1957
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN * CHUCK BERRY * CHESS 9010 * USA
Like Rock And Roll Music the lyrics to this song are simple and sophisticated, in fact even more sophisticated, but unlike Rock And Roll Music the backing is more earthy, more urgent, more inspired. This has a lot to do with the brilliant guitar playing - not heard to good effect on Rock And Roll Music - of Chuck Berry especially the opening riff, but also there seems to be more of a mixture, and empathy between the backing the singer and the song. It is with this song that Chuck Berry established himself as a major figure in 20th Century music, and with hindsight it makes sense on many levels, not least the way in which he at one blow rejects, or in this case 'rolls over' the past - which always becomes tired, week and, if it wasn't already, the agency of power and oppression - and at the same time posits something new, vital and something which is out of the immediate control of the state or oppressive corporations. This is always the way true art works, it never just critiques the past no matter how oppressive or corrupt it is with out putting in place an alternative, even in the knowledge that that same alternative will sooner or later become the same agent of power as the thing it seeks to replace. The fact that it was Chuck Berry who, more than any other, inspired would be Rock n' Rollers and subsequently countless Beat and Pop groups is proof of his status and the contribution of his talents in 20th Century music. It was not only his songs that were practised, sung and recorded, and the very subject matter of his songs were written up in 'different' lyrics by others, but also his style; the famous 'Duck Walk' is still being displayed, in corrupted form, by Metal bands some half a century later - although the 'Duck Walk' not actually originated by him, he certainly made it famous, as Chuck Berry was creative when plagiarising (copying) as in Maybellene or when producing original material.
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