Shake, Rattle and Roll

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This article is about the song. For other uses (or variations of) this title, see Shake, Rattle and Roll (disambiguation).

"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song written by Jesse Stone (under his working name Charles E. Calhoun). The song was first recorded in 1954 by Big Joe Turner, a blues shouter whose career began in Kansas City before World War II, and this version, at least, features simple verse-chorus form. Bill Haley and the Comets' cover version, released later in the year, had partly sanitised lyrics in an attempt to be more palatable to white audiences as well as a less bluesy, more "pop" arrangement.

This cleanup of lyrics meant removal of references considered sexual in nature, such as lines about "the devil in nylon hose", "you make me roll my eyes, baby make me grit my teeth", and "you wear those dresses, the sun comes shining through". The most provocative sexual simile in Turner's version of the song, "I'm like a one-eyed cat, peeping in the sea food store", was left untouched in the Haley version, but the following line, "I can look at you 'n' tell you ain't no child no more" was changed. Haley was blind in one eye, which may account for retaining the line. Elvis Presley's 1956 version, which had only limited success, combined Haley's arrangement with Turner's lyrics, though Elvis used Haley's lyrics when performing the song on his first national television appearance.

Haley's lyric changes begin with the first verse. Where Turner challenges his woman to "Get out of that bed and wash your face and hands, Get out in the kitchen make some noise with the pots and pans". In Haley's version, the romantic pair are still having breakfast together, but the bed has been banished, as he sang "Get out in that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans, roll my breakfast 'cause I'm a hungry man". Elvis use Haley's "kitchen" lyric when performing the song on television (though he used Turner's "bed" lyric on record), Turner himself performed the "kitchen" lyric in a 1955 motion picture performance.[1]

Both recordings are considered classics. Haley's version is peppier and brighter. It fits the definition of rock and roll as a merger of country music and rhythm and blues. Haley had started his career in country music while Turner was a blues shouter. Turner's version is raunchier and sexier. The differences between them are the differences between rhythm and blues intended for adults (many of them black) and rock and roll intended for teenagers (many of them white).

Although musical revisionists and American media tried to paint Turner as a victim of the music industry due to Haley's covering of the song, in fact Haley's success helped Turner immensely although Turner was a well-established performer long before "Shake Rattle and Roll". Listeners who hear Haley's version sought out Turner's. The two men became close friends, and performed on tour together in Australia in 1957. In 1966, at a time when Turner's career was at a low ebb, Haley arranged for his Comets to back the elder musician for a series of recordings in Mexico, although apparently Haley and Turner did not record a duet version of "Shake Rattle and Roll".

Haley acknowledged Turner's version in later years by incorporating more of the original lyrics into his live performances, including adding the verse with the lines "I've been over the hill and I've been way down underneath" which was omitted from Haley's original recording.

In 1919, Alfred Bernard recorded a song about gambling with dice with the same title, clearly evoking the action of shooting dice from a cup. The phrase is also heard in "Roll The Bones" by the Excelsior Quartette in 1922. While the phrase was undoubtedly passed along, neither of these songs are direct ancestors of the 1954 hit.

Calhoun later co-wrote "Flip, Flop and Fly" which was musically very similar to "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and followed the same simple verse-chorus form. Both Joe Turner (who co-wrote the song) and Bill Haley recorded this song in several versions. Other songs inspired by "Shake, Rattle and Roll" include "Bark, Battle and Bawl" by The Platters. "Jump and Jive and Wail" by Louis Prima is another family member.

Other notable recordings of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" include a version by Arthur Conley which was a hit in 1968, as well as cover versions of Turner's and Haley's arrangements by The Beatles, Johnny Horton, Swinging Blue Jeans, Fats Domino, Huey Lewis and the News. The song was also used as the closing theme music for the 1980s comedy-mystery film Clue. Elvis Presley recorded the song twice in a studio setting: a 1955 demo recorded during his Sun Records tenure (which was not released until the 1990s), and as a 1956 single for RCA Victor, although it was not a major hit. Both versions by Elvis used Turner's original lyrics combined with a faster-paced version of Haley's arrangement.

1 Turner recording personnel
2 Haley recording personnel
3 See also
4 Elvis Presley singles chronology

[edit] Turner recording personnel

The shouting chorus on Turner's version consisted of Stone, and record-company executives Jerry Wexler, and Ahmet Ertegun. The saxophone solo is by Sam the Man Taylor.

[edit] Haley recording personnel

Bill Haley's original recording of the song, recorded on June 7, 1954, featured the following members of the Comets: Johnny Grande (piano), Billy Williamson (steel guitar), Marshall Lytle (bass), and Joey Ambrose (sax). It is known that Danny Cedrone, a session musician who frequently worked for Haley, played lead guitar, but there is controversy over who played drums. Music reference books indicate that it was Panama Francis, a noted jazz drummer who worked with Haley's producer, Milt Gabler, however in a letter written in the early 1980s, Gabler denied this and said the drummer was Billy Gussak. Bill Haley's own stage drummer, Dick Richards, did not play on this record but may have provided backing vocals since he participated in the recording of the song's B-side, "A.B.C. Boogie". This was Cedrone's final recording session as he died only ten days later.