Shimmy Like Kate

I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (also Shimmy Like Kate) was written by Armand Piron, Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith in 1919. It was sometimes called simply "Sister Kate" or "Shimmy Like Kate." The song is believed to be inspired by a Louis Armstrong song about Kate Townsend, a well-known New Orleans madam. As such, it quickly became a US jazz standard in the 1920's and 1930's. The lyrics are sung by Kate's sister, who tells how Kate really can dance, and how she garners the attentions of all the boys in the neighborhood. The singer laments that she, too, would be popular, if only she could shimmy like her sister.

Starting in 1957, a doo-wop group called "The Olympics" performed and recorded several dance-fad numbers. They pioneered the Hully-Gully and were the first to release Good Lovin', two well-known relics from the late 1950's. In 1960 they came out with an up-tempo, harmonized version of Sister Kate. Though it rose only as far as number 42 on the Billboard 100, the song caught the eye of the Beatles, probably through the good offices of Brian Epstein's Liverpool record store. The song surely appealed to McCartney and Lennon for its good-humored optimism, fast pace and doo-wop harmonies. Like many covers the Beatles performed in this early era, it was very likely a staple of their Cavern Club playlist. The only released recording of the Beatles performing this song is a two minute and 17 second-long track that comes to us via the 1977 release of the tapes made in Hamburg on December 31, 1962, Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962, where it appears as track 5 on side 4.