Twist and Shout

...and now, there they are... The Beatles!!!
Aaahhh, aaaahhhh, aaaaaaahhhh....
Weeeell, shake it up, baby, now, -shake it up, baby-
Twist and shout. -twist and shout-
C'mon c'mon, c'mon, c'mon baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out -work it on out-

Asi inicia uno de mis CD´s favoritos; The Beatles Live at The Hollywood Bowl. Y es que que nunca una cancion ajena a The Beatles fue tan propia de ellos.
Twist and Shout es una cancion compuesta por Phil Medley y Bert Russell y que originalmente fue grabada por un grupo de R&B originario de Philadelphia llamado The Top Notes en 1961. Esta version paso materialmente desapercibida, pero eso fue suficiente para que Bert Berns, un productor americano, llevara a los estudios de grabacion en N.Y.C. a The Isley Brothers y que en junio 16 de 1962 el tema estuviera en las tiendas departamentales. El tema alcanzo rapidamente el lugar numero 2 en las charts de R&B de la Union Americana y era muy diferente a la grabada antes por The Top Notes y la voz principal es la de Ronald Isley con sus hermanos O´Kelly y Rudolph haciendo los coros. -Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by The Isley Brothers-

Es muy probable que la version de The Isley Bros. sea en la que los chicos se basaron para hacer su propia version, la que grabaron la noche de febrero 11 de 1963 con un Lennon con la garganta totalmente deshecha despues de muchos cigarrillos y mucho frio. Parece ser que despues de todo no era nada que un vaso de leche tibia y una tasa de te no arreglaran.
Sobre el tema ya se ha escrito bastante y no es el caso escribir sobre lo ya escrito y solo quisiera añadir que originalmente el single se lanzo en USA a traves de la disquera VJ bajo el sello Tollie
y alcanzo el numero 2 de las listas de popularidad en abril 4 de 1964.

Poco despues Jhonny Rivers tambien hizo su propia version, con un toque mas latino y netamente infuenciado por Ritchie Valens -Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by Jhonny Rivers-.

A lo largo del tiempo se han hecho otros covers del tema pero casi todos ellos basados en la version de The Beatles y del cual destaca presisamente el hecho por The Papas and The Mamas por ser una version lenta y casi acustica. -Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by The Papas and The Mamas-
A pesar de todo esto la version mas conocida es la de los cuatro chicos de Liverpool

Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)

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So starts one of my favorite CD´s "The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl".
It's a cover version, but by this time The Beatles had made it all their own.

Twist and Shout was composed by Phil Medley and Bert Russell and was originally recorded by a black R&B group from Philadelphia called The Top Notes in 1961 .
This version went virtually unnoticed, but Bert Berns , an American producer, suggested the song be recorded by The Isley Brothers in N.Y.C.
Their version used a different arrangement,to that recorded by The Top Notes. The lead vocal was by Ronald Isley with his brothers O´Kelly and Rudolph on backing vocals.
In June of 1962, the single was released, and reached number 2 in the American R&B charts -Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by The Isley Brothers-

The Beatles used this arrangement when they covered the song themselves, on the night of February 11 of 1963 with Lennon recording the song at the very end of the session, because he knew that his sore throat wouldn't allow anything else to be recorded after it.

Enough has been written about the track, and there isn't much point in trying to add anything, other than it was originally released by Tollie in the USA, reaching number 2 on April 4 of 1964.
Very soon afterwards Johnny Rivers also made his own version, with a latin touch, strongly influenced by Ritchie Valens -Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by Jhonny Rivers-.

The song has been covered by many singers and groups since, almost all based on the Isley Brothers/Beatles arrangement.
Here is a version by the Mamas and Papas, slower and more acoustic.-Click here to listen Twist and Shout/Performed by The Papas and The Mamas-
In spite of all this, the well-known version is the one singing by the four boys of Liverpool

Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)