The Beatles – Twist & Shout

“Twist and Shout” – Single by the Beatles from the album Please Please Me
B-side “There’s a Place”
Released: 22 March 1963 (UK), 10 January 1964 (US)
Recorded February 11, 1963
Label Parlophone (UK), Tollie (US)
Songwriters Phil Medley, Bert Russell
Producer George Martin
Charted No.2 in US (Billboard); No.1 in Argentina; No.1 in Finland; No.1 in New Zealand; No.5 in Canada; No.5 in Spain; No.2 in Sweden; No.10 in Germany

‘Twist And Shout’ was written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally recorded by the Top Notes in 1961, although a version by The Isley Brothers released the following year became more popular.

It entered The Beatles’ live repertoire in 1962 – a live version from Hamburg’s Star-Club in December that year is available on bootleg recordings. The earliest known version, however, was recorded for the BBC’s Talent Spot radio show on 27 November 1962 at the corporation’s Paris Studio, London.

Unfortunately the recording has since been lost. The Beatles recorded ‘Twist And Shout’ ten times in total for BBC radio shows, none of which appeared on the Live At The BBC collection.

The best-known version, of course, was recorded for the Please Please Me album. The session took place on 11 February 1963, when it was the last of 10 songs recorded for the album that day.

‘Twist And Shout’ continued to be part of The Beatles’ live set following the album’s release. It was the final song at their Sunday Night at the London Palladium performance on 13 October 1963, widely held to signal the start of Beatlemania.

They also performed the song at the Royal Command Performance on 4 November 1963, and for their record-breaking 9 February 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

From The Beatles Bible