Chuck Berry’s low-slung guitar as he duck-walked across the stage is an iconic image, but the engine that drove his earliest recordings was Johnnie Johnson’s piano. Berry tapped into the teenager’s mindset with his poetic masterpieces even though he was already 30 by the time of his first Chess Records release. Although the exact date is disputed, one day in April 1956 gave us four of those lyrical gems.
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Berry and his band performed a show in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then drove the 60-something miles to Chicago, where they set up to record in Chess Records Studio at 4750 South Cottage Grove Avenue. So many great songs originated from that label. From Muddy Waters and Little Walter to Bo Diddley and Etta James, Phil and Leonard Chess changed the world. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Roll over Beethoven” by Chuck Berry.
I’m gonna write a little letter
Gonna mail it to my local DJ
It’s a rockin’ rhythm record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven. I gotta hear it again today
Four Tunes in the Same Session
With Willie Dixon on bass, Johnnie Johnson on piano, and an unidentified drummer, Berry recorded “Drifting Heart,” “Brown Eyed Handsome Man,” “Too Much Monkey Business,” and “Roll over Beethoven” in the same session. Just as Nat “King” Cole delivered lyrics clearly, Berry aimed to share the words in a concise manner so the audience could easily understand the story of the song.
You know, my temperature’s risin’
And the jukebox blows a fuse
My heart’s beatin’ rhythm
And my soul keeps on singin’ the blues
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news
Lucy and Thelma
Chuck Berry grew up in St. Louis and was one of six kids. He wrote in his 1986 autobiography, “‘Roll Over Beethoven’ was written based on the feelings I had when my sister would monopolize the piano at home during our youthful school years. In fact, most of the words were aimed at Lucy instead of the Maestro Ludwig Van Beethoven. [Sister] Thelma also took piano lessons in classical music, but Lucy was the culprit that delayed rock ‘n’ roll music 20 years. Telling Mother in an attempt to get support for my kind of music did no good, but writing a letter and mailing it to a local DJ might have, as stated in the opening of the song.”
I got the rockin’ pneumonia,
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I think I’m rollin’ arthritis
Sittin’ down by the rhythm review
Roll over Beethoven rockin’ in two by two
A Passing Fad
As rock ‘n’ roll was booming, most people figured it was a flash in the pan. It certainly wasn’t an art form worth discussing 70 years later. Comparing it to the classical works of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky was a comical juxtaposition. Berry references “Blue Suede Shoes” by Carl Perkins, which had only been released a few months prior, as well as the nursery rhyme “The Cat and the Fiddle.” The music of Chuck Berry may seem as far removed today as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were to teenagers in 1956.
Well, if you feel you like it
Go get your lover, then reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up just
A trifle further and reel and rock it,
Roll it over,
Roll over Beethoven rockin’ in two by two
Louis Jordan’s Influence
One of Berry’s influences was the great Carl Hogan, who played guitar in Louis Jordan’s band. Check out the beginning of Jordan’s “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman.” Jordan also recorded a song called “Early in the Morning.” Said Berry, “What sounds like, ‘Way lay in the …’ is really Early in the morning, I’m giving you a warning. Out of my sometimes unbelievably imaginative mind, the rest of the self-explanatory lyrics came forth.”
Well, early in the mornin’ I’m a-givin’ you a warnin’
Don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Hey diddle diddle, I am playin’ my fiddle,
Ain’t got nothin’ to lose
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news
The Beatles’ Second Album
“Roll over Beethoven” was a regular part of the early Beatles repertoire. The band recorded the song and included it on their second album With the Beatles. Between 1957 and 1966, The Beatles performed more songs written by Chuck Berry than any other composer. Most of them were sung by John Lennon, including “Roll over Beethoven, until 1961, when George Harrison took over lead vocals on the song. Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology, “I sang ‘Roll over Beethoven’ for With the Beatles—it was a song I liked. I had the Chuck Berry record, and I used to sing it in the clubs.”
You know she wiggles like a glow worm,
Dance like a spinnin’ top
She got a crazy partner,
you ought to see ’em reel and rock
As long as she got a dime, the music will never stop
Live Versions by The Beatles
Live at the BBC included a live version of the song recorded on February 28, 1964, taken from the From Us to You show. The same version was included on the soundtrack to Superman III, directed by Richard Lester, who also directed A Hard Day’s Night and Help! Anthology 1 also included a live performance of “Roll over Beethoven,” captured in Stockholm, Sweden, in October 1963. Just after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles performed live in Washington, D.C. The opening song of the concert was George singing “Roll over Beethoven.”
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven and dig these rhythm and blues
On February 4, 1977, Paul Williams introduced an all-star jam on a network primetime special celebrating 25 years of American Bandstand. Chuck Berry was joined onstage by Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, Seals & Crofts, The Pointer Sisters, Doc Severinsen, and Charlie Daniels.
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