"Soul Finger" is the first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 released by R&B group The Bar-Kays. It was issued by Stax Records

Stax Records

Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

 on the Volt Records label on April 14, 1967.

The song was written by the Bar-Kays while they were rehearsing with Norman West, doing a cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of J.J. Jackson's "But It's Alright". It begins with the melody

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

 to the popular children's song "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and then cuts into the main riff, punctuated with a high trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 trill. It features a chorus of neighborhood children who had been loitering

Loitering

Loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a protracted time. Under certain circumstances, it is illegal in various jurisdictions.-Prohibition and history:Loitering may be prohibited by local governments in several countries...

 outside the recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

; they were instructed to shout the words "Soul Finger!" and were paid with Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

s. The idea for the title and the shouts had come from Stax songwriters Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

 and David Porter

David Porter (musician)

David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...

.

"Soul Finger" was a hit in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Black Singles chart and #17 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. The B-side to the single was "Knucklehead", written by Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...

 and Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...

. "Knucklehead" charted at #28 on the Black Singles chart and #76 on the Hot 100. "Soul Finger" and "Knucklehead" were the first two tracks of the Bar-Kays' first LP, Soul Finger.

In other media

This song, or a "tribute/Rip off" is found in the (1968)Italian movie, SVEZIA, INFERNO E PARADISO. This basically translates to Sweden, Heaven & Hell. It has lyrics, but of course, they are in Italian. The song can be heard on Utube. Search for SVEZIA, INFERNO E PARADISO then the scene is called Mal e l Primitives- L"incidente.
The song was featured in the 1985 film Spies Like Us

Spies Like Us

Spies Like Us is a 1985 American comedy film directed by John Landis and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest, and Donna Dixon...

during a scene in which Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 missile control personnel hold a party. Spies Like Us star Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd

Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

 had previously covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 "Soul Finger" with John Belushi

John Belushi

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

 and their band, The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live...

, on their album, Made in America

Made in America (Blues Brothers album)

Made in America is the third album by The Blues Brothers. The second live album by the band, it was released in December 1980 as a followup to their hit film released that year, The Blues Brothers. Commercially and critically it did not fare as well as their previous two albums, 1978's Briefcase...

. The song also appears in the 2007 film Superbad.

'Soul Finger' has recently featured in the 2009 film Soul Men

Soul Men (film)

Soul Men is a 2008 American music-comedy-drama film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Matthew Stone and Rob Ramsey. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. It was released on November 7, 2008....

starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the late Bernie Mac.

The song was covered by Dexy's Midnight Runners in The Projected Passion Revue.