Song · Youssou N'dour
“Shakin' The Tree” by Youssou N'dour
From the album The Lion (1989)
“Shakin' The Tree” by Youssou N'dour appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 2002. It was first released in 1989 on the album The Lion. Its best result is #1106 on the Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,504 alternative song of all time.
"Shakin' the Tree" pairs Youssou N'Dour with Peter Gabriel, the two sharing lead vocals, and it came out in May 1989 as a single from The Lion, N'Dour's album of that year. Their history ran back a while: Gabriel first saw N'Dour perform in Paris in 1983 and came away floored by the voice, they first shared a stage on "Biko" in 1985, and N'Dour sang on Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". This one started when N'Dour stumbled on a groove that reminded him of that song.
The two wrote it together, Gabriel produced it with George Acogny, and the band is stacked: Manu Katché on drums, David Rhodes on guitars, Habib Faye on bass, Andy Clark on keyboards, Gabriel on synthesizer, plus a trumpet section and Phil Todd's saxophone. Gabriel recut it the next year as "Shaking the Tree" for his hits collection.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1106 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
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