Usually, I don’t like covers better than the original but with this song I do. John Lennon sounds demented and he pushed his vocals over the edge. Lennon has said he screamed the lyrics more than sang them but it worked. He provided the power to this song with just his vocals. The Beatles didn’t have monitors live…no one else at this time didn’t either so they had to sing loud to be heard. Author Mark Lewisohn called it “arguably the most stunning rock and roll vocal and instrumental performance of all time.”
This is probably close to sounding like they did live in Hamburg and The Cavern. This session took place on February 11, 1963, at EMI Studios in London, which was later renamed Abbey Road Studios. The Beatles did 10 songs that day, nine of which ended up on Please Please Me, their first UK album. Think about that for a minute… in one day they recorded their debut album except for the song Please Please Me which was recorded later.
When The Beatles played the Royal Command Performance with the Queen watching. During the introduction to this song, John Lennon famously said, “For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands and the rest of you, if you’d just rattle your jewelry.” He told Brian Epstein that he was going to say “rattle your fu**ing jewelry” and Epstein was on pins and needles worried that John would go through with that…but he didn’t. John wasn’t a fan of playing at these functions.
They actually did two takes of the song and kept the first one. John was sick with a cold and had stripped off his shirt to let himself sweat it out, but he pulled it off. The next day…February 12, 1963 – The Beatles played two shows, one at the Azena Ballroom in Yorkshire and another at the Astoria Ballroom in Lancashire. No rest for the weary.
This was the first song ever written by Bert Burns. He went on to write, Piece of My Heart, Here Comes the Night, Hang on Sloopy, Cry to Me and Everybody Needs Somebody to Love to name just a few. He signed Van Morrison to his first solo deal with Bang Records. Unfortunately, he died at 38 of a heart attack in 1967. Phil Medley did get a co-writing credit on the song.
The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, and #1 in New Zealand in 1964. The Beatles version was not done yet. In the film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in 1986, the song was used and charted again. It peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100 and #16 in Canada.
The Isley Brothers’ version is great and there have been many other charting versions of it.
Norman Smith engineer: “Someone suggested they do ‘Twist and Shout’ with John taking the lead vocal. But by this time all their throats were sore; it was 12 hours since we had started working. John’s, in particular, was almost completely gone so we really had to get it right the first time. The Beatles on the studio floor and us in the control room. John sucked a couple more Zubes (a brand of throat lozenges), had a bit of a gargle with milk and away we went.”
Twist and Shout
Well, shake it up, baby, nowTwist and shoutCome on, come on, come, come on, baby, nowCome on and work it on outWell, work it on out, honeyYou know you look so goodYou know you got me goin’ nowJust like I knew you would
Well, shake it up, baby, nowTwist and shoutCome on, come on, come, come on, baby, nowCome on and work it on outYou know you twist, little girlYou know you twist so fineCome on and twist a little closer nowAnd let me know that you’re mine, woo
Ah, ah, ah, ah, wowBaby, nowTwist and shoutCome on, come on, come, come on, baby, nowCome on and work it on outYou know you twist, little girlYou know you twist so fineCome on and twist a little closer nowAnd let me know that you’re mineWell, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, nowWell, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, nowWell, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, nowAh, ah, ah, ah
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Wow, I learned a lot about Bert Burns from this post….I’m a fan of Van Morrison and didn’t know Burns wrote all these great songs. Thank you!
NP… glad you liked it! He knew how to write a hit song for sure.
One of the best covers around. Lennon’s voice sounds like an amp turned way up and pushed into distortion – right on the edge. The Beatles learned from the best and, like the best students, and took everything further.
Well said.
I really enjoyed that video.
Golly, John had a great sense of humour. Love this!
I also liked The Who’s version of this song that they were doing back in 82…Let’s hear for the OX!
He did a good job on it I will admit!
I like their version of Shout and Shimmy.
Bert Burns – apparently a pretty good songwriter I didn’t know of. I wonder how many (few) people even have a clue that isn’t a Beatles original? Bet you’re right, this is probably about as close to how they sounded in Hamburg or the Cavern circa ’62 as you’ll find on one of their regular albums.
That is why I picked Hamburg on TurnTable Talk…they would have been quite energetic and raw to see. Burns was a really good songwriter…he died so young at 38… it’s a shame…but Van would not have stayed on his label “Bang”..it wasn’t the kind of label you could release Astral Weeks on…it was a pure pop label.
