The story behind the song
Elvis Presley’s performance of Shake, Rattle and Roll / Flip, Flop and Fly was a really important moment in early rock and roll, and it’s basically how he first got introduced to regular American audiences.
On January 28, 1956, Elvis Presley, who was just 21 years old, showed up on CBS’s Stage Show for his first time on national TV. The show was hosted by famous big band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. A Cleveland radio DJ named Bill Randle introduced him, saying Elvis was about to “make television history.” When Elvis got on stage, he had his band with him: Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass, and D.J. Fontana on drums.
Instead of performing his brand new RCA song Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis came out with tons of energy and performed Shake, Rattle and Roll and Flip, Flop and Fly.
Shake, Rattle and Roll was written by Jesse Stone (aka Charles Calhoun) and originally recorded by Big Joe Turner back in February 1954 and it became a huge hit on the R&B charts. Later that same year, Bill Haley & His Comets did their own version with cleaned-up lyrics, which helped make it popular with pop music fans too.
Flip, Flop and Fly was written by Jesse Stone (aka Charles Calhoun) and Lou Willie Turner, who happened to be the wife of Big Joe Turner. It was another big song that Big Joe Turner recorded in 1955, and it had basically the same kind of hard-hitting 12-bar blues style as the other song.
Later, Elvis made an official studio recording of Shake, Rattle and Roll for RCA Victor later that same year in 1956, it didn’t beat the live performance. His television appearance really showed off his wild, energetic performance and unique way of performing, bringing the start of the rockabilly and rock and roll movement right into people’s homes all over America. The recording from that live performance was saved and eventually put out on albums like Platinum: A Life in Music.
AT A GLANCE
ABOUT THE WRITER
Black American Jesse Stone was born in 1901 in Atchinson, Kansas. He was an incredibly important musician, songwriter, and arranger who had a huge impact on music. He used both his real name and a fake name, Charles Calhoun, and he changed how modern popular music sounded.
Stone worked as a major producer and arranger for Atlantic Records during the 1940s and 1950s. People give him a lot of credit for mixing together jazz, western swing, and gospel beats to make a special fast-paced, four-beat bass pattern. This pattern helped turn rhythm and blues into the classic rock and roll that we know today.