Our Music Blog : 2015 Term 4, Week 1: Rock and Roll

Chuck Berry is considered to be one the most influential musicians of the 20th Century. He was one of the first rock and roll guitarists, with a mix of blues and country music in his style. Many of the world's greatest rock and roll musicians and singers have covered his songs, played on stage with him, or acknowledge his influence in developing their own style. Chuck Berry, himself, was influenced by the rock/gospel/blues style of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who has been largely overlooked as an early icon of rock and roll guitarists and singers.

He was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on October 18, 1926, in St.Louis, Missouri. Both his parents were the grandchildren of slaves. His father was a carpenter and a deacon in his church, and his mother was one of the few black women of her generation to gain a college education. Berry grew up in a middle class black neighbourhood and had never seen a white person until he saw firemen putting out a fire when he was three. He thought they had turned white with fear of the flames.

Berry learnt to play guitar as a teenager and performed first at his high school. He was involved in an attempted armed robbery and spent some time in a reform school, then worked for his father and for General Motors as a janitor. He also studied hairdressing and cosmetology at night school and became a beautician. In the 1950s he joined a band and had his first Top 10 hit with Maybelline, followed by several others, including Sweet Little Sixteen, Roll Over Beethoven, and Johnny B Goode which is in the top ten rock songs of all time and is considered to be one of the most recognisable rock songs of all time. It was the first hit song to be written about rock and roll music, and is loosely auto-biographical.

In the early 1960s, he spent two more years in jail for employing an underage waitress, and by the time he was released, British bands were releasing music in USA - including some of Berry's own songs. He has made several more recordings and appeared in several films.

In 1986, Berry was one of the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But he was also being investigated for income tax evasion and spent 100 days in prison in 1988. In 1990 he was charged with drug offences and was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to donate $5,000 to a local hospital.

Chuck Berry is also famous for his duck walk. Although other guitarists may have done it before him, he popularised it and is credited as the inventor. Berry said that he used to do it as a child to entertain his family, and that when he performed it on stage in 1956, the audience loved it so much he included it in his routine from then on.

Berry has continued to tour the world giving concerts, often with other classic rock and roll stars of the past. He is now 88 years old.

This is an interview with John Lennon who talks about the influence of Chuck Berry on his music, and on rock and roll music overall. Then Chuck Berry talks about John Lennon's influence on rock and roll music and musicians, and sings Johnny B Goode with John Lennon's son, Julian. (1986)

Johnny B Goode has been covered by over 100 different singers and bands including: AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Green Day, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holley, Elton John, BB King, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Judas Priest, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, Elvis Presley, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Slade, Bruce Springsteen, Status Quo, George Thorogood, Johnny Winter, and The Who.

Roll over Beethoven: Chuck Berry' 1956 Roll over Beethoven is also one of the most recorded rock and roll songs of all time. It's been recorded by: The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, Status Quo, Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Rolling Stones. The lyrics seem to change slightly in various versions.

Some vocabulary and references to help you understand the song:
DJ - disc jockey: This was the name of the person who played records (discs) on the radio. People used to write letters to the radio station to request the songs they wanted to hear.
Roll over: The saying "to roll over in the grave" means that someone who is dead (and buried) would be so outraged or offended by something that they would not be able to stay settled and at peace in their grave. The assumption is that Beethoven (and Tchaikovsky) would not have liked rock and roll.
Jukebox: A machine which plays music selected by a person who pays for it by depositing money in a slot, and this sets off the automated process of playing the music.
Blowing a fuse: When a machine breaks down because it can't cope with the electrical load on it.
Rhythm review /revue: a show where a lot of featured artists would be advertised to perform with a big show band.
The blues: A style of music evolved from African-American communities in the southern states of USA.
Reel, rock, roll, two by two, wiggle: names of dance moves or steps
Pneumonia: is an infection of the lungs
Arthritis: is a painful condition that affects joints of the body
Dig: a slang saying which means to really like something
Blue suede shoes: refers to a song written by Carl Perkins and sung by Elvis Presley
Hey Diddle Diddle: refers to the nursery rhyme "Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle . . . " and also refers to another rock and roll singer called Bo Diddley who played the violin as well as electric guitar.
Glow worm: Insect larvae that glows in the dark - and wiggles . . .
Dime: A dime is the equivalent of NZ 10 cents - which was quite a lot of money in the days this song was written. You had to drop a dime into the juke box slot to activate the music.

Use glockenspiels/ ukuleles / guitars to accompany Roll over Beethoven

Introduction: D D D D; G G D D; A A D D

Guitar solo: D D D D; G G D D; A G D D

Learn how to play Roll Over Beethoven here.

Beethoven turns up in other less-than-classical contexts. Here's a short story about places Beethoven has appeared in jokes, songs or movies.

Notation Practice:
Let's practise our favourite way to learn the names and places of the notes.

I knew you were treble when you walked in.
Ode to the Treble Clef - '50s rock ballad
Notes on the Line do the Rhyme; notes in the space spell FACE

Name these Notes: Are they on they line? Do they rhyme? Are they in the space?