Yeah, label wise ‘Bang’ sounds like its policy was ‘crank out something for this week, quick.’ The perfect name for a pop label- you know what you’re gonna get. on that note, there must have been some great label names back then- Bang, Immediate, Karma Sutra… maybe there’s a post in there?
Yes there is…I love the single art work they had at that time. A lot of songs from back then I can see the label spinning because it was so ingrained.
I don’t think I knew they recorded 9 songs for that album in one day. That is insane.
They had perfected them live but still…yea that is incredible when you think about it…compared to now.
Really amazing job on this song from JL. Interesting how the recording came about, it explains the rawness of the record. Thanks for that background Max. An interesting fact that the original was by the Top Notes and produced by Phil Spector. Burt disliked it and decided to produce the Isley Brothers version himself. This was the arrangement that the Beatles used, much more dynamic than the original. There’s a biopic out there on Burt Burns/Russell that paints him as quite the character. Despite knowing he had a heart condition he drove himself with a relentless work ethic.
Well looky what I found: https://youtu.be/PCi5GIUSzFY
Ha!
Charming, I actually like it! 🙂
🙂
Good info, Randy, aka The Connoisseur of Covers 🙂
Yes he is!
I’ll have to check that out…I’ve always wanted to know more about him. He signed Van to his first solo deal but he was not a visionary…he wanted hits. I don’t see Morrison having the albums he did on that label.
Van had evolved and you are right there’s wasn’t an Astral Weeks coming from Burns.
I misspoke it’s a doc not a biopic. It is interesting, for all his talent he was in bed with mobsters and had a bit of a thug-like approach himself. Yet ironically he was very well liked and even worshiped by some.
That is better…I like docs more! It seems like…and this is not an exaggeration I don’t think…that everyone in the music business from New York at that time was in it. Roulette Records I have read was…
Max, first time seeing that FANTASTIC first video. Brings joy to my heart. I gotta give it to John for having the pluck to say that with The Queen sitting in front of him.
John would not have cared who was there lol. Just think if he would have said that…I have to wonder what if anything would have happened.
“Off with his head!”
LOL…hmmm…yea that is true!
Thanks Max for all the interesting back stories!
Thank you for reading! Glad you enjoyed it..
They blew the doors off with that one; John must have needed a coupla milk stouts to sooth the torn and frayed vocal cords after that effort.
That was wild seeing that video. Boy, do I feel old. I had never heard of Bert Burns. We owe him a debt for some great music.
I did a take on this cut which means I like it. One of their tunes that I dig. They were a rock n roll bar band back ten. Ghosts of all their early influences. Same page on this one Max.
I bet you would probably like the cover they did called “Bad Boy”… yea if I could see them in any period it would be in the Hamburg period.
Yes I do. Lots of those early cuts I like because of a harder rock edge.
The Beatles really knew how to play rock & roll very well – their gruesome Hamburg days had perfectly prepared them. I love all of their rock & roll covers including “Twist and Shout”.
Lennon’s announcement in that first clip, which I had seen before, is the equivalent of iconic movie lines like “I’ll be back”, “Hasta la vista, baby” or, “Go ahead, make my day!”
Yes it is iconic…now…Christian…what would have happened IF John would have went through on what he said?
No fu- flippin’ MBE for John for a start!
I think John would have liked that!
I’ve never thought of this as a cover, but of course it is. It’s one of their best. When they come in with the ‘Ah, ah, ah’ harmonies, that is one of the iconic moments in all of Beatles music, imo.
Trivia about the ‘Rattle your jewelry’ concert: Elvis Costello says his dad was also one of the performers on the concert bill that night.
Oh wow…I would have included the Costello info if I would have known.
Johns voice sounds demented almost in this and it drives the song.
I think there was an interview much later in which Lennon said that he thought Twist and Shout was his best vocal performance, and you can see why…
I totally agree man. He was voice was demented…and I mean that in a great way!
To me the song drags a little in tempo and that makes Lennon’s yelling more noticeable..
The Beatles did a damn good job on this. I was used to the Isley Brothers version (my mom being the Motown sound gal…anything blues or Detroit or Memphis). The Top Notes…that version sounds really weird in comparison.
Found this:
https://youtu.be/ibopJUDkeL8
Yea one day John would hate everything…another would be different.
Vic I will catch up on you tomorrow mam.
classic, and the definitive version. This was as famous as any single when it was fresh and grooving discotheques, even though it was only on an EP in the UK…