"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded (in May 1957) by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. It has been widely

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

and is one of Berry's most popular and enduring compositions. "Rock and Roll Music" was a record chart hit for Berry, reaching the top 10 in the United States.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' 1964 recording topped singles charts in Europe and in Australia, and

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

had a U.S. top 10 hit with the song in 1976.

Original song

The sessions for "Rock and Roll Music" took place in May 1957 in Chicago. The session was produced by

Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blu ...

and

Phil Chess Philip Chess (born Fiszel Czyż; March 27, 1921 – October 18, 2016) was a Polish-born American record producer and company executive, the co-founder with his brother of Chess Records. Early life Chess was born to a Polish-Jewish family in the ...

. Backing Berry were

Lafayette Leake Lafayette Leake (June 1, 1919 – August 14, 1990) was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chic ...

(piano),

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

(bass), and

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic stru ...

(drums). Chess records issued the song as a single in September 1957 on both the 45 and 78 rpm formats. It reached number six on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's

R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart and number eight on Hot 100 chart before the year's end. In 2004, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine ranked Berry's version number 128 on its list of the "

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

". The song is also included in the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

's list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

The Beatles version

performed the song in many of their early Hamburg shows, and also played it on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

program ''

Pop Go The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

''. 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 ''Beatles for Sale'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised ...

''.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

provided the vocal. In contrast to Berry's even-toned rendition, Lennon sang it as loudly and dynamically as his voice would permit. In the U.S., it was released on the LP ''

Beatles '65 ''Beatles '65'' is an album by the English rock band the Beatles that was issued in the United States and Canada in December 1964. Released as the North American alternative to ''Beatles for Sale'', it was the band's fifth studio album culled by ...

''. The song was part of the set list for the group's final tour in 1966; the performance from their show of June 30 at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

was included in 1996's ''

Anthology 2 ''Anthology 2'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for ''Help!'' to the sessi ...

''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''. Credits for the piano vary. The original ''Beatles for Sale'' liner notes, by

Derek Taylor Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...

, state that "George Martin joins John and Paul on one piano", implying an overdub by all three that was added after the basic take. In the 1988 book ''

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions ''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions'' (subtitled ''The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962–1970'') is a reference book on the English rock band the Beatles compiled by author Mark Lewisohn. Hamlyn (publisher), Hamlyn published i ...

'',

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

described the recording as a single take with no overdubs, with "all The Beatles on their familiar instruments" and Martin on piano. In some countries, "Rock and Roll Music" was released as a single, with "

I'm a Loser "I'm a Loser" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, originally released on ''Beatles for Sale'' in the United Kingdom, later released on ''Beatles '65'' in the United States, both in 1964. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lenn ...

" as the B-side, in early 1965. It topped the charts in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Australia. The single peaked at number two in Germany and the Netherlands, and number three in Belgium.

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, rhythm guitar, piano *

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

– bass guitar, piano *

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

– lead guitar *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

– drums *

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

– piano

The Beach Boys version

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

' version includes 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 single version has more synthesizer. Their version reached No. 5 on the US chart and No. 11 in Canada during the summer of 1976.

Personnel

Personnel per 2000 liner notes. ;The Beach Boys *

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as "Help Me, Rho ...

– backing vocals *

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bass-bari ...

– backing vocals, lead vocals *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

– backing vocals, arranger, piano,

Moog bass The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

ARP synthesizer ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before de ...

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

– backing vocals *

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

– backing vocals, drums ;Additional musicians and production staff Album cover, art direction and logo was done by

Dean Torrence Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

and Jim Evans.

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Mental As Anything version

Australian band

Mental As Anything Mental As Anything are an Australian New wave music, new wave and pop rock musical ensemble, band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) w ...

covered the song Rock and Roll Music. It was released as the first single from the bands seventh studio album Cyclone Raymond. The song was released on November 1988 and charted at number 5 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

and it stayed on the chart for 22 weeks.Australian Music Database - Mental As Anything - Rock And Roll Music
/ref>

Track listings

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1957 songs 1965 singles 1976 singles Chuck Berry songs Bill Haley songs Emerson, Lake & Palmer songs Humble Pie (band) songs Jan and Dean songs Mental As Anything songs 1988 singles CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles REO Speedwagon songs The Beach Boys songs The Beatles songs Chess Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Norway Parlophone singles Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs about rock music Songs written by Chuck Berry