Music critic Mike Rowe calls it a party song in an urban style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat.
[5] During this period, he wrote many of his best-known songs, including "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "The Red Rooster" (better-known as "Little Red Rooster"), "I Ain't Superstitious", "You Shook Me", "You Need Love" (adapted by Led Zeppelin for "Whole Lotta Love"), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover".
[5] In his autobiography, Dixon explained that the phrase "wang dang doodle" "meant a good time, especially if the guy came in from the South.
[7] However, Wolf supposedly hated the song and commented, "Man, that's too old-timey, sound[s] like some old levee camp number":[8] Tell Automatic slim, to tell razor totin' Jim To tell butcher knife totin' Annie, to tell fast talkin' Fannie ... We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long[9] Howlin' Wolf recorded the song in June 1960 in Chicago during the same sessions that produced "Back Door Man" and "Spoonful".
[10] Backing Howlin' Wolf on vocals are Otis Spann on piano, Hubert Sumlin on guitar, Dixon on bass, and Fred Below on drums.
[15] Taylor's version of "Wang Dang Doodle" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2023.
[19] The Pointer Sisters' version of "Wang Dang Doodle" was released as the follow-up single to "Yes We Can Can" and was included on their 1973 self-titled debut album.