All Shook Up

Album

Single

Label

RCA Victor

Genre

Rock & Roll

Composer(s)

Otis Blackwell;Elvis Presley

Entered Chart

Apr 6, 1957

Peak Date

Apr 20, 1957

Released

March 22, 1957

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

RCA Victor 47-6870

B-Side

That's When The Heartaches Begin

In this song, Elvis is "all shook up" because he's lovestruck. This girl has him wobbly, and it's even affecting his speech. "What'sa wrong with me?" he asks. This was Presley's second-biggest hit in the US (after "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog"), spending eight weeks atop Billboard's Top 100 Singles chart and a ninth week at #1 on the Jukebox chart. Songwriter Otis Blackwell wrote this on a dare. One of the owners of Shalimar Music (Blackwell's publishing company) wandered into Blackwell's office as he was struggling to create a follow-up to "Don't Be Cruel." As Al Stanton approached Blackwell, Stanton was shaking a bottle of Pepsi. Stanton said to Blackwell, "I've got an idea. Why don't you write a song called 'All Shook Up'?" According to Blackwell, the song was finished in a couple of days. Although Blackwell is the sole composer, Presley shared the songwriting credit, as demanded by Colonel Tom Parker. The same thing happened with "Don't Be Cruel." Billboard declared this the #1 single of 1957. "Don't Be Cruel" was #1 for 1956, the only time in the history of Billboard that the same artist recorded the #1 hit singles of two consecutive calendar years. When this song was released, Presley was in the midst of an incredible hot streak. He had the #1 single for 25 weeks in 1956: "Heartbreak Hotel" (8 weeks), "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" (1), "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" (11 weeks, both sides alternating at #1), "Love Me Tender" (5). He spent 25 more weeks at #1 in 1957 with: "Too Much" (3 weeks), "All Shook Up" (8), "Teddy Bear" (7), "Jailhouse Rock" (7). Many artists have covered this song, but only two have taken it to the charts. The first to do it was Suzi Quatro, an American rocker who had tremendous success in the UK but is best known in her home country for her appearances as Leather Tuscadero on the TV series Happy Days, where she performed the song, along with "Heartbreak Hotel," on a 1977 episode. In 1974 her cover went to #85 in the US and got the attention of Elvis, who called her up when she was on tour in Memphis, hoping she would come see him. She declined the offer ("too scared," she said), but remained a huge fan, citing him as a pivotal figure in her career. Billy Joel recorded the song for the 1992 movie Honeymoon In Vegas, where Elvis has a huge presence. His version went to #92 in America and also made #27 in the UK. This song was the basis for a musical called All Shook Up that opened on Broadway in 2005. The production featured various Elvis Presley songs amidst a plot line based on the Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. In 2009 The Performing Rights Society announced this as the most-played Elvis song in public places in the UK.

A-well a-bless my soul
What's a-wrong with me?
I'm itchin' like a man on a fuzzy tree
My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm-mm, ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah

Well, my hands are shaky and my knees are weak
I can't seem to stand on my own two feet
Who do you think of when you have such luck?
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm-mm, ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah

Well, please don't ask me what's on my mind
I'm a little mixed up, but I feel fine
When I'm near that girl that I love best
My heart beats so, it scares me to death

When she touched my hand, what a chill I got
Her lips are like a volcano when it's hot
I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm-mm, ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah

My tongue gets tied when I try to speak
My insides shake like a leaf on a tree
There's only one cure for this body of mine
That's to have that girl that I love, so fine

She touched my hand, what a chill I got
Her lips are like a volcano that's hot
I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm-mm, ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah
Mm-mm, ooh, yeah-yeah
I'm all shook up