All Shook Up

Otis Blackwell, who had written "Don't Be Cruel," also penned Elvis Presley’s number-one hit “All Shook Up." In retrospect, the tune tends to be overshadowed by Elvis' other major recordings from 1957, but "All Shook Up" racked up some interesting statistics in its time. The song remained at the top of Billboard's pop chart for nine weeks, and it stayed on the chart for 30 weeks -- the longest of any Elvis single. At year's end, "All Shook Up" was named the number-one single for 1957. Elvis also had the number-one single for 1956, "Heartbreak Hotel," making him the first singer of the rock era to top the year-end charts for two consecutive years.

Blackwell's inspiration for the title "All Shook Up" came from a mundane incident straight out of everyday life, though the story has undoubtedly been enhanced through repeated tellings. While working for Shalimar Music as a songwriter, Blackwell was sitting in the office trying to come up with a new powerhouse tune.

Contrary to some reports, Blackwell did not compose the tune specifically for Elvis as a follow-up to "Don't Be Cruel." Two other singers, David Hill and Vicki Young, recorded “All Shook Up" before him. Elvis recorded the tune in Hollywood at Radio Recorders in January 1957. In his version, Elvis overdubbed himself slapping the back of his guitar, which is a pleasant reminder of his Sun Studio sound.

Again, Blackwell reluctantly agreed to share a writing credit with Elvis, or else Elvis' management (including Colonel Parker and music publishers Hill and Range) would not have allowed him to record the tune.

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All Shook Up
Legend has it that the inspiration for Elvis' "All Shook Up" came from a
foaming soda bottle.

Al Stanton, one of the owners of the music publishing company, dropped in while downing a bottle of soda. He shook up the bottle so that the contents foamed and fizzed, casually remarking, "Why don't you write a song called 'AII Shook Up?"' A couple of days later, Blackwell surprised Stanton with a draft of the song.