Johnny Kidd and the Pirates – Shakin’ All Over

Cool titles will pull me into songs. This is a pure gritty rock song from the early sixties. Pete Townshend said it was a major influence on The Who.

This is one of my favorite pre-Beatles UK songs. Great rocker with a cool guitar riff. Johnny’s name was Frederick Heath and he formed his first skiffle group in 1957 called The Five Nutters (great name). He then joined Alan Caddy (guitar), Tony Docherty (rhythm guitar), and Ken McKay (drums) in early 1958 and formed Johnny Kidd & the Pirates who were signed by EMI Records.

Heath went on playing with the Pirates and the New Pirates until he was killed in a car crash on October 7, 1966. Johnny Kidd wrote this song after seeing a beautiful girl…hmmm never heard that before! “Beautiful girl” has been used as a muse since music began.

Shakin’ All Over peaked at #1 in the UK charts in 1960. The Who would later do a version on their great live album Live At Leads. Another band covered this song and was a big hit in Canada.

Chad Allan and the Expressions recorded the song in 1964. 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 act. The actual name was revealed a few months later, but radio DJs continued to announce the artist as “Guess Who?”. That version peaked at #1 in Canada and  #22 on the Billboard 100 in 1965. From that time on they were The Guess Who

The Who started to hit around this time so The Guess Who got constant requests for My Generation. They didn’t like their name but the record company insisted they keep it. Things worked out for both bands. They eventually became friends and hung out with each other when they crossed paths on tour.

The Pirates bass player Brian Gregg: “Wally Ridley’s (the producer)’s assistant, Peter Sullivan said, ‘We’re going to do the old trad tune, “Yes Sir That’s My Baby”, and you can have the B-side.” The day before the session we were in the Freight Train coffee-bar in Berwick Street and we said, ‘Let’s write any old rubbish’. There was Johnny, the guitarist Alan Caddy and myself. We didn’t have any instruments and we sang the parts to ‘Shakin’ All Over’. We got up early in the morning, had a run through in my front room- not plugged in, and we went to the studio and recorded it. We thought it would be a B-side but Jack Good loved it and pushed it on his new programme, Wham!: And it went straight up the charts.”

Shakin’ All Over

When you move in right up close to me
That’s when I get the shakes all over me
Quivers down my back bone
I’ve got the shakes down the kneebone
Yeah, havin’ the tremors in the thighbone
Shakin’ all over

Just the way you say goodnight to me
Brings that feeling on inside of me
Quivers down my back bone
I’ve got the shivers down the thighbone
Yeah, the tremors in my back bone
Shakin’ all over

Quivers down my back bone
Yeah, I have the shakes in the kneebone
I’ve got the tremors in the back bone
Shakin’ all over

Well, you make me shake and I like it, baby
Well, you make me shake and I like it, baby
Well, you make me shake and I like it, baby

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

41 thoughts on “Johnny Kidd and the Pirates – Shakin’ All Over”

    1. I remember the Who doing this also but I didn’t know it was this popular…much less #1 in Canada by the Guess Who.

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      2. I first read about it in a book…Pete Townshend said the song had a huge influence on The Who. I had to hear it after that.

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  2. I knew this song from the Johnny Kidd version (and I posted it myself in August, 2018 after shaking over rough pavement on my bike in New York). The Guess Who sounds like an attempt to recreate it note-for-note. While The Who do it their own way, I don’t think either of them improved on the original. Both just seem like hearing a bar band cover.

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    1. I never realized it was covered so many times. It’s a shame Frederick Heath wasn’t around to see it’s success through the years. Great song.

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    1. Phil as crazy as this sounds…I got this from a WHO book I read. Pete Townshend saying how much this influenced The Who.
      Thats how I found a lot of old acts…from Beatle books that mention him or her being an influence or a peer…then to track them down.

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  9. This really is a fantastic song. Too bad they couldn’t duplicate the success. They had a coupe other decent original songs up to about 1961 but they couldn’t decide what they were I don’t think. Sometimes Skiffle/Rockabilly sometimes they sounded more Mersey Beat. I do like the version by the band soon to be know as The Guess Who?

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    1. I do like that version also…well heck I like all three of them. The Who turned it up a bit live.
      Yea it was depressing knowing the guy died in 66…at least he got to see the Guess Who cover it.

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      1. There’s a few other good ones out there, it’s not as easy as it looks I suspect to cover it but you would know better than I. Yes between car accidents and plane crashes we lost a lot of talent.

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      2. CB mentioned Eileen Jewel…at first I thought he was talking about “Jewel” but this lady does a fantastic job. I would have never thought of a woman covering it…I don’t know why….but she fits.
        Yes we have.

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      3. I checked her out, I remember coming across her name before on a cover song search, I may have even used her once but never paid anymore attention. She does a great job on this song!

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