The Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
Copyright - 1963 EMI Records Ltd.
"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit single by Chuck Berry originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the b-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classical music. The song has been covered by many other artists and Rolling Stone ranked it #97 on their list the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Inspiration and lyrics
According to Rolling Stone and Cub Koda of the All Music Guide (AMG), Berry wrote the song in response to his sister Lucy always using the family piano to play classical music when Berry wanted to play contemporary popular music.
In addition to classical composers Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, the lyrics mention or allude to several popular artists. "Early in the morning" is the title of a Louis Jordan song and "Blue Suede Shoes" refers to Carl Perkins's song. Finally, "Hey diddle diddle" comes from the nursery rhyme, "The Cat and the Fiddle". Although the lyrics mention rocking and rolling, the music that the classics are supposed to step aside for is always referred to as "rhythm and blues". Arthur Alexander appropriated the lyric "a shot of rhythm and blues" for the title of his later song.
As for the rest of the lyrics, a "rhythm review" describes the old style R&B show with many featured artists appearing on one bill in front of a big band. One phrase that has troubled some cover artists not familiar with the southern idiom for "a little bit more" is "move on up just a trifle further". Neither the Beatles nor the Electric Light Orchestra manage to sing the phrase correctly, despite having done two versions apiece.
Like The Tennessee Waltz, "Roll Over Beethoven" is a self-referential metasong, i.e. a song about the song itself.
Cover versions
It is one of the most widely covered songs in popular music—"a staple of rock & roll bands" according to Koda[2]—with notable versions by Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles and the Electric Light Orchestra. Other covers were performed by Mountain, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Sonics, Gene Vincent, Uriah Heep on Uriah Heep Live and the Australian band Buster Brown on their 1974 album Something to Say. In 1992, the English Heavy Metal band, Iron Maiden covered it as a B-side to its "From Here to Eternity" single.
The Beatles
"Roll Over Beethoven" was a favorite of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison even before they had chosen "The Beatles" as their name, and they continued to play it live right into their American tours of 1964. Their version of "Roll Over Beethoven" was recorded on 30 July 1963 for their second British LP, With the Beatles, and features George Harrison on vocals and guitar.[5] In the United States, it was released 10 April 1964 as the opening track of The Beatles' Second Album.[6]
In 1964, the Beatles released a live version of "Roll Over Beethoven" on Live at the BBC. This live version was recorded on 28 February 1964 and broadcast on 30 March 1964 as part of a BBC series starring the Beatles called From Us To You.[7]
This version of "Roll Over Beethoven" was used in the film Superman III directed by Richard Lester who also directed a film for the Beatles, Help!
Recorded:30 July 1963
Lyrics:
Well gonna write a little letter
Gonna mail it to my local D.J.
It's a rockin' little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven
I gotta hear it again today
You know my temperature's risin'
and the jukebox's blowin' a fuse
My hearts beatin' rhythm
and my soul keeps singing the blues
Roll over Beethoven
and tell Tchaikovsky the news
I got a rockin' pneumonia
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I think I got it off the writer
sittin' down by the rhythm review
Roll over Beethoven
we're rockin' in two by two
Well if you fell you like it
Well get your lover and reel and rock it
roll it over and move on up
just jump around and reel and rock it
roll it over
Roll over Beethoven
a rockin' in two by two , oh
Well early in the mornin'
I'm a givin' you the warnin'
Don't you step on my blue suede showes
Hey little little
gonna play my fiddle
Ain't got nothing to lose
Roll over Beethoven
and tell Tchaikovsky the news
You know she winks like a glow worm
Dance like a spinnin' top
She got a crazy partner
oughta see 'em reel an rock
Long as she's got a dime
the music will never stop
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
and dig these rhythm and blues
Tags: With The Beatles 1963
