“Shake, Rattle and Roll”

Artist: Big Joe Turner

Music / Lyrics by Jesse Stone (aka Charles Calhoun)

Label: Atlantic, 1954

Many of the first “rock and roll” recordings came from musicians who successfully bridged a number of different but parallel style trends in the world of African-American popular music. Big Joe Turner’s huge, powerful voice was equally at home in the worlds of jazz, big band swing, straight-ahead blues, and rhythm and blues. Turner began his musical career singing while tending bar in Kansas City, working with boogie-woogie piano great Pete Johnson. Their success with the single “Roll ‘Em Pete” brought them to New York and then Los Angeles. After singing with a number of jazz and blues artists, including the Count Basie Orchestra, Turner was “discovered” by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records. In 1954 after a string of successful blues-based singles, he recorded his blockbuster hit “Shake, Rattle and Roll” for Atlantic.

“Shake, Rattle and Roll” was written by Jesse Stone (1901-1998), an African-American songwriter whose career had ranged from minstrel shows to being a jazz arranger and bandleader. He wrote songs for big bands (Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman) as well as rhythm and blues hits for various Atlantic artists (such as the Drifters’ famous “Money Honey.”).

Musical style notes

“Shake, Rattle and Roll” is a straight-ahead, rockin’ rhythm and blues dance tune, with a 12-bar blues structure and boogie-woogie bass line. The “suggestive” lyrics were later cleaned up by Bill Haley for his famous cover version of the song (See Listening Guide, “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” Bill Haley and His Comets.)

The saxophone solo on Turner’s version of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” was played by Sam “The Man” Taylor, a famous big band swing musician who was also in great demand as a 1950’s rhythm and blues session player. The two other guys singing the “Shake, Rattle and Roll” chorus along with Big Joe are Atlantic producers Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun!

Musical “Road Map”

Timings / Comments / Lyrics
0:00-0:06 / Introduction
– 4 bars, played over one chord (the tonic or “key” chord).
0:06-0:25 / Verse 1
– 12- bar blues form / Get outta that bed, wash your face and hands…
0:25-0:42 / Verse 2 / Well, you wear those dresses, the sun comes shinin’ through…
0:42-1:01 / Verse 3 / Well I believe to my soul you’re a devil in nylon hose …
1:01-1:20 / Chorus
– Aalso 12- bar blues form. / Shake, rattle and roll…
1:20-1:39 / Sax solo over 12- bar blues form, played by Sam Taylor.
1:39-1:57 / Verse 4 / I’m like a one-eyed cat peeping in a seafood store
1:57-2:16 / Chorus / I said, Shake, rattle and roll…
2:16-2:35 / Verse 5 / I been over the hill and I been way down underneath…
2:35-2:52 / Chorus / I said Shake, Rattle and Roll…
2:52-2:58 / Tag played by saxophones, with one last “Shake, Rrattle
and Roooll” from Turner.