Shakin' All Over

"Shakin' All Over"
Single by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
B-side	"Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Donaldson/Khan)
Released	1960 (UK)
Format	7"
Recorded	Abbey Road, 13 May 1960 (9 June 1959 "Yes, Sir")
Genre	Rock and roll
Label	HMV POP 753 (UK)
Writer(s)	Johnny Kidd
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates singles chronology
"You Got What It Takes" (1960) "Shakin' All Over" (1960) "Restless" (1960)

"Shakin' All Over" is a rock and roll song originally performed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. It was written by frontman Johnny Kidd and reached #1 in the United Kingdom in August 1960. The musicians who performed on the recording were Johnny Kidd (vocals), Alan Caddy (guitar), Brian Gregg (bass), Clem Cattini (drums) and Joe Moretti (lead guitar).

History

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'."

^{[citation needed]}

The original recording was not a hit outside of Europe. Instead, "Shakin' All Over" gained fame in North America after the Canadian band The Guess Who covered it in early 1965, where it became a #1 hit in Canada, and a #22 hit in the US. The Guess Who had previously been known as "Chad Allan and the Expressions" prior to the release of "Shakin' All Over", but the group's Canadian label (Quality Records) issued the record as by "Guess Who?", in an attempt to imply that the record might be by a British Invasion act -- perhaps even The Beatles. The group subsequently permanently changed their name to The Guess Who, and went on to a long Top 40 career.

The Guess Who's version also became a #27 hit in Australia, but another "Shakin' All Over" cover became a national #1 hit in late 1965 for Normie Rowe. Rowe's version of the track (backed by "Que Sera Sera") was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the decade.

Other versions

• In 1965, The Guess Who/Chad Allan and the Expressions covered the song on a single, which reached #1 in Canada, #22 in the U.S.
• In 1965, Donna Loren performed the song on the television series Shindig. She later recorded the song for her 2010 album Love It Away.
• In 1967, The song was covered by Josephine Siao and Lui Kie in The Lady Killer. This Cantonese rendition was one of the best hits in the 1960s in Hong Kong.
• In 1969, Performed by Humble Pie on Live at the Whiskey A-Go-Go.
• Performed many times by The Who, (sometimes in a medley with "Spoonful"), perhaps most famously at Woodstock in 1969 and on Live at Leeds in 1970.
• In 1971, The Flamin' Groovies covered the song on the reissue of Teenage Head.
• In 1976, Rabbit included the song on their album "Too Much Rock 'n' Roll".
• In 1986, the Beach Boys sampled the vibrato guitar break in their hit "Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue".
• In 1986, Chris Spedding included this song on his album Enemy Within.
• In 1989, Cows recorded a noise rock version of the song on their "Daddy Has a Tail" album with improvised lyrics since the lead singer did not know the actual lyrics to the song.
• In 1989, Steve Marriott and Steve Parsons covered it for the Canadian Horror Film, Gnaw: Food of the Gods Part 2.
• In 1993, Van Morrison recorded a live medley version of the song with "Gloria" on his double live album A Night in San Francisco, released in 1994.
• In 1999, The Blue Hawaiians covered the song on their Savage Night album.
• Recorded by The British Invasion All-Stars with original Pirates guitarist Mick Green on lead guitar. Appears on The Yardbirds Family Tree album. Mooreland St Records, 2006.
• AC/DC stated that the main riff of "Back in Black" was influenced by Kidd's version of the song. AC/DC's original lead singer Dave Evans had recorded the song with his band Rabbit in 1976.

Also covered by:

• Led Zeppelin
• Mud
• Vince Taylor
• Adam Ant
• Rose Hill Drive
• Suzi Quatro
• Iggy Pop
• Brave Belt
• Dee Dee Ramone
• Those Darlins
• The Lords
• Generation X
• The Swinging Blue Jeans
• Bim Skala Bim on their album Universal
• Cem Karaca
• MC5
• Eilen Jewell on Sea of Tears
• Mae West on Way Out West
• Cows
• Turbo Fruits
• Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
• Bachman–Turner Overdrive
• Agent Orange
• Horslips on The Belfast Gigs
• Kalevala
• Hurriganes
• The Head Cat
• Terry Dene re-released on the 2003 album "The Real Terry Dene"
• Wanda Jackson & Jack White
• The Vibrators
• Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
• Clinton Machine
• Hello

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 and Bette Franke.
• Shakin' All Over is the name of a CBC Television documentary on Canadian rock music in the 1950s and 1960s.
• In 1998 Australia Post issued a special edition set of twelve stamps celebrating the early years of Australian Rock ‘n’ Roll, featuring Australian hit songs of the late 1950s, the 1960s and the early 1970s.

  "Each of them said something about us, and told the rest of the world this is what popular culture sounds like, and it has an Australian accent."

External links

• http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=5302

Preceded by "Please Don't Tease" by Cliff Richard & The Shadows

UK number-one single "Shakin' All Over" August 4, 1960

Succeeded by "Please Don't Tease" by Cliff Richard & The Shadows