This weeks shuffle session brought us to the song "Roll Over Beethoven" performed by none other than good ol' John, Paul, George and Ringo. This track is a little different than the classic found on The Beatles' second studio album With the Beatles in that it was actually recorded live in the BBC studios. The track was later released on The Beatles' BBC studio compilation Live at the BBC in 1994. Live at the BBC is a large collection of songs recorded at the BBC by the band between 1963 and 1965. The album is an excellent collection of songs that are fully unedited and presented in their original recorded forms. Listening to this album through gives the listener a great understanding for who The Beatles were as a band during their down-to-earth pop days before they became mainstream and experimental.But this review isn't about the album the song is found on, so let's go on and talk about this recording of "Roll Over Beethoven." Although it is probably best known as being played by The Beatles, the song was actually originally written by Chuck Berry in 1956. The song has gone down in history as the definition of rock 'n' roll. Although on the surface it seems like just another catchy rock tune, the songs lyrics hold many meaningful references to the rise of the rock 'n' roll scene throughout the 40s and 50s.
The song's lyrics reference many rock legends that were inspiration to Chuck Berry. The verse "Well, early in the mornin' I'm a-givin' you a warnin' / Don't you step on my blue suede shoes" is a direct reference to both Louis Jordan's "Early in the Mornin'" and Carl Perkins's rockabilly hit "Blue Suede Shoes." Outside it's excellent musical references, the song is filled with great lyrics that really show the impact rock 'n' roll had on the music scene through the 50s.
Since its release by Berry, the song has been a popular rock cover song, recorded by many bands such as The Rolling Stones, Electric Light Orchestra, The Byrds and even Iron Maiden. Each band makes their own tweaks to the original song and makes it their own which has made the song age well and keep with the times. It isn't a surprise that Rolling Stone magazine rated it as one of the top 500 songs of all time.
The Beatles performance of the song on Live at the BBC is pretty comparable to its LP counterpart, but is slightly better in my opinion because it holds that genuine quality. It's similar to the difference between seeing a band live as opposed to just listening to their album at home. You really get a sense of the song being performed on the spot, in the studio, with little preparation time, which in and of itself is excellent. It represents a true performance of one of the band's favorite songs and the love that they had playing it.
Every song on the compilation holds that same power and meaning and listening to it makes for a great experience. I definitely recommend the album Live at the BBC to any Beatles fans, but if you just sort of like the band and aren't exactly into them for their history and impact, than you could definitely get away with leaving this one alone.
I couldn't find the mp3 anywhere for free, but you can hear the recording from the album in this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADlAj-p5VZ4
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