June 2011 record of the month:
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven
Quality Records - 1503
Written by Piers Hemmingsen
The single "Roll Over Beethoven / Drifting Heart" by Chuck Berry And His Combo was issued in the USA in May 1956 as Chess 1626 on both 78 RPM and 45 RPM disc formats. This was Chuck berry's fourth single for Chess. The previous three singles on Chess were:
Chess 1604 Maybellene / Wee Wee Hours (July 1955)
(Note - this was issued as Quality 1413 on 78 RPM and K 1413 on 45 RPM in Canada)
Chess 1610 Thirty Days / Together We Will Always Be (September 1955)
(Note - this was issued as Quality 1430 on 78 RPM and K 1430 on 45 RPM in Canada)
Chess 1615 No Money Down / Down Bound Train (December 1955)
(Note - this was issued as Quality 1467 on 78 RPM and K 1467 on 45 RPM in Canada)
The following personnel played on the track Roll Over Beethoven which was recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago on April 16th., 1956:
Chuck Berry - guitar, vocal,
Willie Dixon - bass
Johnnie Johnson - piano
Fred Below - drums
Click HERE to listen to a recording of Roll Over Beethoven from an am radio transmission, exactly as it was in the late 50s.
The Beethoven single was originally issued in Canada in May 1956 on both 78 RPM and 45 RPM formats on the Quality label. Quality was the Canadian distributor for Chess until Phonodisc took over for Chess distribution in Canada in the early 1960s. The A side Beethoven pre-dated CHUM Toronto's top 50 ... as CHUM did not start it's rock and roll chart until 1957. The 78 issue carried the Quality catalogue number 1503 while the 45 issue carried the catalogue number K 1503.
David Whatmough lists an entry for the 45 in his excellent book"50 Year Directory Of Canadian 45 RPM and 78 RPM Records" (published by the author 2000-2002). To date I have not come across a copy of the original 45 (just the Quality 78) so I am assuming that the 45 was pressed in very small quantities. Perhaps the 78 RPM version was pressed in larger quantities.
Above left US Chess 78 and above right Canadian Quality 78
The soundtrack LP From The Motion Picture "Rock, Rock, Rock" was the first LP to be issued in the US by Chess in December of 1956. It is also considered to be Chuck Berry's very first LP. In Canada the LP was issued as Quality V-1561 but still used the front slick of the Chess LP 1425. The LP was probably issued in Canada in early 1957 and the liner notes contain a brief summary of the track "Roll Over Beethoven".
The Chess LP "Chuck .. Berry Is On Top" was issued in July 1959. This compilation LP was issued in Canada by Quality (blue label) as V-1641 and features Roll Over Beethoven as track 3 on Side 2.
The complete Canadian Chuck Berry discography is found under the "Non-Capitol Artists" tab in the menu,
otherwise, simply click HERE to access it.
