Hikky-Burr

Album: The Original Jam Sessions 1969 (1969)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This horn-centric tune was penned by Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby for the theme tune of the latter's first Bill Cosby Show in 1969. Jones recalled penning this song with his life-long friend in a 2010 interview with Billboard magazine: "So we're shooting out at Warner Brothers, he's shooting the show and I'm doing the music. I said I'd like to improvise the scoring. We had a regular band of great musicians, Ray Brown and Paul Humphrey and all these guys. And [then] we'd have Oscar Peterson, Cannonball Adderly. It was astounding. They'd play all the themes together so it was different at the end of each show. In the middle of this, all of the sudden I hear all of this gobbledy-gook in my earphones and I look up there and there's Cosby on a bassoon trying to play some Coltrane. [laughs] I'll never forget, we got the bassoon away from him and I handed him a cowbell. It came out of a bond and we wrote a tune around it. They're beautiful memories."
  • Jones did an updated version of this tune for his 2010 album Q Soul Bossa Nova aided by Three 6 Mafia and David Banner.
  • Did you know that Bill Cosby had a hit song? Yep. In 1967 he went to #4 in the US with "Little Ole Man." Not quite Quincy Jones credentials, but not bad for a comedian.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Wedding Bell Blues

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.