Rip It Up/Shake, Rattle, and Roll/Blue Suede Shoes

The Beatles performed several rock and roll classics on January 26, 1969, during their Get Back recording sessions at the Apple Studios. These covers were from the performance numbers they enjoyed singing back in the days before they were "discovered." It is thought that this bit of nostalgia was suggested by George Martin, with the support of Paul McCartney, to try to raise spirits and make the group congeal a little better for the tasks they had before them. On these cuts George played bass, Paul the piano and John the guitar. Ringo was on drums and Billy Preston sat in on the Hammond organ. Paul and John shared the duties on the vocals.

Three of these takes were patched together in a medley and released as part of the Anthology 3 collection: Rip It Up (Blackwell-Marascalco); Shake, Rattle and Roll (Calhoun); and Blue Suede Shoes (Perkins). Other songs recorded that same day included You Really Got A Hold On Me, Twist And Shout, Tracks Of My Tears, Lawdy Miss Claudy, Kansas City, High School Confidential, and Great Balls Of Fire.

Little Richard made Rip It Up famous, and the Beatles enjoyed covering his hits. Shake, Rattle and Roll became popular because of a 1954 release by Bill Haley and the Comets. Carl Perkins was the author and performer of the 1955 hit, Blue Suede Shoes. The Beatles covered Carl Perkins songs as much as any other performer.