Thursday April 2, 2020 “Tighten Up” Archie Bell and the Drells

If you’re paying attention, yesterday time was tight with Booker T and the MGs so today keeping with that tight theme we are going to Houston Texas to tighten up a little more.

And we have been cooped up so long it’s time to just get up and start dancing and here’s a ‘new’ dance (well new in 1968) from Houston Texas, it’s called the tighten up. I found a live version of the song, these videos are just so much fun to watch, so the lyrics below may not be dead on but you’ll get the gist…just tighten up, you can do it or so Archie says...many, many, many times.

Kept waiting for the three guys on the right to jump in on some harmonies but they appear to be there to show us all how to do the tighten up, looks pretty simple but I think you may need a bright blue suit to do it right, now.

I believe the tighten up could be the cure for many things, maybe even for covid-19, and imagine if it was and the whole world got over this insanity doing the tighten up. There would be some crazy dancing in the streets with everyone in bright blue suits. But in the meantime it is certainly a cure for the doldrums we may be slipping into and as Archie and the Drells tell us if you tighten up ‘everything will be outta sight…just don’t get too tight’.

Side note, Archie’s younger brother Ricky Bell did some footballing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tighten up like no ones watching and stay well and happy.

Hi everybody
I'm Archie Bell of the Drells, from Houston, Texas
We don't only sing
But we dance just as good as we walk
In Houston, we just started a new dance
Called the Tighten Up
This is the music we tighten up with

First tighten up on the drums
Come on now, drummer
I want you to tighten it up for me now, oh, yeah
Tighten up on that bass now
Tighten it up, ha, ha, yeah
Now let that guitar fall in
Oh, yeah
Tighten up on that organ now
Yeah, you do the tighten up, yeah, now

I said, if you can do it now
It sure would be tough
Now look here, come on now
Now make it mellow

Let's tighten it up now
Do the tighten up
Everybody can do it now
So get to it
We're gonna tighten up
Let's do the tighten up
You can do it now
So baby, get to it

Look to your left now
Look to your right
Everybody can do it
But don't you get too tight
Come on and tighten up
Let's tighten it up now
Let's tighten it up now
Tighten it up
Oh, do the tighten up
Come on and tighten it up
Tighten it up now, come on now, Billy

Tighten it up, oh, yeah
Sock it to me now, tighten it up
Come on and tighten up that bass, oh, yeah
Now look here, I want that guitar to fall in on there
Tighten it up now
Oh, yeah
Now tighten it up, organ

Yeah, now everybody tighten it up now
Now look here, we gonna make it mellow for you now
We gonna make it mellow now

Oh, tighten it up
You can get it
Move to your left, move to your right
Tighten it up now
Everything will be outta sight
Come on and tighten it up
Tighten it up now
You can do it