Twist and Shout
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| “Twist and Shout” | |||||
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| Single by The Isley Brothers from the album Twist & Shout |
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| B-side | "Spanish Twist" | ||||
| Released | June 16, 1962 | ||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||
| Recorded | New York, 1962 | ||||
| Genre | Soul/rock | ||||
| Length | 2:27 | ||||
| Label | Wand 653 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Phil Medley Bert Russell |
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| Producer | Bert Russell | ||||
| The Isley Brothers singles chronology | |||||
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| “Twist and Shout” | ||
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Cover of the "Twist and Shout (EP)" (July 1963)
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| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Album | Please Please Me (UK) Introducing... The Beatles (USA) Twist and Shout (UK) |
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| Released | March 22 1963 (album, UK) January 10 1964 (album, US) |
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| Format | vinyl record 7" | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road: February 11, 1963 | |
| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Length | 2:23 | |
| Label | Tollie 9001 (US single, 1964) Capitol 5624 (US-1986) |
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| Writer | Medley/Russell | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Please Please Me track listing | ||
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"Twist and Shout" is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally recorded by the Topnotes and then covered by The Isley Brothers. It was covered by The Beatles, with John Lennon on the lead vocals, and originally released on their first album Please Please Me. The song was covered by The Mamas & the Papas (in the style of a ballad) in 1967 on their album Deliver. It was also covered by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Most recently, Chaka Demus and Pliers (featuring Jack Radics and Taxi Gang) reached #1 on the UK charts with their version in January 1994.
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[edit] Original version by the Top Notes
In 1961, a year after Phil Spector became a staff producer at Atlantic records, he was asked to produce a single by an up-and-coming vocal group, the Top Notes (sometimes named "Topnotes"): "Twist and Shout." This was before Spector perfected his "Wall of Sound" technique, and the recording lacked all of the energy the group exhibited in its live performances. When songwriter Bert Berns heard the final mix, he told Spector that he had "[messed] up the song," and predicted a quick demise for the single.[1]
[edit] Isley Brothers
When the Isley Brothers decided to record the song in 1962, Berns opted to produce, and thus demonstrate to Spector what he had intended to be the "sound" of the record.[1] The resulting recording captured the verve of an Isley Brothers performance, and became the trio's first record to reach a Top 40 position in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The Isley Brothers' version, with Ronald Isley on lead vocals, was the first major hit recording of the song, peaking at #17 on the U.S. pop top 40 charts, and #2 on the US R&B charts. The song quickly became a frequently covered soul music tune in the early 1960s. According to Ronald, the song was supposed to be the b-side to the Burt Bacharach standard, "Make It Easy On Yourself," which had been a hit for Jerry Butler. When the Isleys recorded "Twist and Shout," the brothers didn't think the song would do well, as they hadn't had a hit in the three years since "Shout" established them. To their surprise, the song became their first Top 40 hit on both the pop and R&B charts, and for a time established the group's reputation for producing fast-paced songs during their earlier career.
[edit] Credits
- Ronald Isley – lead vocals
- O'Kelly Isley, Jr. – backing vocals
- Rudolph Isley – backing vocals
- Bert Berns – production
[edit] The Beatles
The Beatles released the song on their first UK album, Please Please Me. The recording session for that album was their first album session, and is notable for eleven songs having been recorded in a mere 10 hours. Twist and Shout was the last song recorded; producer George Martin knew John Lennon's voice would suffer from the performance, so he left it until last, with only 15 minutes of scheduled recording time remaining for the album.
Lennon was suffering from a cold, and was drinking milk and sucking on cough drops to soothe his throat. Even so, he produced a memorable vocal performance, a raucous, dynamic rocker. He later said his voice was not the same for a long time afterward, and that "every time [he] swallowed, it felt like sandpaper."[2]
Two takes were recorded, and the first take is heard on the album. George Martin said, "I did try a second take ... but John's voice had gone."[3]
This is one of the Beatles first songs featuring the group singing "wooo" in harmony, which would become a cliché of the early Beatles and "Beatlemania".
The Beatles' cover was released on March 2, 1964[4] in the U.S. as a single by Vee-Jay Records on the Tollie label. It reached #2 on April 4th 1964, the week when the first five places on the chart were all Beatles singles. (In the Cashbox singles chart for the same week, "Twist and Shout" was #1.) In the United States, "Twist and Shout" was the only million-selling Beatles single that was a cover record, and the only Beatles cover single to reach the Top 10 on any national record chart.
