Twist and Shout


"Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns, later credited as "Bert Russell". It was originally recorded by The Top Notes, but it became a chart hit as a single by the Isley Brothers in 1962. The song has been covered by several artists, including the Beatles on their first album Please Please Me, the Tremeloes in 1962, and the Who in 1970 and 1984.

The Isley Brothers

When the Isley Brothers decided to record the song in 1962, Bert Berns opted to produce, and thus demonstrate to Spector what he had intended to be the "sound" of the record. The resulting recording captured the verve of an Isley Brothers performance, and became the trio's first record to reach a Top 20 position in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The Isley Brothers' version, with Ronald Isley on lead vocals, was the first major hit recording of the song, peaking at No. 17 on the U.S. pop top 40 charts, and No. 2 on the US R&B charts. The song quickly became a frequently covered R&B tune in the early 1960s. According to Ronald, the song was supposed to be the B-side to the Burt Bacharach standard, "Make It Easy on Yourself", which had been a hit for Jerry Butler. When the Isleys recorded "Twist and Shout", the brothers did not think the song would do well, as they had not had a hit in the three years since "Shout" established them. To their surprise, it became their first Top 40 hit on both the pop and R&B charts, and for a time established the group's reputation for producing fast-paced songs during their earlier career.

Personnel

The Beatles version

' rendition of "Twist and Shout" was released on their first UK album Please Please Me, based on the Isley Brothers' version and featuring John Lennon on lead vocals. The song was the last to be recorded during the marathon 13-hour album session; producer George Martin knew that Lennon's voice would suffer from the performance, so he left it until last, with only 15 minutes of scheduled recording time remaining. Lennon had a cold and was drinking milk and sucking on cough drops to soothe his throat. His coughing is audible on the album, as is the cold's effect on his voice. He remarked that his voice was not the same for a long time afterward, and that it "felt like sandpaper" to swallow. He initially felt ashamed of his performance in the song "because I could sing better than that, but now it doesn't bother me. You can hear that I'm just a frantic guy doing his best." A second take was attempted, but Lennon had nothing left, and it was abandoned.
The song was released as a single in the US on March 2, 1964, with "There's a Place" as its B-side. It was released by Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records on the Tollie label and reached number two on April 4, during the week that the top five places on the chart were all Beatles singles. It was the only million-selling Beatles single in the U.S. that was a cover song, and the only Beatles cover single to reach the Top 10 on a national record chart. The song failed to hit number one because the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" held the spot.
In the UK, "Twist and Shout" was released by Parlophone on an EP with "Do You Want to Know a Secret", "A Taste of Honey", and "There's a Place" from the Please Please Me album. Both the EP and album reached number one. In Canada, it became the title track to the second album of Beatles material to be issued by Capitol Records of Canada on February 3, 1964.
It is regarded as one of the finest examples of British rock and roll for its vocal performance. The song was used as a closing number on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in October 1963 and at The Royal Variety Show in November 1963; the Royal Variety performance was included on the Anthology 1 compilation album in 1995.
The Beatles performed the song on their Ed Sullivan Show appearance in February 1964, and they continued to play it live until the end of their 1965 American tour. Additionally, they recorded "Twist and Shout" on nine occasions for BBC television and radio broadcasts, the earliest of which was for the Talent Spot radio show on November 27, 1962. The intro sounds very similar to "La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens, and the famous vocal buildup resembles "Do You Love Me" by the Contours.

1986 recharting

In 1986, Matthew Broderick lip-synced to the Beatles' version of it in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Coincidentally, the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School also featured the song, this one sung by Dangerfield himself and patterned after the Beatles' arrangement. The use in the two films helped propel the single up the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 23 late that summer, giving the group their second chart single of the 1980s.

2010 UK chart entry

In November 2010, 47 years after its recording, the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout" made a debut on the UK Singles Chart. The highest charting Beatles track in the aftermath of their new availability on iTunes, it entered the charts at #48 in the first of a two-week run.

Personnel

Chart Peak
position

Certifications

The Who version

English rock band the Who covered the song live during their career, with Roger Daltrey singing lead vocals on the first version which is on the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, and on their 1982 Farewell Tour, with their bassist John Entwistle singing the lead vocals. The 1982 version can be heard on the live album Who's Last, Live From Toronto, as well as on the 1994 compilation Thirty Years of Maximum R&B.

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes' version

In 1962, Decca Records signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, a British group from Dagenham, East London, in preference to the Beatles. Both groups had auditioned on the same day, and it has become legend that the Beatles were rejected by the label. Ironically, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had no chart success until the beat boom in British rock had surfaced, following the success of the Beatles. This triggered the frenzied signing of most of the popular Liverpool rock groups of that period by the major record labels, and their distinctive "sound" became known as Merseybeat. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes imitated this style, and covered "Twist and Shout" four months after the Beatles had released their version, and achieved the number four position in the UK Singles Chart.

Salt-N-Pepa version

American hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa recorded a cover version on their 1988 album A Salt with a Deadly Pepa. It was released as a single and was met with success, reaching the top ten in Spain, the Netherlands and the UK, where it reached number four, as well as the top 40 in Ireland, Belgium and Germany.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chaka Demus & Pliers version

Jamaican reggae duo Chaka Demus & Pliers covered "Twist and Shout" for their fourth album, Tease Me. It was released as a single in 1993 and was a huge success in the UK, where the song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks. It was also a top-ten hit in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and New Zealand.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 76
Belgium 81
Canada Dance/Urban 43
Europe 48
Netherlands 94
New Zealand 26

Certifications

Other cover versions