package of the album.
Lest the artist and readers think your Daddy B. Nice is twisting Jonathan's arm, trying to make him slow down and write ballads, that's not my intent. Like Sir Jonathan, Bigg Robb specializes in club-friendly, fast-tempo tunes, but they don't sound alike. Robb--a great writer--has absorbed enough Clarence Carter to transcend his early funk roots, and he always finds a unique musical hook.
I've called Burton's songs "washing-machine beats" in the past to point up this utter lack of melody. It may work in the club--there's furious energy here--and I love the guy to death for his enthusiastic embrace of southern soul. But even as he toasts southern soul music and shouts out to chitlin' circuit artists in one track after another, Burton himself is not really playing southern soul but an offshoot of beach music.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy Sir Jonathon Burton's NEW SWING SOUL CD at Amazon.
If You Liked. . . You'll Love
If you liked Steve Perry's "Booty Roll," you'll love Sir Jonathan Burton's "Too Much Booty Shaking Up In Here."
Honorary "B" Side
"Can't Help The Way I Feel About You "
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Too Much Booty Shaking
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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Can't Help The Way I Feel About You
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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After Loving You
CD: Cruise Control and the Best Yet
Label: Slip A Mill
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Best Time Of My Life
CD: Funky House Party
Label: Juana
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Can't Say We Didn't Try
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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Everybody Step To the Steppin' Song
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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Funky House Party
CD: Funky House Party
Label: Juana
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Steppin' All Night Long
CD: Cruise Control and the Best Yet
Label: Slip A Mill
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It Took A Woman Like You
CD: Cruise Control and the Best Yet
Label: Slip A Mill
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Not Just Any Old Love Song
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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She Poured It On
CD: Cruise Control and the Best Yet
Label: Slip A Mill
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Sounds Like Karaoke
CD: In The Zone: Southern Soul Style Volume 1
Label: Aviara
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Southern Soul Showdown
CD: New Swing Soul
Label: CDS/Music Access
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So Blue
CD: Undeniable
Label: Kick-Quick
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