Although The Beatles didn’t write or record the original version of “Twist And Shout”, this early rock ‘n’ roll number became inextricably linked to the Fab Four’s musical legacy when they released their rendition of Phil Medley and Bert Berns’ song on March 2, 1964. (This came almost a full year after the band released the track on their debut album, Please Please Me, in their native U.K.)
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The Beatles’ version of “Twist And Shout” was a massive success, topping the charts in the U.S., Argentina, New Zealand, and Finland. The song also reached Top 10 status in Canada, Australia, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. “Twist And Shout” was also notable in that it was The Beatles’ first and only cover song to reach No. 1 in the U.S. Interestingly, this chart-topper ranking only came from Cash Box. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song only reached No. 2 because The Beatles’ other single, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, was riding high at No. 1.
However, that success didn’t come easy. According to John Lennon, who performed lead vocals on “Twist And Shout”, the song “nearly killed” him.
The Physical Sacrifices Made to Record The Beatles’ “Twist And Shout”
Some lucky vocalists can produce clean or dirty tones at the drop of a hat. They can be singing sweetly and purely one second, and in the next, they’ll take on a gritty, rock ‘n’ roll rasp. But not every singer is so fortunate. For John Lennon, the only way he was going to achieve the vocal tone he was after was to strain his larynx to the point of full-blown laryngitis.
In the early Beatles days, the quartet worked long hours in the studio. They recorded entire albums in a single 10-hour session. George Martin carefully arranged the band’s work schedule so as not to tire them out too early. And that included saving “Twist And Shout” for the end of the night.
“I knew that ‘Twist And Shout’ was a real larynx-tearer,” Martin recalled in Anthology. “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. It was good enough for the record. It needed that linen-ripping sound.”
The reason why The Beatles settled on “good enough” after two takes was that Lennon’s voice was completely shot after the second run-through. “The last song nearly killed me,” Lennon later said. “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.”
Considering that frantic guy topped the charts worldwide, we’d say “doing his best” was actually pretty darn good.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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