If you lived in or around Columbia, South Carolina in the early 1960s, you were likely among the first to experience the earworm that is “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love).”
Local band Dick Holler and The Holidays recorded it in 1963 and established it as a local hit the following year.
“Double Shot” never made it far beyond Columbia, however–at least not in its original incarnation.
Luckily, a local party band called The Medallions at nearby Lander College took a shine to the song and made it a popular staple of their live sets. When they decided to record “Double Shot” in the studio, however, they quickly grew frustrated at their inability to capture the energy of their live performances.
The Medallions solved their problem by turning their studio session into a live performance. “We actually pulled in people off the street and had a big crowd in the studio to make background noise,” lead singer John McElrath told Rebeat Magazine, “and that party atmosphere gave us the sound we were looking for.”
The Medallions’ version of “Double Shot” became an immediate local hit, and it soon became clear that it was going to have legs beyond the area as well. The song got picked up by Smash Records, and The Medallions changed their name to The Swingin’ Medallions for their national release.
They had to make a few surgical changes, though–a few of the lyrics were deemed a bit too risqué to release as is.
The edited version made it all the way to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it’s the original version that endures as the fondly remembered classic, covered live by countless artists, including Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.
Bruce first covered “Double Shot” at a late night surprise appearance with Beaver Brown after a Darkness show in New Haven, CT. No recording is known to exist of that live debut, but a couple weeks later, Bruce covered it in concert proper in South Bend, Indiana. Let’s take a listen:
Bruce introduced the song that night as “the greatest fraternity rock song of all time,” coaching the audience to sing along and “move like you’re drunk!” Frat rock was already on Bruce’s mind by that time; he’d debuted “Sherry Darling” just a few weeks before, almost certainly inspired by “Double Shot.”
The song went over big with the audience, so when Bruce returned on the River Tour, he made “Double Shot” a South Bend double shot.
That was the last we heard of “Double Shot” from Bruce for 27 years. But when the Magic Tour brought the E Street Band to Charleston, South Carolina in 2008, Bruce saw an opportunity to pay tribute to some local legends. Brief excerpts from that performance made the local news that night.
A year later, Bruce and the band were back in the state, and once again he covered “Double Shot” to pay tribute to The Swingin’ Medallions.
This time, though, he had the original artists join him on stage in a loose, fun, one-time-only team-up on “an immortal piece of music” by the local beach music legends and rock’s reigning bar band.
Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)
First performed: August 25, 1978 (New Haven, CT)
Last performed: September 16, 2009 (Greenville, SC)
Ken, I loved that you featured this on MATR. Such a great song, and I’ll argue that rock music reaches its zenith when it elevates the reckless abandon and fun of life into something like this. My feeling is that the January 1981 performance at Notre Dame was the pinnacle; Clarence’s solo, the a cappella verse, and most of all the rabid crowd response and participation is pure joy and took the song beyond even the original artists’ conception. I had an old cassette bootleg of that show and listened to this song in particular over and over during my college years. Thank you so much for highlighting it today!