The dance the Mashed Potato was all the rage after James Brown incorporated it into his rousing live show and review with his band the Famous Flames. Under a contract with a recording label that did not think much of the idea, in 1959 Brown took the song down to a friend’s studio in Florida and recorded the hit song “(Do the) Mashed Potato.” So he would not run afoul of his own label, Brown billed the song as Nat Kendrick and the Swans and the lyrics were attributed to one of Brown’s aliases, Dessie Rozier. Soon the nation was whipped up in the craze with two other hit songs, “Mashed Potatoes U.S.A.” and “The Mash Potato Man.” It is fun to use purple potatoes the same color as James Brown’s famous cape to make mashed potatoes while having a kitchen dance party with the kids.
Purple sweet potatoes are grown in Stokes County, North Carolina. If you can’t find sweet potatoes, use a purple variety of potato. It won’t be sweet—it’s all about the color.
