About The Song
“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (sometimes rendered “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On”) is a song written by Dave “Curlee” Williams and sometimes also credited to James Faye “Roy” Hall. The song was first recorded by Big Maybelle, though the best-known version is the 1957 rock and roll/rockabilly version by Jerry Lee Lewis.
Lewis had been performing the song in his stage act and recorded it at his second recording session for Sun Records in February 1957. Supervised by producer Jack Clement, Lewis radically altered the original, adding a propulsive boogie piano that was complemented by J.M. Van Eaton’s energetic drumming and Roland Janes’ “muted” guitar and also added suggestive spoken asides. The song was engineered by Jack “Cowboy” Clement, who told Lewis when he entered the studio, “We don’t do much country around here. We’re in the rock & roll business. You ought to go home and work up some rock & roll numbers.” Lewis later stated: “I knew it was a hit when I cut it. Sam Phillips thought it was gonna be too risqué, it couldn’t make it. If that’s risqué, well, I’m sorry.”
Sun released the song on a single, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the magazine’s R&B record charts. A record review appeared in Billboard on 27 May 1957. The single also hit No. 1 on the country charts, and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Lewis became an instant sensation and as music writer Robert Gordon noted: “Jerry Lee began to show that in this new emerging genre called rock ‘n’ roll, not everybody was going to stand there with a guitar.”
American music critic Cub Koda described the song as a “rock & roll classic”, while scholar Charles L. Ponce de Leon said it was “perhaps the quintessential rockabilly anthem”. Lewis’s version of the song was ranked as the 61st greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004. In 2005, it was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Video
Lyrics
Come on over, baby, whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Yes I said come on over, baby, baby, you can’t go wrong
We ain’t fakin’ a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Well, I said come on over, baby, we got chicken in the barn
Come on over, baby, babe, I got the bull by the horns
We ain’t fakin’, a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Well, shake, baby, shake
I said shake, baby, shake
I said shake it, baby, shake it
Well shake, baby, shake
Come on over, whole lot of shakin goin’ on
Ah let’s go
Well, come over, baby, we got chicken in the barn
Whose barn, what barn, my barn
Come on over, baby, better got your bull by the horn
We ain’t fakin’, whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on
Easy now
Shake it, oh, shake it, baby
Yeah, you can shake one time for me
Well, I said on come over, baby, whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on
Now let’s get real low one time now
Shake, baby, shake
All you gotta, honey, is kinda stand in one spot
Wiggle around just a little bit
That’s what you gotta do, yeah
Ooh, babe, whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Now let’s go one time
Shake it, babe, shake it
Shake it, babe, shake
Shake it, babe, come on, babe
Shake it, babe, shake it
Come on over, whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on