In the UK, "Twist and Shout" was released on an EP with three other tracks from the Please Please Me album. Both the EP and Album reached #1 (see Twist and Shout (EP)). In Canada, it became the title track to the second album of Beatles material to be issued by Capitol Records of Canada on February 3, 1964.
It is regarded as one of the finest examples of British rock and roll for its vocal performance.[5] The song was used as a rousing closing number on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in October 1963 and at The Royal Variety Show in November 1963, the former signalling the start of "Beatlemania." They also performed it on their Ed Sullivan Show appearance in February 1964.
[edit] 1986 recharting
The Beatles' version of the song enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 1986 after Matthew Broderick lip synced it in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Coincidentally, the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School (released two days after Ferris) also featured the song, this one sung by Dangerfield himself and patterned after the Beatles' arrangement. The use in the two films help propel the single up the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #23 that summer.
[edit] Credits
- John Lennon – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
- George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr – drums
[edit] Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
In 1962 the Decca record label signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, a group from Dagenham, Essex, in preference to the Beatles. Both groups auditioned on the same day, and it has become legend that the Beatles were rejected by the label. Ironically, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had no chart success until the "Beat group" boom in British rock surfaced, following the phenomenal success of the Beatles. This triggered the frenzied signing of most of the popular Liverpool rock groups of that period by the major record labels, and their distinctive "sound" became known as Merseybeat. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes imitated this style, and covered "Twist and Shout" four months after the Beatles had released their version, and achieved number 4 position in the UK singles chart.
[edit] Other cover versions
- In 1964 The Iguanas covered the song on the album "Jumpin with the Iguanas".
- The Who covered the song live during their career, with Roger Daltrey singing lead vocals at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, and on their 1982 Farewell Tour, with John Entwistle singing lead. The 1982 version can be heard on the live album Who's Last.
- Although The Kinks were never known to have recorded the song, "Twist and Shout" was frequently featured in live sets, an example of which is in 1979 when performed in Rhode Island.[citation needed]
- Bruce Springsteen has frequently played "Twist and Shout" live, usually as an encore, and the song is readily available on bootlegs.
- ELO spin-off group The Orchestra recorded a 6:36 version on their 2001 album No Rewind, starting with slow, picked chords before picking up the famous riff.
- Samantha Miller recorded "Twist and Shout" for Shared Vision: The Songs of The Beatles on Polygram Records in 1994.
- Jack Nitzsche and His Orchestra included "Twist and Shout" on his 1964 release of Beatles instrumentals, Dance To The Hits of The Beatles on Reprise Records. It is now available on CD.
- The Troggs recorded a "Louie Louie/Hang on Sloopy/Twist & Shout" medley.
- Alejandra Guzmán recorded a Spanish-language song with the same melody called "Twist y gritos."
- Rap group N.W.A. recorded "Drink It Up" on their album N.W.A. and the Posse with The Fila Fresh Crew. The song sampled The Isley Brothers' version of "Twist and Shout."
- Bosnian band Crvena Jabuka recorded a Serbo-Croatian version of the song in the late '80s called Svidja Mi Se Ova Stvar (Twist and Shout)
- The Punkles did a Punk cover of this song on their first album.
- Booker T. & the M.G.s included an instrumental version of this song on their 1962 album Green Onions
[edit] Appearances in the media
On an episode of Full House, Jesse convinces Michelle's class to sing "Twist and Shout" rather than "The Wheels on the Bus."[citation needed]
On an episode of A Different World, Whitley sings "Twist and Shout" on top of a bar when she and Kim decide to go out during their Thanksgiving break.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b The Atlantic Story.
- ^ The Beatles. The Beatles Anthology. Chronicle Books, LLC, 2000.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions
- ^ http://stevesbeatles.com/vinyl/american/singles.asp Beatles US single releases
- ^ Ian Macdonald, Revolution In The Head, p.67
| Preceded by "Mr Blobby" by Mr Blobby |
UK Singles Chart Number 1 single by Chaka Demus and Pliers January 2, 1994 for 2 weeks |
Succeeded by "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream |
