Released March 22, 1957 Label RCA Victor | Length 1:57 | |
B-side "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" Recorded January 12, 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California Genre Rock and roll, rhythm and blues | ||
"All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by Otis Blackwell. The single topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for eight weeks. It also topped the Billboard R&B chart for four weeks, becoming Presley's second single to do so, and peaked at No. 3 on the country chart. It is certified 2X Platinum by the RIAA.
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It was ranked #352 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
History
Blackwell wrote the song at the offices of Shalimar Music in 1956 after Al Stanton, one of Shalimar's owners, shaking a bottle of Pepsi at the time, suggested he write a song based on the phrase "all shook up."
According to Peter Guralnick the song has a different origin. In his book "Last Train To Memphis" he wrote that Elvis thought "All Shook Up" was a good phrase for a refrain. For this he received a co-writing credit, his last.
Elvis himself, during an interview on October 28, 1957, said: "I've never even had an idea for a song. Just once, maybe. I went to bed one night, had quite a dream, and woke up all shook up. I phoned a pal and told him about it. By morning, he had a new song, 'All Shook Up'."
Future Last House on the Left actor David Hess, using the stage name David Hill, was the first to record the song and release it a few weeks before Elvis on Aladdin Records, titled "I'm All Shook Up".
Vicki Young recorded a different song with the same title, "(I'm) All Shook Up", on Capitol Records with Big Dave and His Orchestra, written by Bill Bellman and Hal Blaine in 1956.
On January 12, 1957, Presley recorded the song at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. The duet vocal on the record is by the Jordanaires first tenor Gordon Stoker. Take 10 was selected for release, and in March the song entered Billboard's Top 100 chart at #25. Within three weeks it had knocked Perry Como's "Round and Round" off the top spot, and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. The song also became Presley's first No. hit on the UK Singles Chart, remaining there for seven weeks. Sales of the single exceeded two million, and the song was named Billboard's Year End number one song for 1957.
Beatles cover version
According to biographer Mark Lewisohn in "The Complete Beatles Chronicle" (p. 361), The Beatles (first as The Quarrymen) regularly performed the song, from 1957 through 1960 (possibly later) with Paul McCartney on lead vocal. Sadly, there is no known recorded version from that time. However Quarryman Len Garry (in his book "John, Paul & Me" p.154) states that it was one of the songs the group played on July 6, 1957, the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney and that the song was recorded then (but was erased later). Author Doug Sulpy (in "Drugs, Divorce And A Slipping Image" sec. 3.13) adds that on Jan. 13, 1969 during the massive Get Back sessions, they did record a "spirited" version of it with Paul McCartney and George Harrison sharing vocals, John Lennon did not join in the recording as he was literally sitting watching while having his tea. That version of the song remains officially unreleased (due to it being in mono and Paul and George not remembering all the lyrics by that late date). In 1999 Paul McCartney cut a hard-rocking version on the album Run Devil Run, while his surviving former bandmates of The Quarrymen recorded it in 2004 on Songs We Remember.
Billy Joel version
In 1991, Billy Joel recorded the song for the movie Honeymoon in Vegas, which also featured other Elvis Presley songs by various artists. It was released as a single and peaked at No. 92 in the US and No. 27 in the UK.