All Shook Up

Paul McCartney recorded a version of Elvis Presley’s ‘All Shook Up’ for his 1999 album Run Devil Run.

‘All Shook Up’ was written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. Some accounts credit the title and idea to Presley, which afforded him a co-writing credit.

The song was first recorded as ‘I’m All Shook Up’ by actor David Hess under the stage name David Hill.

Presley recorded his version on 12 January 1957, and it was released as a single in March. ‘All Shook Up’ topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming Presley’s second number one in the USA and his first in the UK.

I remember once, a friend of mine from Liverpool, we were teenagers and we were going to a fairground. He was a schoolmate, and we had these jackets that had a little fleck in the material, which was the cool thing at the time…

But we went to the fair, and I just remember – this is what happens with songs – there was this girl at the fair. This is just a little Liverpool fair – it was in a place called Sefton Park – and there was this girl, who was so beautiful. She wasn’t a star. She was so beautiful. Everyone was following her, and it’s like, ‘Wow.’ It’s like a magical scene, you know? But all this gave me a headache, so I ended up going back to his house — I didn’t normally get headaches. And we thought, ‘What can we do?’ So we put on the Elvis song ‘All Shook Up’. By the end of that song, my headache had gone. I thought, you know, ‘That’s powerful.’

The Beatles performed ‘All Shook Up’ between 1957 and 1960, with McCartney on lead vocals, although there is no known recording from that time. They did, however, perform it during the Let It Be rehearsals on 3 January 1969, with McCartney and George Harrison sharing vocals.

McCartney’s Run Devil Run version was recorded at Abbey Road on 4 May 1999, on the penultimate session for the album.

On 14 December 1999 McCartney performed at Liverpool’s Cavern Club to promote the album. ‘All Shook Up’ was among the songs played.