Night Music: Chuck Berry, “Roll Over Beethoven”

A few years ago Chuck Berry was inducted into some songwriter’s hall of fame. A friend said, “Chuck Berry?” Hell yes.

Berry’s rep has diminished thanks to Keith Richards (his bastard son, who disavowed him) and Chuck’s impecunious behavior, but the fact is that Johnny B. Goode, Maybelline, Back In the USA, Roll Over Beethoven, and almost every hit he ever wrote except My Dingaling, ranks among the best rock and roll tunes of all time.

I should bless you with Carol, here, but this will have to do:

6 thoughts on “Night Music: Chuck Berry, “Roll Over Beethoven”

  1. Hell, yes. He’s the Babe Ruth of rocknroll songwriters. His lyrics are a chronicle of American life at that time, the distilled essence of teenage materialism. Maybe it’s ironic that it took a 30 year-old black man to do this, but then they always said that the best cowboy songs were written by Jews in New York so who are we to say? I always loved this one, somewhat obscure until resurrected by Quentin Tarrantino in Pulp Fiction.

  2. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

    I realized a while ago my tree of Rock ‘n’ Roll is rooted in Chuck Berry.

    Surely you guys have seen it, but that “Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll” movie about Berry was pretty good. Maybe I’ll watch it again.

  3. This is all great stuff. I am also down with “No Particular Place to Go.”

    Asking if Chuck belongs in the HOF reminds me of sitting with my friend Julie, watching her kids playing little league.

    She asked how the biletones were doing and i said great. and she asked if i was singing a lot and i said some, but i play bass, so….

    Some yahoo sitting by us said there was never a bass player who was a great singer.

    I said, uh, that mccartney guy was pretty good. and sting and geddy lee and roger waters were ok too.

    He actually said he didn’t think paul was that good of a bass player: just a pretty face.

    i had a stroke. what a moron.

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