The song was written by Leroy Kirkland and Mamie Thomas.[1] 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".[2]
Upon its release, the song caused outrage over its sexually suggestive lyrics.[3] One newspaper predicted it would "probably be banned in Boston and on the networks."[4]
In 2014, Salon rated "Big Long Slidin' Thing" as one of the 19 greatest double entendre songs of all time.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
Covers
The song has subsequently covered by various artists, including:
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.[19]
