THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

308-Chuck Berry-Roll Over Beethoven.

1956-Has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.01. It’s a Rock N’ Roll Classic-al.

Chuck Berry was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on October 18th, 1926, in St Louis, Missouri, United States, he died of a heart attack on March 18th, 2017, at the age of 90. No one person can solely claim to have invented Rock N’ Roll, but many agree that Chuck Berry came the closest, blending together the guitar riffs of Country & Western, with the sounds of Rhythm & Blues, earning him the nickname the ‘Father of Rock and Roll.’ As with all artists involved in Popular Music, Chuck Berry (see also best songs 548 and 30) was also influenced by a previous generation, in the case of Berry he cited the American Blues guitarists ‘T-Bone Walker, (1910-1975) and Carl Hogan (1917-1977) as inspirations, as he incorporated their style and sound in to his own.

Berry’s showmanship on stage has been influential on the next generation of Rock guitarists, particularly his famous ‘Duck Walk.’ He first did it as a child when he walked (in his own words) ‘Stooping with full-bended knees, but with my back and head vertical, under a table to retrieve a ball’, which his family found entertaining and funny. It was when performing in New York for the first time that a journalist branded it the ‘Duck Walk’.

‘Roll Over Beethoven’ was first released as a single in May 1956, and later appeared on Chuck Berry’s 1959 third studio Album ‘Chuck Berry Is on Top’, the song was written by Berry, and co-produced by Leonard Chess (1917-1969) and his brother Phil Chess, (1921-2016) who were the co-owners of the ‘Chess Records’ label. Chuck Berry got his initial idea for the song after watching his sister Lucy using the family piano to play Classical Music, while he wanted to play Popular Music. The lyric ‘Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news’ refers to how Classical composers would roll over in their graves upon hearing that Classical Music had given way to Rock N’ Roll.’

The songs clever lyrics are worth having a look at. ‘Early in the morning’ refers to the title of the 1947 song by Louis Jordan, (1908-1975) while the mention of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ is a nod to the 1955 song by Carl Perkins (1932-1998) (see also best songs 664.) The ‘Hey diddle diddle’ from the nursery rhyme ‘The Cat and the Fiddle’ is an indirect reference to Berry’s fellow Chess Records recording artist Bo Diddley, (1928-2008) (see also best songs 381) and although the lyrics mention ‘rocking and rolling,’ the genre of music that the Classics are supposed to step aside for is referred to as ‘Rhythm & Blues. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’s’ iconic guitar intro was lifted by Berry from the 1946 song ‘Ain’t That Just Like a Woman’ by Louis Jordan, originally played by Carl Hogan, and to further show how music recycles, in 1964 the Beach Boys (see also best songs 930-811-180 and 74) lifted the intro of ‘Roll Over Beethoven for their Billboard Number 5 hit ‘Fun, Fun, Fun.’

‘Well I’m-a write a letter, I’m gon’ mail it to my local DJ. Yeah that’s the jumpin’ little record I want my jockey to play, roll over Beethoven, I gotta hear it again today.’