"Move It" | ||||
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Single by Cliff Richard and the Drifters | ||||
B-side | "Schoolboy Crush" | |||
Released | 29 August 1958 | |||
Recorded | 24 July 1958 | |||
Studio | EMI, London | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:23 | |||
Label | Columbia 45-DB4178/78-DB4178 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ian Samwell (A-side) Aaron Schroeder, Sharon Gilbert (B-side) | |||
Producer(s) | Norrie Paramor | |||
Cliff Richard and the Drifters singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
"Move It" is a song written by Ian Samwell and recorded by Cliff Richard and the Drifters (the English band that would later become "The Shadows"). Originally intended as the B-side to "Schoolboy Crush", it was released as Richard's debut single on 29 August 1958 and became his first hit record, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. It is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song. It is credited with being one of the first authentic rock and roll songs produced outside the United States. [1] [2] "Schoolboy Crush", written by Aaron Schroeder and Sharon Gilbert, had already been recorded in the US by Bobby Helms. Cliff Richard and the Drifters recorded their own version, which was intended to be the A-side of their debut single. However, when producer Jack Good heard "Move It", he insisted that Richard would have to sing that if he was to appear on Good's TV show Oh Boy! On the planned single, "Move It" was flipped to be the A-side and it went to number 2 in the charts, starting Cliff Richard on a career which included British hits through six decades. [1]
Described by AllMusic as "Presley-esque" and by Richard himself as "my one outstanding rock 'n' roll classic", "Move It" was written on the top deck of a Green Line bus by the Drifters' guitarist Ian "Sammy" Samwell while making the trip to Cliff's house for a band rehearsal. [2] The song's lyrics were a riposte to a 1958 article by Steve Race published in Melody Maker which stated: "So rock’n’roll is dead, is it? My funeral oration consists of just two words: good riddance". [3] Samwell did not complete the second verse, so on the record Cliff sang the first verse twice. Samwell finally finished the second verse in 1995 and sent it to Hank Marvin who included "Move It" on his album Hank plays Cliff, with Cliff Richard having recorded a new vocal track which included the new verse. The new version was debuted live at a Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth II that year. Since then, Richard has continued to perform the song with the additional verse. [2]
The Beatles, in an out-take on The Get Back Journals, were recorded playing "Move It" in medley with "Good Rockin' Tonight". [4] [5] John Lennon was separately quoted as saying, "I think the first English record that was anywhere near anything was 'Move It' by Cliff Richard, and before that there'd been nothing." [6]
Led Zeppelin included Richard's original version of the song on a 2010 compilation put together by them, titled Led Zeppelin: The Music that Rocked Us. [7]
Cliff Richard and the Drifters:
Session musicians:
"Move It" | ||||
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Single by Cliff Richard featuring Brian May and Brian Bennett | ||||
A-side | "21st Century Christmas" | |||
Released | 11 December 2006 | |||
Recorded | 2006 | |||
Studio | Abbey Road Studio 2, London | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Label | EMI 00946 379931 2 5 (CD single) CLIFFX 217 (7" vinyl) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ian Samwell | |||
Producer(s) | Brian May and Brian Bennett | |||
Cliff Richard featuring Brian May and Brian Bennett singles chronology | ||||
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In 2006, Richard re-recorded "Move It" with Brian May of Queen on guitar and Brian Bennett of The Shadows on drums. The track was released as the second track on a double A-side CD single alongside "21st Century Christmas". [8] The single peaked on debut at no. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in December. A limited edition 7" vinyl single was also released with "Move It" as the A-side. The track was included on Richard's 2006 duets album Two's Company .
Richard has re-recorded the song numerous times, both in the studio and during stage performances. The re-recordings appear on the following albums:
Sir Cliff Richard is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Hank Brian Marvin is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows.
Edwin H. Kramer is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, GRODD and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres.
The Shadows were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard from 1958 to 1968, and have joined him for several reunion tours.
Bruce Welch is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows.
Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan was a founder member of the British group the Drifters with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which evolved into the Shadows. He played drums on early Cliff Richard and the Shadows hits and on early Shadows' instrumentals.
"You Never Give Me Your Money" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney, and thematically documents the personal difficulties that were facing the band. The song is the first part of the medley on side two of their 1969 album Abbey Road and was recorded in stages between May and August that year.
"Good Day Sunshine" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. McCartney intended it as a song in the style of the Lovin' Spoonful's contemporaneous hit single "Daydream". The recording includes multiple pianos played in the barrelhouse style and evokes a vaudevillian mood.
"Shapes of Things" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. With its Eastern-sounding, feedback-laden guitar solo and environmentalist, anti-war lyrics, several music writers have identified it as the first popular psychedelic rock song. It is built on musical elements contributed by several group members in three different recording studios in the US, and was the first Yardbirds composition to become a record chart hit; when released as a single on 25 February 1966, the song reached number three in the UK and number eleven in the US.
Marvin, Welch & Farrar were a 1970s British and Australian popular music group formed by Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, both members of The Shadows – as a change of direction manoeuvre during 1970 to 1973 – and John Farrar. The distinction was that while The Shadows were famous for their instrumental work, Marvin Welch & Farrar were a trio, vocal harmony group. They have been favourably compared to USA folk close harmony group Crosby Stills Nash and Young and The Hollies.
Ian Ralph Samwell was an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the writer of Cliff Richard's debut single "Move It", and his association with the rock band America, with whom he had his biggest commercial success with their hit single, "A Horse with No Name". He also worked with rock bands, such as Small Faces, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, John Mayall and Hummingbird.
"Mean Streak" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Drifters, released in May 1959 as their fourth single. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
Cliff is the 1959 debut album of British singer Cliff Richard and his band the Drifters.
Reunited is a 2009 studio album by British pop singer Cliff Richard and his original backing band the Shadows. The album celebrates the 50th anniversary of Cliff's first recordings and performances with The Shadows, and is their first studio collaboration for forty years. It features re-recordings of their hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s, plus three rock and roll era songs not previously recorded by them; "C'mon Everybody", "Sea Cruise" and the album's only single "Singing the Blues".
The Rock Connection is the twenty-seventh solo studio album by Cliff Richard. Released in November 1984 on EMI, the album is a part studio, part compilation album. It includes seven studio tracks recorded exclusively for the album, five tracks from the previous year's limited release album Rock 'n' Roll Silver, one previously released single, and one B-side from 1980.
Don't Stop Me Now! is the eleventh studio album by Cliff Richard, released in 1967. It is his twentieth album overall. The album was arranged and conducted by Mike Leander.
Thank You Very Much is an album of the March 1978 reunion concerts at the London Palladium by English singer Cliff Richard and the group that backed him in the 1950s and 1960s The Shadows. It was released in February 1979 on the EMI label and reached No. 5 in the UK Albums Chart.
"High Class Baby" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Drifters, released in November 1958 as their second single. It peaked at number 7 on the New Musical Express chart.
"Livin' Lovin' Doll" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Drifters, released in January 1959 as their third single. Unlike their previous two top-ten singles, it only peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Dynamite" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, first released in October 1959 as the B-side to the number one hit "Travellin' Light".