| "Rock and Roll Music" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Chuck Berry | ||||
| from the album One Dozen Berrys | ||||
| B-side | "Blue Feeling" | |||
| Released | September 1957[1] | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM, 10" 78 RPM | |||
| Recorded | May 6 or 15, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois[2] | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:30 | |||
| Label | Chess 1671[1][2] | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess[2] | |||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | ||||
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| "Rock and Roll Music" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles from the album Beatles for Sale | ||||
| Released | December 4, 1964[3] | |||
| Recorded | Sometime from August to October 1964[3] at Abbey Road Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:30 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Writer | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Beatles for Sale track listing | ||||
|
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| "Rock and Roll Music" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album 15 Big Ones | ||||
| B-side | "T M Song" | |||
| Released | May 24, 1976 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:29 | |||
| Label | Brother/Reprise | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists.
Berry performed his song on December 16, 1957, on ABC's short-lived variety program, The Guy Mitchell Show.
The song has been recorded by a number of other well-known artists, including Humble Pie, Manic Street Preachers, Bill Haley & His Comets, REO Speedwagon, Mental As Anything, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Tenpole Tudor.
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The sessions for "Rock and Roll Music" took place on either May 6 or May 21, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. The session was produced by the Chess brothers – Leonard and Phil – and backing Chuck Berry were pianist Lafayette Leake, bassist Willie Dixon, and drummer Fred Below.[2]
Sometime after the single was released in September 1957,[1] "Rock and Roll Music" reached #6 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart and #8 on the Hot 100 chart before the year's end.[4]
Over the years, "Rock and Roll Music" has been covered by many bands and musicians, including The Beatles and The Beach Boys, the latter of which had a top ten hit with the song on the Hot 100 in 1976.[5]
On December 9, 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked Berry's version as #128 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[6] The song is also a part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll List.[7]
The Beatles performed the song in many of their early Hamburg shows, and also played it on the BBC show Pop Go The Beatles. In late 1964, exhausted from non-stop touring and recording and short of original material, they decided to record several of their old rock and rhythm and blues favorites to fill out their LP release Beatles for Sale. Among these was a version of Berry's tune that eventually became as well known as the original. The lead vocal in The Beatles' version was performed by John Lennon. In contrast to Berry's even-toned rendition, Lennon sang it as loudly and dynamically as his voice would permit. In the United States, it was released on the LP, Beatles '65. The song was part of the set list for the group's final tour in 1966 - the performance from their June 30 show at the Nippon Budokan was included in 1996's Anthology 2 - and was also performed during the Get Back/Let It Be Sessions in January 1969.
It also served as the title song to The Beatles' 1976 compilation album, Rock 'n' Roll Music.
The Beatles' version of "Rock and Roll Music" was released as a single in some countries, and topped the charts in Finland, Norway, the Netherlands (double a-side with "No Reply") and Australia.
Sources have varied when crediting the piano on the track. The original Beatles for Sale liner notes by Derek Taylor said that "George Martin joins John and Paul on one piano", implying an overdub by all three that was added after the basic take.[9] In the 1988 book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn described the recording as a single take with no overdubs, with "all The Beatles on their familiar instruments" and Martin on piano.[10] The tape engineer for the session, Geoff Emerick, provided yet another account in his 2006 book; he recalled that McCartney played piano while Harrison covered on bass, and that the only overdub was for double-tracking Lennon's vocal.[11]
The Beach Boys' version is notable for the use of backing vocals which repeat the phrase "Rock, roll, rockin' and roll." There is a difference between the LP version and the single version in that the LP version has more synthesizer. Their version reached #5 in the US chart in 1976.
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