{{about|the song by the Bar-Kays|the album|Soul Finger (Bar-Kays album)|the album by Art Blakey and The Messengers|Soul Finger (Art Blakey album)}} {{Infobox song | name = Soul Finger | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = the Bar-Kays | album = Soul Finger | B-side = Knucklehead | released = April 14, 1967 | format = | recorded = March 31, 1967 | studio = | genre = | length = 2:18 | label = Volt Records | writer = Jimmy King<br>Phalon Jones<br>Carl Cunningham<br>Ben Cauley<br>Ronnie Caldwell<br>James Alexander | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Knucklehead | next_year = 1967 | misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|SaE4Byj1Z3g|"Soul Finger" (2006 Remaster)}}}} }}
"'''Soul Finger'''" is the first single released by R&B group the Bar-Kays. It was issued by Stax Records on the Volt Records label on April 14, 1967.
==Background== The song was written by the Bar-Kays while they were rehearsing with Norman West to perform a cover of J. J. Jackson's "But It's Alright".<ref name=stax>Liner notes, ''The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, 1959–1968''. Atlantic, 1991. p. 31.</ref> It begins with the melody of the popular children's song "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and then cuts into the main riff, punctuated with a high trumpet trill. It features a chorus of neighborhood children who had been loitering outside the recording studio; they were instructed to shout "Soul Finger!" and were paid with Coca-Cola.<ref name=stax/> The idea for the title and the shouts came from the Stax songwriters Isaac Hayes and David Porter.<ref name=stax/> The track was used as the opening theme tune to BBC Radio 1 DJ Stuart Henry's shows from 1969 to 1974.
==Chart performance== "Soul Finger" was a hit in the United States, peaking at number 3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart and number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref name=amg>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p54079/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} Billboard Singles], Allmusic.</ref> The B-side of the single was "Knucklehead", written by Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper, which reached number 28 on the R&B singles chart and number 76 on the Hot 100.<ref name=amg/> "Soul Finger" and "Knucklehead" were the first two tracks of the Bar-Kays' first LP, ''Soul Finger'', issued on July 10, after nine more tracks had been recorded on June 23.<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1294|pure_url=yes}} Review of ''Soul Finger''], Allmusic</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{The Bar-Kays}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1967 songs Category:1967 debut singles Category:1960s instrumentals Category:Stax Records singles Category:The Blues Brothers songs