Tony Sheridan (born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity on May 21, 1940 in No… Read Full Bio ↴Tony Sheridan (born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity on May 21, 1940 in Norwich, United Kingdom - died 16 February 2013 in Hamburg, Germany) was an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as an early collaborator of The Beatles, and one of two non-Beatles (the other being Billy Preston) to receive label performance credit on a record with the group.

In 1956 Tony formed his first band. In 1958, at 18, he began appearing on the BBC's Oh Boy, playing electric guitar. He was eventually offered a contract to perform at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, Germany.

While performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963, Sheridan employed various backup bands. In 1961, one such band, who had met Sheridan during their first visit to Hamburg in 1960, and who worked with him on their second, was The Beatles (with their line-up at the time as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best). When German Polydor agent Bert Kaempfert saw the pairing on stage, he suggested that they make some recordings together. In 1962, after a series of singles (the first of which, "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" made it to #5 in the Hit Parade), Polydor released the album My Bonnie across Germany. The word Beatles was judged to sound too similar to the German Pidels (pronounced peedles), the plural of a slang term for penis, hence the album was credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. After The Beatles had gained fame, the album was re-released in Britain, with the credit altered to Tony Sheridan and The Beatles.

By 1967, Sheridan had become disillusioned with his Beatle-brought fame. As he was more concerned by the Vietnam War, Sheridan agreed to perform for the Allied troops. While in Vietnam however, the band that he had assembled was fired upon and one of the members was killed. Reuters reported that Sheridan himself had died. For his work entertaining the Allies, Sheridan was made an honorary Captain of the United States army.

In the early 1970s, Sheridan managed a West German radio programme of blues music, which was well-received. In 1978, the Star Club was reopened, and Sheridan performed there along with Elvis Presley's TCB Band.

On August 13, 2002, Sheridan released Vagabond, a collection largely of his own material, but also including a new cover version of "Skinny Minnie", a song he had years earlier recorded for his first album.

Shake Rattle and Roll
Tony Sheridan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Get out from that kitchen,
And rattle those pots and pans,
Well, roll my breakfast,
'Cause I'm a hungry man.

I said, shake, rattle, and roll,
Well, you'll never do nothing,
To save your doggone soul.

Wearing those dresses,
Your hair done up so nice,
You look so warm,
But your heart is cold as ice.

I'm like a one-eyed cat,
Peeping in a sea food store,
I can look at you,
'Til you don't love me no more.

I believe you're doing me wrong,
And now I know,
The more I work,
The faster my money goes.

I said, shake, rattle, and roll,

Well, you'll never do nothing,
To save your doggone soul.

Overall Meaning

The song Shake Rattle and Roll, originally recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1954, is a classic rock and roll tune that has been covered by many artists over the years. Tony Sheridan's version of the song stays true to the original in terms of its bluesy rhythm and soulful lyrics. The opening lines of the song, "Get out from that kitchen, and rattle those pots and pans, Well, roll my breakfast, 'Cause I'm a hungry man" suggest a relationship where the man is hungry and expects the woman to serve him food. He commands her to come out of the kitchen and prepare his breakfast, perhaps indicating a patriarchal setup in the relationship.

The chorus, "I said, shake, rattle, and roll, Well, you'll never do nothing, To save your doggone soul" serves as a warning to the woman, stating that she is helpless to save her soul, no matter what she does. The lyrics suggest that the woman is manipulating the man in some way, and he is powerless to resist her. The line "Your heart is as cold as ice" implies that the woman is just using the man for her own gain, and he is becoming increasingly aware of it.

The verse "I believe you're doing me wrong, And now I know, The more I work, The faster my money goes" suggests that the man is being financially taken advantage of by the woman. He implies that he is working hard, but the more he earns, the more she spends. He feels like he is being taken for a ride, and he is powerless to stop it.

Overall, the lyrics of Shake Rattle and Roll paint a picture of a toxic, dysfunctional relationship where the man is being taken for granted and manipulated by the woman who holds emotional power over him. This interpretation is in line with the tradition of blues and rock and roll music, which often depicted the struggles of everyday people in their lyrics.

Line by Line Meaning

Get out from that kitchen
Stop cooking and come hang out with me.

And rattle those pots and pans
Make some noise while you're leaving the kitchen.

Well, roll my breakfast
Make me some food.

'Cause I'm a hungry man.
I'm really hungry.

I said, shake, rattle, and roll
Move around and make some noise.

Well, you'll never do nothing
You won't accomplish anything.

To save your doggone soul.
To save yourself from damnation.

Wearing those dresses
You're dressed up all nice.

Your hair done up so nice,
Your hair is also nicely styled.

You look so warm,
You appear comfortable and welcoming.

But your heart is cold as ice.
You have a cold, unemotional heart.