| "The Snake" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Al Wilson | ||||
| B-side | "Getting Ready for Tomorrow" (1968 release) "Willoughby Brook" (1975 UK release) | |||
| Released | August 1968 (U.S.) August 8, 1975 (U.K.) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Soul City (1968 release) Bell (1975 UK release) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Oscar Brown | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Al Wilson singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Snake" is a song written and first recorded by civil-rights activist Oscar Brown in 1963; it became a hit single for American singer Al Wilson in 1968.[2][3] The song tells a story similar to Aesop's fable The Farmer and the Viper and the African American folktale "Mr. Snake and the Farmer".[4]
The song gained renewed attention during the campaign for the 2016 United States presidential election.
- ^ a b Breihan, Tom (May 3, 2019). "The Number Ones: Al Wilson's "Show And Tell"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
... and it became a cult favorite on the Northern Soul scene, the pre-rave phenomenon where British kids would ... spend all night dancing to obscure R&B records.
- ^ "The Snake". discogs.com. August 14, 1974. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ "Al Wilson: Expressive singer of 'The Snake'". The Independent. April 24, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ Gates, Henry Louis Jr.; Tatar, Maria, eds. (2017). The Annotated African American Folktales. Liveright. ISBN 9780871407566.