The Hippy Hippy Shake: Beatles version.

The Hippy Hippy Shake: Introduction

“The Hippy Hippy Shake” is possibly more famous as a hit single for The Swinging Blue Jeans. However, The Beatles also sang this for their BBC Radio appearances, which predates the Swinging Blue Jeans single release. Both groups are from Liverpool, of course. Be that as it may, the song was popular in the early 1960s, and many artists covered it.

The Beatles used this song regularly, and they also recorded it a few times for their popular radio shows. Therefore, their two BBC albums feature two versions of their song.

  • Release Date: November 30, 1994 (Live at the BBC) (UK), November 11, 2013 (On Air: Live at the BBC, Volume 2) (UK)
  • Recorded: July 10, 1963 (Live at the BBC), September 10, 1963 (On Air: Live at the BBC, Volume 2)
  • Studio/Location: Aeolian Hall, London
  • Genre: Rock & roll
  • BBC Radio Show: Pop Go the Beatles, July 30, 1963 (Live at the BBC), Pop Go the Beatles, September 10, 1963 (On Air, Live at the BBC Volume 2)
  • Track Duration: 1:50 (Live at the BBC), 1:46 (On Air: Live at the BBC, Volume 2)
  • Songwriter: Chan Romero
  • Producer: Terry Henebery

You can still buy this song because it appears on the following albums:

In the early sixties, “The Hippy Hippy Shake” was a popular song around Liverpool because the emerging Merseybeat bands were playing it regularly.

“There were millions of groups around at that time—The Blue Angels, The Running Scareds—but they were mostly lookalike groups; The Shadows and Roy Orbison had a lot of followers. Then there were groups like us, more into the blues and slightly obscure material. And because we had the unusual songs, we became the act you had to see, to copy…

We had too much material anyway. We couldn’t record it all when we did get a deal, so other groups took songs from our act and made hits out of them, like The Swinging Blue Jeans with The Hippy Hippy Shake, which was one of my big numbers.”

Paul McCartney
Anthology

“Although not a hit, “The Hippy Hippy Shake” by Chan Romero became popular in Liverpool when DJ Bob Wooler played it at the Cavern Club. He recalled lending his copy of the UK Columbia single to Paul so the group could learn it. When The Beatles appeared on the BBC TV programme Juke Box Jury in December 1963, they reviewed “The Hippy Shake” by their Mersey mates The Swinging Blue Jeans.

Their unanimous judgement that it would be a hit proved to be true, both in the UK and America. Chan Romero had recorded his song in 1959 at Gold Star studio in Los Angeles with the same musicians who played on “La Bamba” by his hero Ritchie Valens.”

On Air: Live at the BBC, Volume 2 footnotes

In total, The Beatles managed to record the song five times for BBC Radio shows:

  • March 16, 1963: The Saturday Club (live from Broadcasting House, London)
  • June 4, 1963: Pop Go The Beatles (recorded at the Aeolian Hall, London, on May 24)
  • July 30, 1963: Pop Go The Beatles (recorded on July 10) (Live At The BBC album)
  • September 10, 1963: Pop Go The Beatles (recorded on the 3rd September) (On Air: Live at the BBC. Volume 2 album)
  • February 15, 1964: The Saturday Club (recorded on January 7)

This version is from their first BBC album. We also include the Swinging Blue Jeans version to compare it with. Just remember that the Swinging Blue Jeans sang it professionally in the studios, and their single reached number two in the UK charts in December 1963. In contrast, The Fab Four were recording as a live band would for radio shows.

So, do you think The Beatles would have reached number one had they released it as a single? Give us your thoughts below.

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