Twistin' the Night Away

"Twistin' the Night Away" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke. It was released as a single in 1962 and became very popular, charting in the top ten of both the Billboard Hot 100 (#9) and Billboard's R&B chart (#1). "Twistin' the Night Away" was successful overseas as well, peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song was recorded with The Wrecking Crew as session musicians, including Rene Hall as band leader, Red Callender on bass, Earl Palmer on drums, Tommy Tedesco and Clifton White on guitars, Ed Beal on piano, John Kelson, John Ewing and Jewell Grant on saxophone and Stuart Williamson on trumpet.

The Shins titled their third album Wincing the Night Away in an apparent reference to the song.

The song was also covered by the Motown group, the Marvelettes. Their version of the song appeared on the 1962 album, The Marvelettes Sing Smash Hits of 1962.

The song was covered by Hutti Heita as a dark psytrance track in 2009.

Cooke's version also appeared in the 1978 classic Animal House, the 1987 film Innerspace, and the 2011 film The Green Hornet.

Twistin' the Night Away (album)

Twistin' the Night Away is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, the album was released in April 1962 in the United States by RCA Victor. Twistin' the Night Away primarily capitalizes on the twist phenomenon and as a result became one of Cooke's most successful LPs, becoming his second to chart and creating a string of chart successes.

Twistin' the Night Away peaked at number 74 on Billboard's Top LPs chart, while the single of the same name charted higher at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

Twistin' the Night Away originated during the recording team’s move to RCA Victor's Hollywood studios.Sammy Lowe, conductor of Cooke’s past two albums, brought aboard René Hall, an arranger he had worked with in their days at Keen Records. Hall in turn booked horn players Plas Johnson, Jackie Kelso and Jewell Grant "to spike up what was effectively a return to former glories."

Reception

Bruce Eder of Allmusic wrote that while Cooke was "shoehorned" into doing twist numbers, it remains nevertheless "one of the great dance albums of its period," and "a brilliant soul album as well, which is why it holds up 40 years later."Melody Maker wrote that "Cooke was unique because he was one of the first black artists to keep a tight hand on the direction of his career and the profits thereof," calling the album's hit single a "dance-craze classic."