Rock and Roll Music (song)

The sessions for "Rock and Roll Music" took place in May 1957 in Chicago.[3] The session was produced by Leonard Chess and Phil Chess.[3] Backing Berry were Lafayette Leake (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Below (drums).[3] 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 magazine's R&B Singles chart and number eight on Hot 100 chart before the year's end.[4]

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Berry's version number 128 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[5] The song is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[6]

"Rock and Roll Music"
Belgian single picture sleeve (1965)
Song by the Beatles
Released	December 4, 1964 (1964-12-04) (UK: Beatles for Sale)[7] December 15, 1964 (US: Beatles '65)
Recorded	October 18, 1964
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	2:30
Label	Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s)	Chuck Berry
Producer(s)	George Martin

The Beatles performed the song in many of their early Hamburg shows, and also played it on the BBC program 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.

John Lennon 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. 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 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.

Credits for the piano vary. The original Beatles for Sale liner notes, by Derek Taylor, state that "George Martin joins John and Paul on one piano", implying an overdub by all three that was added after the basic take.[8] 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.[9]

In some countries, "Rock and Roll Music" was released as a single, with "I'm a Loser" as the B-side, in early 1965. It topped the charts in Norway,[10] Sweden,[11] Finland[12] and Australia.[13] The single peaked at number two in Germany[14] and the Netherlands, and number three in Belgium.[15]

"Rock and Roll Music"
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album 15 Big Ones
B-side	"T M Song"
Released	May 24, 1976 (1976-05-24)
Recorded	1976
Genre	Rock, rock and roll
Length	2:29
Label	Brother/Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Chuck Berry
Producer(s)	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Sail On, Sailor" (1975) "Rock and Roll Music" (1976) "It's O.K." (1976)

The Beach Boys' 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.[16]

Australian band Mental As Anything covered the song Rock and Roll Music. It was released as the first single from the bands seventh studio album Cyclone Raymond.[24] The song was released on November 1988 and charted at number 5 on the Kent Music Report and it stayed on the chart for 22 weeks.[25]