"All Shook Up" is a song recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by

Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), " Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry ...

. The single topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for nine weeks. It also topped the ''

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'' R&B

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for four weeks, becoming Presley's second single to do so, and peaked at No. 1 on the country chart as well. It is certified 2× platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It was ranked No. 352 on the 2004 edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

s list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

History

wrote the song at the offices of Shalimar Music in 1956 after Al Stanton, one of Shalimar's owners, shaking a bottle of

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at the time, suggested he write a song based on the phrase "all shook up". According to

Peter Guralnick Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written books on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke ...

, the song has a different origin. In his book ''Last Train to Memphis'', he wrote that Elvis Presley thought "All Shook Up" was a good phrase for a refrain. For this he received a co-writing credit. Presley 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 David Alexander Hess (September 19, 1936 – October 7, 2011) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director. He came to prominence for his portrayals of murderous rapists, villains and gruff characters in several films in the 1970 ...

, using the stage name David Hill, was the first to record the song on

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Philo Records Philo's releases included 78 RPM singles of ...

, titled "I'm All Shook Up". In a 2009 interview, Hess revealed the origins of the song, and claimed to come up with the title of the song: "As far as 'All Shook Up', the title came from a real set of circumstances and when I decided not to write it, Otis Blackwell did and I had the first recording for Aladdin Records. It was my title, but Otis wrote the song and Presley took a writing credit in order to get him to record it. That's the way things happened in those days." Vicki Young recorded a different song with the same title, "(I'm) All Shook Up", on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

with Big Dave and His Orchestra, written by Bill Bellman and

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

in 1956. On January 12, 1957, Presley recorded the song at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorde ...

in Hollywood. The duet vocal on the record is by

the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

first tenor Gordon Stoker. Take 10 was selected for release, and in March the song entered the ''Billboard'' Top 100 chart at No. 25. Within three weeks it had knocked Perry Como's " Round and Round" off the top spot, and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks. The song also became Presley's first No. 1 hit on the UK Singles Chart, remaining there for seven weeks. Sales of the single exceeded two million, and the song was named ''

s Year End number one song for 1957.

Personnel

Credits from Keith Flynn and Ernst Jorgensen's examination of the original session tapes,

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paperwork/contracts, and AFM/union contracts. The Blue Moon Boys *

– lead vocals, percussion *

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

– lead guitar *

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

D. J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationshi ...

– drums

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

* Gordon Stoker – harmony and backing vocals * Hoyt Hawkins – backing vocals, piano * Neal Matthews, Hugh Jarrett – backing vocals

Charts

Certifications

Beatles versions

According to biographer

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

in ''The Complete Beatles Chronicle'',

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

(first as

The Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the ...

) regularly performed the song, from 1957 through 1960 (possibly later) with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

on lead vocal. There is no known recorded version from that time. However, Len Garry of The Quarrymen (in his book ''John, Paul & Me'') states that it was one of the songs the group played on July 6, 1957, the day

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

met Paul McCartney and that the song was recorded then (but was erased later). Author Doug Sulpy (in ''Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image'') adds that on January 13, 1969, during the "

Get Back "Get Back" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, written by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to "The B ...

" sessions, they did record a "spirited" version of it with McCartney and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

sharing vocals. Lennon did not join in the recording, as he was sitting watching while having tea. That version of the song remains officially unreleased (due to it being in mono and McCartney and Harrison not remembering all the lyrics by that late date). In 1999, McCartney cut a hard-rocking version on the album '' Run Devil Run'', while his surviving Quarrymen bandmates recorded it in 2004 on '' Songs We Remember''.

Billy Joel version

In 1991,

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

recorded the song for the movie ''

Honeymoon in Vegas ''Honeymoon in Vegas'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker. Plot Private eye Jack Singer swore to his mother on her deathbed that h ...

'', 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.

Chart positions

Other recordings and notable performances

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...

recorded the song for her debut solo album ''

'' in 1973 (titled ''Can the Can'' in Australia). Her recording of the song was released as a single in 1974 and peaked at number 85 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Presley invited Quatro to Graceland, commenting that her version was the best since the original. Quatro declined the offer. * A version by English DJ and producer Adamski titled " The Space Jungle" was released in 1990 on the album '' Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy'' and was a hit across Europe, peaking in the top 10 of the Finnish and UK charts, as well as on the U.S. ''Billboard'' dance chart at No. 8.

References

{{authority control 1957 songs 1957 singles 1974 singles 1992 singles Elvis Presley songs Suzi Quatro songs Billy Joel songs Billboard Top 100 number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Otis Blackwell Songs written by Elvis Presley RCA Victor singles Epic Records singles