Back home in Aberdeen, Mississippi, in October, he was arrested and charged with murder over shooting a man in the thigh.

He was tried on 8 November, convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, to be served in Mississippi State Penitentiary, commonly known as Parchman Farm.

[5] The song became a best seller and blues historian Ted Gioia notes that his single "earned White the status of a celebrity within Parchman".

[3]Largely on the strength of "Shake 'Em On Down", when White was released from prison, he was able to resume his recording career with Melrose and Vocalion, despite the shift in public taste that had taken place in the previous two and a half years.

[5][3] The song entered the folk tradition and became popular in the northern Mississippi hills, played by musicians like Fred McDowell, Compton Jones, and Ranie Burnette.

[7] Inspired by White's song, the liner notes credit the song to "Traditional, arranged by Charles Obscure" (a pseudonym of Jimmy Page) and uses some similar lyrics: Listen mama, Put on your mornin' gown' Put in your nightshirt Mama we gonna shake 'em down yeah, yeah?