Shake, Rattle and Roll

2025-08-02T21:39:49Z

2600:1700:4640:D20:E879:D45E:1A5C:18A1:

{{about|the song|other uses (or variations of) this title|Shake, Rattle and Roll (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Song first recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1954}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Shake, Rattle and Roll
| cover = Shake, Rattle and Roll single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Big Joe Turner]]
| B-side = You Know I Love You
| released = April 1954<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Reviews of New R & B Records |magazine=Billboard |date=April 17, 1954 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rh8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=big+joe+turner+shake+rattle+and+roll&pg=PA28}}</ref>
| recorded = New York City, February 15, 1954
| studio =
| genre =
*[[Rock and roll]]<ref name="Rockhall">{{cite web|title=Big Joe Turner|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/big-joe-turner|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|access-date=30 June 2013}}</ref><ref name= "Marsh 1989">{{cite book|first=Dave|last=Marsh|title=The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5t5DYDniSHEC|date=1989|publisher=[[Plume (publisher)|Plume]]|isbn=0-452-26305-0|page=16}}</ref>
*[[rhythm and blues]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=Michael|last1=Campbell|first2=James|last2=Brody|title=Rock and Roll: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RK-JmVbv4OIC&pg=PA77|year=2007|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-534-64295-2|page=77}}</ref>
| length = 2:57
| label = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| writer = [[Jesse Stone (musician)|Jesse Stone]] (as "Charles Calhoun")
| producer =
| prev_title = TV Mama
| prev_year = 1954
| next_title = Well All Right
| next_year = 1954
}}
"'''Shake, Rattle and Roll'''" is a song written in 1954 by [[Jesse Stone (musician)|Jesse Stone]] (usually credited as "''Charles Calhoun''", his songwriting name) and first recorded that year by [[Big Joe Turner]], whose version ranked No. 127 on the ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]].

==Background==
In early 1954, [[Ahmet Ertegun]]<ref>Robert Greenfield, ''The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun'' (Simon & Schuster November 8, 2011, {{ISBN|1416558381}}) Chapter 7</ref> of [[Atlantic Records]] suggested to Jesse Stone that he write an up-tempo blues for [[Big Joe Turner]], a [[blues shouter]] whose career had begun in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] before World War II. Stone played around with various phrases before coming up with "shake, rattle and roll".<ref name="tosches">[[Nick Tosches]], ''Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll'' (2nd ed. 1991), page 12-21.</ref> (Stone used his real name for [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP]] songs, while using the pseudonym "Charles Calhoun" for [[Broadcast Music, Inc.|BMI]]-registered songs, such as "Shake, Rattle and Roll").

However, the phrase had been used in earlier songs. In 1910, [[vaudeville]] performer [[Baby Franklin Seals]] published "You Got to Shake, Rattle and Roll", a [[ragtime]] tune about gambling with dice, in New Orleans;<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_RqSDgAAQBAJ&q=%22baby+seals%22&pg=PA340 Lynn Abbott, Doug Seroff, ''The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2017, p.127]</ref> in 1919, [[Al Bernard]] recorded a version of the song.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/stompswerveameri00wond/page/138  David Wondrich, ''Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924'', Chicago Review Press, 2003, p. 138]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder5974 |title=Al Bernard's song - audio file |date=16 November 2005 |publisher=Cylinders.library.ucsb.edu |access-date=2011-08-21}}</ref>

==Joe Turner original==
Turner recorded "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in New York City on February 15, 1954. Atlantic released it as a single in April 1954, that reached number one on the U.S. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B chart]] and number 22 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jim Dawson|author2=[[Steve Propes]]|title=What Was The First Rock 'n' Roll Record?|publisher=Faber and Faber|date=1992|page=128-130|isbn=0-571-12939-0}}</ref>

==Bill Haley & His Comets version==
{{Infobox song
| name = Shake, Rattle and Roll
| cover = Shake Rattle and Roll Bill Haley Decca 1954.jpg
| type = single
| artist = [[Bill Haley & His Comets]]
| B-side = A.B.C. Boogie
| released = {{Start date|1954|08}}
| recorded = New York City, June 7, 1954
| studio =
| genre = [[Rock and roll]]<ref name="Doggett 2015">{{cite book|title= Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone - 125 Years of Pop Music|first=Peter|last=Doggett|date= 1 January 2015|chapter= Real Rock Drive|page= 233|publisher=[[The Bodley Head]]|location= London|isbn=978-1-847-92218-2
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=guSsCAAAQBAJ|access-date= 19 February 2025}}</ref>
| length = {{Duration|2:26}}
| label = [[Decca Records|Decca]]
| writer = [[Jesse Stone (musician)|Charles F. Calhoun]]
| producer =
| prev_title = [[Rock Around the Clock]]
| prev_year = 1954
| next_title = Dim, Dim the Lights
| next_year = 1954
}}

[[Bill Haley & His Comets]] recorded a cover version of the song on June 7, 1954,<ref name="Dawson">Dawson, Jim. ''Rock Around the Clock : The Record that Started the Rock Revolution'' (Backbeat Books, 2005, pp. 95–96), {{ISBN|0-87930-829-X}}.</ref> the same week Turner's version first topped the R&B chart. The Comets provided the instrumental accompaniment: [[Johnny Grande]] on piano, [[Billy Williamson (guitarist)|Billy Williamson]] on rhythm guitar, [[Marshall Lytle]] on bass, and Joey Ambrose on saxophone.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Haley's version was released in August and reached number seven on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' singles chart, spending a total of twenty-seven weeks in the Top 40.<ref name="Dawson"/> In the UK, it peaked at number four.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Haley & His Comets|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/1636/bill-haley-and-his-comets/|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=December 30, 2022}}</ref>

==Elvis Presley versions==
[[Elvis Presley]] recorded the song twice in a studio setting: a demo recorded at radio station [[KDAV]] in Lubbock, Texas in January 1955<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/promos/elvisdaybyday/1955.html |title=Elvis Day By Day |publisher=Randomhouse |access-date=2015-10-24}}</ref> while under contract with [[Sun Records]] (this recording was not released until the 1990s) and as a 1956 single for [[RCA Victor]].

Introduced by Cleveland disc jockey [[Bill Randle]], rhythm guitar Presley, guitarist [[Scotty Moore]], bassist [[Bill Black]], and drummer [[D. J. Fontana]] performed the song in medley with the similar "[[Flip, Flop and Fly]]" on the January 28, 1956, broadcast of the Dorsey Brothers [[Stage Show (TV series)|''Stage Show'']] (Haley's "kitchen" opening verse was sung).<ref>Roger Lee Hall, ''Shake, Rattle and Roll: Electric Elvis and Bill Randle'' PineTree Press, 2010, pages 7-9</ref>

==See also==
* [[First rock and roll record]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Big Joe Turner}}
{{Elvis Presley singles}}
{{Bill Haley & His Comets}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shake, Rattle And Roll}}
[[Category:1954 songs]]
[[Category:1954 singles]]
[[Category:Big Joe Turner songs]]
[[Category:Bill Haley songs]]
[[Category:Elvis Presley songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jesse Stone]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records singles]]
[[Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients]]
[[Category:Songs about dancing]]
[[Category:Songs about rock music]]

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Shake, Rattle and Roll