Song of the Day 3/9: Lloyd Williams, “Shama Lama Ding Dong”

Anybody who’s seen “Animal House” remembers the scene at the Dexter Lake Club — “Otis! My man!” — and the song Otis Day and the Knights launch into as it begins. “Shama Lama Ding Dong” fits right in with the movie’s soundtrack of late ’50s-early ’60s R&B, a doo-wop flavored number full of scat syllables masking what’s really a midtempo R&B ballad. It sounds so familiar some reviewers think it’s an oldie, but it was written for the movie by obscure Hollywood movie pianist Mike Davis, and it works because of how it’s sold by reggae vocalist Lloyd Williams, who’s obscure even by Jamaican standards.

Actor DeWayne Jessie, who played Otis Day (and eventually changed his name legally and toured as Otis Day and the Knights), actually did sing with with the band of Portland locals who made up the film version of the Knights (including a young Robert Cray, playing bass and singing those bass vocals). But Jessie’s vocals were ditched in favor of Williams, who had been recording in Jamaica since the ’60s, both under his own name and as Señor Soul.

His best-known track is “Reggae Feet,” which mixes heavy doses of funk and soul with reggae.

Here he is during his stint as the vocalist for Tommy McCook and the Supersonics.

Back to the movie: The Dexter Lake Club is a real place, but it’s the exact opposite of a black roadhouse. It’s actually a redneck loggers’ bar outside of Eugene, and when the producers brought in a bunch of African American extras from Portland, including that 7-foot guy who wants to dance with their dates, the locals called the cops in alarm. The band is only on camera for maybe 30 seconds, so if you want to watch Cray, check out the “Shout” video.