Roll Over Beethoven
| "Roll Over Beethoven" | ||||
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Chess single
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| Single by Chuck Berry | ||||
| from the album Chuck Berry Is on Top | ||||
| B-side | "Drifting Heart" | |||
| Released | May 1956 | |||
| Format | 7" 45-rpm & 10" 78-rpm record | |||
| Recorded | April 16, 1956 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:23 | |||
| Label | Chess #1626 | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer(s) | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess | |||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | ||||
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| "Roll Over Beethoven" | |
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The Swedish single release of the song, backed with "Please Mr. Postman"
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| Single by The Beatles | |
| from the album With the Beatles | |
| B-side | "Please Mr. Postman" (Canada) |
| Released | November 22, 1963 |
| Recorded | July 30, 1963 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Length | 2:48 |
| Label | Capitol 72133 (Canada) |
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
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| Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||||||||||
| from the album ELO 2 | ||||||||||||
| B-side | "Queen of the Hours" | |||||||||||
| Released | 12 January 1973 (UK) 27 January 1973 (US) |
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| Format | 7" single | |||||||||||
| Recorded | 1972, at AIR Studios | |||||||||||
| Genre | Rock and roll, symphonic rock, progressive rock | |||||||||||
| Length | 8:09 (US album version) 7:03 (UK album version) 4:32 (Single version) 3:42 (US promo single version) |
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| Label | Harvest | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry/Ludwig van Beethoven | |||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||||
| Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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| 5 tracks |
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"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit single written 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 title of the song is an imperative directed at the composer Ludwig van Beethoven to roll over in his grave in reaction to the new genre of music that Berry was promoting. The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Beatles and the Electric Light Orchestra. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 97 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
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. 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.
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Wikipedia