The dance craze known as the twist seemed to take over the music world for a few years. When Hank Ballard wrote “The Twist” and put it out as the B-side of “Teardrops on Your Letter” in 1959, it was the beginning of an international wave of releases topped by Chubby Checker’s string of hits with his own version of “The Twist,” followed by “Let’s Twist Again.” Suddenly, you didn’t need a partner to dance to your favorite song.
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New York songwriter Bert Berns moved to Cuba and fell in love with the music. When the revolution there occurred in 1959, Americans had to return home. He saw that the market was demanding “twist” songs, and he leaned on the Afro-Cuban rhythms he enjoyed so much. Berns teamed up with Phil Medley, and the result was one of the biggest hits of the 1960s. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles.
The Top Notes
In August 1961, The Top Notes released “Twist and Shout” on Atlantic Records. It was the B-side of “Always Late (Why Lead Me On),” and neither side reached the charts. The song was produced by Phil Spector and arranged by Teddy Randazzo. King Curtis played saxophone, and John Pizzarelli provided guitar. The Cookies added the background vocals. Berns and Medley based the song on “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens.
Well, shake it up, baby, now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now
Come on and work it on out
Well, work it on out, honey
You know you look so good
You know you got me goin’ now
Just like I know you would
The Isley Brothers
In May 1962, Berns went into a New York recording studio and produced The Isley Brothers as they recorded their version of the song. The arrangement was dramatically different from The Top Notes, with the inclusion of the iconic bridge. The Wand Records single peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Well, shake it up, baby, now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now
Come on and work it on out
You know you twist, little girl
You know you twist so fine
Come on and twist a little closer now
And let me know that you’re mine, woo
The Beatles
In February 1963, the song was again recorded at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London, England. This time, it was a Liverpudlian quartet who had added the song to their live repertoire after hearing The Isley Brothers’ version. The Beatles included it on their debut album Please Please Me and performed the song live many times. On November 4, 1963, they closed their Royal Command Performance show with the song. John Lennon famously introduced it, “For our last number, I’d like to ask your help. The people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you’d just rattle your jewelry. We’d like to sing a song called ‘Twist and Shout.'”
Ah, ah, ah, ah, wow
Baby, now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now
Come on and work it on out
You know you twist, little girl
You know you twist so fine
Come on and twist a little closer now
And let me know that you’re mine
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now
Ah, ah, ah, ah
“A Real Larynx-Tearer”
A marathon session consisted of 10 songs, and “Twist and Shout” was captured last as John Lennon’s voice would not be in any shape to record after he put it through the full paces. Record producer George Martin said in The Beatles Anthology, “I knew that ‘Twist and Shout’ was a real larynx-tearer, and I said, ‘We’re not going to record that until the very end of the day because if we record it early on, you’re not going to have any voice left.’ So that was the last thing we did that night. We did two takes, and after that, John didn’t have any voice left at all. It was good enough for the record, and it needed that linen-ripping sound.”
In 1976, Lennon said, “The last song nearly killed me. My voice wasn’t the same for a long time after. Every time I swallowed, it was like sandpaper. I was always bitterly ashamed of it because I could sing it better than that, but now it doesn’t bother me. You can hear that I’m just a frantic guy doing his best.”
Cough Drops and Milk
The Beatles performed the song 10 times on different BBC radio appearances and on their third Ed Sullivan Show appearance in the U.S.
Engineer Norman Smith told historian Mark Lewisohn, “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, had a bit of a gargle with milk, and away we went.”
Other Versions
In June 1963, Brian Poole & The Tremeloes recorded “Twist and Shout” once again. It reached No. 4 on the UK chart. The Beatles’ version returned to the U.S. charts in 1986, reaching No. 23, after the song was featured in the films Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Back to School. In 1988, Salt-N-Pepa took it to No. 4 in the UK, and in 1993, Jamaican reggae duo Chaka Demus & Pliers took it all the way to No. 1. The Beatles’ version returned to the UK charts in 2010 when iTunes began releasing their songs.
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Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
