All Shook Up • 1957

A Pepsi bottle might have been the inspiration for one of Presley’s most enduring singles. Songwriter Otis Blackwell was trying to repeat his success with “Don’t Be Cruel” when he hit a wall. One of the owners of his publishing company happened to be agitating a bottle of cola, inspiring him to suggest that Blackwell write something with the title “All Shook Up.” The result was the biggest-selling single of 1957. Other reports say Elvis himself came up with the title. Either way, he wasn’t the first person to record it. It was initially cut by David Hill, who also claimed the idea, and who later moved on to acting, using the name David Hess. Onscreen, he “shook up” many a filmgoer when he starred as a rapist in the 1972 shock-horror film Last House on the Left.