The Judge and the Alligator

Actually the other side of this 45, "The Alligator", is more fitting for my small survey of animal related 45s, but I'm much more partial to "The Judge and the Alligator". Whereas "The Alligator" is a dance tune that sings about the dance entitled the alligator, "The Judge and the Alligator" is an instrumental (mostly) of the flip and packs much more of a punch. Besides, where else have you seen two different dances on the same label.

"The Judge and the Alligator" is a soul instrumental that starts out by introducing the judge who promises 'anybody can't do the alligator gonna get some time', and then the drums, the bass, and especially the horns take off, building until they seem to burst and return to the participants. Then the judges says he's gonna do the alligator himself ('who says the judge can't do the alligator?'), and the tune again builds, but this time doesn't burst....it just fades out with the judge seeming to expire. The passing of one dance to another?

If you find this one for a few bucks, definitely don't pass it up.