"Shakin' All Over" is a song originally performed by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. It was written by leader Johnny Kidd, and his original recording reached No. 1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1960. The song is sometimes credited to Frederick Albert Heath, which is Kidd's real name. Kidd's recording was not a hit outside Europe. In other parts of the world the song is better known by recordings from other artists. A version by Chad Allan and the Expressions, later known as

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...

, was recorded in December 1964. It reached #1 in Canada in the spring of 1965, #22 in the US and #27 in Australia. Another famous recording by

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are conside ...

was featured on their 1970 album '' Live at Leeds''.

Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial '' Sons and Daughters''. As a singer he was ...

's 1965 version reached No. 1 in Australia as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with " Que Sera Sera".

History

Johnny Kidd version

The musicians who performed on the original recording were Johnny Kidd (vocals), Alan Caddy (

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

), Brian Gregg (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

), Clem Cattini ( drums) and Joe Moretti (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

). Kidd was quoted as saying:

When I was going round with a bunch of lads and we happened to see a girl who was a real sizzler, we used to say that she gave us 'quivers down the membranes'. It was a standard saying with us referring to any attractive girl. I can honestly say that it was this more than anything that inspired me to write "Shakin' All Over".

The Twiliters version

In 1964, a band from

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surroundin ...

called the Twiliters recorded a version of "Shakin' All Over" and released it on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of a single. Bill Kennedy, the leader of the group, had heard the song while stationed in Germany with the US Air Force. The A-side was called "(Everybody's Goin' To) Rollerland" and the songs were recorded before a crowd at the local Rollerland skating rink. It was released by Empire Records and gained some regional success but did not chart.

The Guess Who version

The song gained more fame after it was recorded in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

in December 1964 by a group called Chad Allan and the Expressions. In the spring of 1965 the record became a #1 hit in Canada. The group's label Quality Records credited the artist as "Guess Who?" in an attempt to disguise their origin and hint that the group might be a

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

act. The actual name was revealed a few months later, but radio DJs continued to announce the artist as "Guess Who?". This prompted the group to change their name to The Guess Who. This version was also a #22 hit in the United States. In 1975 The Guess Who recorded a new song called "When The Band Was Singin' 'Shakin' All Over'". Though it makes lyrical reference to the original, this is a distinctly different song.Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004

Mae West Version

Actress and singer

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

released a version of "Shakin' All Over" on the LP '' Way Out West'', released in the US by

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Recor ...

in 1966. In the UK it appeared on the

Stateside Stateside may refer to: * stateside, an informal adjective or adverb meaning "in the United States" **Stateside Puerto Ricans **Stateside Virgin Islands Americans Stateside Virgin Islands Americans are West Indian Americans who hold US citizens ...

label.

Normie Rowe version

The Guess Who's version also became a #27 hit in Australia, but another version became a national #1 hit in late 1965 for

. Rowe's version (backed by " Que Sera Sera") was one of the biggest-selling singles of the decade in that country. Rowe had recorded his take on the song before The Guess Who, and based his release on a 1962 version by Johnny Chester.

The Who version

The song has been performed many times by

, starting in the 1960s, (sometimes in a medley with " Spoonful"). The best known performances were at

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

in 1969 and on '' Live at Leeds'' in 1970. In

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a n ...

's autobiography, he says that when he met Who bass player

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only membe ...

, he was told that people constantly got The Who and The Guess Who mixed up. Tired of being yelled at for not playing the song, the Who started playing it just to keep the crowd happy. Bachman responded that the Guess Who had the same reasons for playing " My Generation". Entwistle, a fan of 1950s and 1960s

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

music, also performed the song with his solo band and incorporated a bass solo into the middle of the song, accompanied only by his drummer

Steve Luongo Steve Luongo (born September 21, 1952) is an American drummer, singer, songwriter and record producer who hails from Westchester, New York. Early career Luongo was one of the founding members of the New York-based rock group Rat Race Choir ...

Suzi Quatro version

Suzi Quatro included her version on her debut album, '' Suzi Quatro'' (1973).

Tin Machine version

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...

included a live version in their single ''

You Belong in Rock n' Roll "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" is a song by Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine, released ahead of their second album in August 1991. The song was the band’s first release on Victory Records, which was distributed by London Records in th ...

'' (1991).

The Head Cat version

The Head Cat also recorded this song in their second studio album, '' Walk the Walk...Talk the Talk'' (2001).

Cows version

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

noise rock band Cows featured a version titled "Shaking" on their second studio album

Daddy Has a Tail! ''Daddy Has a Tail!'' is the second studio album by Minneapolis-based noise rock band Cows. It was released on July 10, 1989, via Amphetamine Reptile Records, their first album for the label. Recording The album was recorded and mixed by David ...

(1989)

References in popular culture

*The Guess Who version was included in the '' Battlefield Vietnam'' soundtrack. It can also be heard in the 2006 Edie Sedgwick biopic, '' Factory Girl''. The Guess Who version was also featured in a Hugo Boss XY and XX Fragrance commercial, featuring

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films '' Michael Collins'' (1996), '' Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus'' (1999), ''Bend It Like ...

and Bette Franke. *The song was referenced in a 1975 song by The Guess Who titled "When The Band Was Singin' 'Shakin' All Over'". *"Shakin' All Over" was featured several times in the UK TV series ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

'' (1992 - 2007) (usually the version by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates) and in the first ever episode of the UK TV series '' The Royal'' on 19 January 2003. *''Shakin' All Over'' is the name of a

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

documentary on Canadian

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. *The song is featured in the '' Mr. Bean'' episode " Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean". *The Pirates version of the song was featured in the film '' Crooked House''. *A version by

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

appears during the end credits of '' Bridesmaids'', as taken from her album '' The Party Ain't Over'' (2011). *The album ''Sea of Tears'' by

Eilen Jewell Eilen Jewell (born April 6, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from Boise, Idaho. She has released seven albums. Early life and education Jewell grew up in Boise, Idaho and attended St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After livin ...

includes the track. *A cover of the song by

Rose Hill Drive Rose Hill Drive is an American rock band. The group is often aligned with other bands that are reviving traditional hard rock and early metal–psychedelic. Combining hard-driving rock and blues with modern touches and arrangements, they are o ...

is included on the game soundtrack for Stubbs the Zombie (2005). *The Johnny Kidd and the Pirates version was played over the end credits in S02E03 of the television series ''

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Gr ...

''. *A cover by

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

was included for their 1999 album Instrument Soundtrack.

References

External links

Musicdish.com
{{Authority control 1960 songs 1960 singles 1965 singles The Guess Who songs Humble Pie (band) songs The Beach Boys songs Van Morrison songs Wanda Jackson songs Willy Moon songs Number-one singles in Australia UK Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Quality Records singles