According to Rolling Stone and Cub Koda of AllMusic, Berry wrote the song in response to his sister Lucy always using the family piano to play classical music when Berry wanted to play popular music. It was, as biographer Bruce Pegg says, "inspired in part by the rivalry between his sister Lucy's classical music training and Berry's own self-taught, rough-and-ready music preference". 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 and roll. In addition to the classical composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the lyrics mention or allude to several popular artists: "Early in the Mornin'" is the title of a Louis Jordan song; "Blue Suede Shoes" refers to the Carl Perkins song; and "hey diddle diddle", from the nursery rhyme "The Cat and the Fiddle", is an indirect reference to the Chess recording artist Bo Diddley, who was an accomplished violin player. Although the lyrics mention "rocking" and "rolling", the music that the classics are supposed to step aside for is referred to as "rhythm and blues". The lyric "a shot of rhythm and blues" was appropriated as the title of a song recorded by Arthur Alexander and others.
Recording
The song was recorded on April 16, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois.
The session was produced by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil. The song was released as Chess single 1626.
Release
Berry's version was originally released as a single by Chess Records in May 1956, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. It peaked at number two on the Billboard R&B chart and number 29 on the pop chart. "Roll Over Beethoven" and three other Berry songs were included on the albumRock, Rock, Rock, promoted as the soundtrack of the film of the same name, but only four of the 12 songs on the album were used in the film. "Roll Over Beethoven" has been released numerous times on compilation albums, including Chuck Berry Twist and The Chess Box.
Legacy
Berry's single was one of 50 recordings chosen in 2003 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2004, "Roll Over Beethoven" was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The accompanying review stated that it "became the ultimate rock & rollcall to arms, declaring a new era". The opening guitar solo sounds similar to Berry's most famous hit, "Johnny B. Goode". The sheet music for the two songs is very similar. Koda calls it a "masterpiece" that helped to define rock and roll.
Cover versions
"Roll Over Beethoven" is one of the most widely covered songs in popular music - "a staple of rock and roll bands", according to Koda - with notable versions by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles, and Electric Light Orchestra.
The Beatles
"Roll Over Beethoven" was a favourite of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison even before they chose "the Beatles" as their name, and they continued to perform it right into their American tours of 1964. Their version of "Roll Over Beethoven" was recorded on July 30, 1963, for their second British LP, With the Beatles, and features Harrison on vocals and guitar. In the United States, it was released April 10, 1964, as the opening track of The Beatles' Second Album. and May 11, 1964, as the opening track of the second Capitol EP, "Four by the Beatles". It was released by Capitol in Canada with "Please Mister Postman" as the B-side. This release reached number 68 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 30 on the Cash BoxSingles chart. In Sweden, it peaked at number 11 on the Kvällstoppen Chart. In 1994, the Beatles released a live version of "Roll Over Beethoven" on Live at the BBC. This version had been recorded on February 28, 1964, and broadcast on March 30, 1964, as part of a BBC series starring the Beatles called From Us to You. This version of "Roll Over Beethoven" was used in the film Superman III, directed by Richard Lester, who also directed the Beatles' first two films, A Hard Day's Night and Help!. The following year, a live version from an October 1963 performance at the Karlaplansstudion in Stockholm was released on Anthology 1. The Rutles' song "Blue Suede Schubert" is a nod to The Beatles' cover of this song.
Personnel
George Harrison - double-tracked vocals, lead guitar, handclaps
's elaborate eight-minute reworking of "Roll Over Beethoven", on the album ELO 2 in 1973, included an opening musical quote from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and clever interpolations of material from the symphony's first movement into Berry's song. This became one of ELO's signature songs and has been used to close the majority of their concerts. "Roll Over Beethoven" was the second single released by the band, in January 1973, and became their second consecutive top ten hit in the UK. An edited version of the track from ELO 2 was a #42 hit in the United States. Chicago radio superstation WLS, which gave the song much airplay, ranked "Roll Over Beethoven" as the 89th most popular hit of 1973. It reached as high as number 8 on their surveys of September 1 and 8, 1973. The song reached number six on the competing station WCFL.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Iron Maiden
recorded "Roll Over Vic Vella", an adaptation of the Berry song, with new lyrics about Vella, the band's longtime tour manager. It was released as the B-side of their single "From Here to Eternity".
Narvel Felts
covered the song in 1982. His version went to number 64 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1982.
The Velaires
In 1961, the Flairs recorded a version unsuccessfully. Later that year, they changed their name to the Velaires and signed with Jamie Records, and released it again. It quickly reached number one in Los Angeles. They had also been given the opportunity to perform it on the television program American Bandstand.
A 1964 version by Pat Wayne and the Beachcombers is noteworthy because of the involvement of the guitarist Jimmy Page, later of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. It was re-released in 1989 as part of the compilation .
