Released 1963 Label Parkway | Recorded 1963 | |
Writer(s) Dee Clark, Kal Mann, Cornell Muldrow | ||
"You Can't Sit Down" was originally recorded in 1959 as "Can't Sit Down" by The Bim Bam Boos on Dasher Records catalogue number D-500 and credited to Dasher - Muldrow, it featured Philip Upchurch on guitar and Cornell Muldrow on organ. The later better-known recording of "You Can't Sit Down" by Phil Upchurch and his Combo (Upchurch, Muldrow, David Brooks, Mac Johnson and Joe Haddick) was re-recorded in New Orleans in 1960 and released in 1961 by Boyd Records (Boyd 3398) of Oklahoma with distribution by United Artists Records. Upchurch's own version reached #29 on the Billboard pop charts. This was followed by the vocal cover version by the Dovells that reached number three on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1963. It is based, at least in part, on the gospel song "Sit Down Servant".
The song was set to two Disney cartoons in D-TV, "The Hockey Champ" and "Hockey Homicide". The Philadelphia 76ers used a modified version of the song with team-specific lyrics for the franchise's marketing campaign during the 1991–92 season.
In 1962 it appeared as a cover on Booker T. and the MG's first album, Green Onions. Also the Bar Kays and Hound Dog Taylor have recorded it (on albums Soul Finger and Natural Boogie). In 1964 the Kingsmen released a version on their LPThe Kingsmen In Person.
The song references "South Street", which is the same good-time area the Orlons sang about in their 1963 song South Street. The Orlons and the Dovells were both from Philadelphia.