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Electric Light Orchestra -- Roll Over Beethoven

An in-depth song analysis

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первый сингл.

# Record Date: September 8, 1972
# Record Location: AIR Studios, London, UK
# Written By: Chuck Berry
# Produced By: Jeff Lynne
# Engineered By: John Middleton & Denny Bridges
# Performed By: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar, moog synthesizer, harmonium), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion), Wilf Gibson (violin), Mike Edwards (cello), Colin Walker (cello), Michael De Albuquerque (bass, vocal harmonies), Richard Tandy (moog synthesizer, piano, guitar, harmonium, vocal harmonies)

# Initially Released On: Roll Over Beethoven single (UK; January 12, 1973)

Comments and Observations

The basic track for Roll Over Beethoven was recorded at AIR Studios in the UK on September 8, 1972. It is uncertain when the vocals and strings were recorded, although it's very possible they were recorded the same day or even the same time. It is significant in that it is the only hit for the Electric Light Orchestra that was not written by Jeff Lynne. While not a huge hit, it is also significant in that it was the song that broke the band in America and started the band to the path of worldwide success.

Why Record a Cover Song?: Although not a Jeff Lynne composition, the decision to record the song was almost inevitable. In the early days, the band was trying to define themselves as a rock band with classical instruments as a key part of the band. Thus traditional rock 'n' roll songs such as Jerry Lee Lewis' 1957 hit Great Balls Of Fire and Chuck Berry's 1956 hit Roll Over Beethoven were incorporated into the live set, with Roll Over Beethoven being a natural choice due to the classically tinged play on words in the song's lyrics. It was an absurd idea to mix the strings into such a rock 'n' roll classic, but the band felt it was natural and necessary to help define what they were trying to do. Just three months prior to the song's recording, Roy Wood left the band and the band had since quickly adopted the song as their encore number in their UK live performances. On stage, they were experimenting with the song and often used selections from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to open the song, before finally settling on the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with its distinctive and well-known four-note motif intro which they would use in the studio recording. This four-note motif is used several times on several instruments throughout the instrumental breaks in the song. There are no known recordings of the earlier incarnation on the song before the September 1972 studio recording.

The Studio Recording: Several members of the band were able to contribute to the arrangement of the song. Jeff Lynne was the band leader and it was his decision as to how the songs were arranged and produced, however in these early days of the band he was certainly open to the other band members' contributions. Michael De Albuquerque arranged his own bass parts and violinist Wilf Gibson contributed some (if not all) of his own violin arrangements and "the instrumental break which leads into the violin solo" (Wilf's own words). Jeff himself is credited with deliberately using a cheap microphone to record the vocals in an attempt to give them a rough, early rock 'n' roll sound. He also notably sings them in a raw voice, often slurring the lyrics in what is believed to also be an intentional effort to give the song an early rock sound. However, he has also been quoted in the late 1970s as saying he doesn't really like how the vocals turned out. Curiously, the studio recording uses no backing vocals at all.

Due to the recording process, the vocals were the last part recorded. When it came time for them to be recorded, the band realized that they didn't really know the lyrics! (Curiously, Jeff claims that on stage, before the studio recording of the song, he just made up the words as they performed it.) Needing the lyrics fast, the band called up Heavyhead Records, the record store that Bev Bevan owned in Birmingham, and had a store clerk carefully play a record of the song and transcribe the lyrics for the band over the phone. Due to this rather primitive effort, several of the lyrics are incorrect, including the lines "need a shot of rhythm and blues" (from the third verse) instead of the correct "the jukebox's blowin' a fuse" (second verse); "a-singin' that rhythm and blues" instead of the correct "and my soul keeps a-singin' the blues" (also second verse); and "Go for cover and reel and rock it, roll it over" instead of the correct "...a trifle further then reel and rock with one another" (third/fourth verse). A few other minor lyrics were changed ("groove on up now" rather than "move on up now") and the third verse (beginning "I got the rockin' pneumonia") is completely absent from the ELO recording (except where the "I need a shot of rhythm and blues" like is ued in the second verse), thus making the normal fourth verse (beginning "Well, early in the morning...") the third verse in their recording. It's also interesting that the clerk may have used the Beatles version of the song to transcribe the lyrics, rather than Chuck Berry's version, because some of the lyrics are closer to the Beatles recording, rather than Chuck Berry's. One example of this is the line "the music won't never stop" from the Chuck Berry version is changed to the line "the music will never stop" on both the Beatles and ELO versions.

In various releases as a bonus track, there exists a "Take 1" version of the song that follows the basic extended album version of the song, complete with multitracked string parts and unprocessed vocals; however it also includes Jeff and Bev making "goon show" style vocal imitations of the string intro and other string parts later in the song. It's interesting to note that on all non-"Take 1" releases of the song, just after the final vocal line, a very short snippet of Jeff's vocal antics from this "Take 1" recording can be heard. In the "Take 1" recording, just after the final "Roll over Beethoven" lyric, Jeff says "C'mon, Ludwig!" On all the non-"Take 1" releases, a very brief snippet of this "C'mon" line is heard but it is quickly cut out. Obviously a studio engineer wasn't quite fast enough on the knob and left this little bit in which still survives to this day! An example of this can be heard HERE where the first part is taken from the "Take 1" recording and the second part is taken from the 2006 ELO II remaster CD. Listen very closely for the half a second bit in the second recording.

George Martin Gives His Approval: AIR Studios, where the song was recorded, was owned at the time by famed Beatles producer, George Martin. When Roll Over Beethoven was being recorded, he happened to be in a neighboring studio recording the orchestra for Paul McCartney's Live And Let Die. He was invited to listen the band's just recorded version of the song-- a song that he had produced for the Beatles 10 years prior on their With The Beatles album-- and he nodded his approval and stated: 'I think you've got a hit there chaps.' This must have pleased Jeff Lynne and the band as they were known to be big Beatles fans with Jeff Lynne in particular idolizing the band. Some stories of this incident also say that Paul McCartney was in the neighboring studio as well, but there is no mention of him coming to listen with George Martin.

The Releases and the Charts: Roll Over Beethoven was first released as an edited single (Harvest HAR 5063) on January 12, 1973 in the UK with Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre) from the Electric Light Orchestra album on the B-side. It was released later that month in the UK on the ELO 2 album as the last track on side 1. Rumor has it that the single was quickly recalled (although this remains unconfirmed) and reissued with the same catalog number but Queen Of The Hours from the Electric Light Orchestra album on the B-side instead. Thus there are two versions of this single commonly available in the collector market, although neither is any more rare than the other. On January 27, the song entered the UK Singles Chart Top 50 and it peaked at #6 on February 17 for one week only for a run of 10 weeks on the chart.

In the US, the edited single was released in February, 1973 (United Artists UA-XW 173-W) with Queen Of The Hours from the No Answer (as it was called in the US) album on the B-side. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 28, 1973 and peaked at #42 on July 28, 1973 with a total run of 16 weeks on the chart. It also entered the alternate Cash Box chart on May 19, 1973 and peaked at #48 on July 21, 1973 and August 11, 1973 (falling during the two weeks between) for a total run of 14 weeks on the chart. It was ELO's first entry into the USA charts. It failed to crack the all-important Top 40 chart; nevertheless it was a popular underground hit and still enjoys radio airplay today, more so than even some of ELO's Top 10 hits.

For several reasons, there exist several different edits of Roll Over Beethoven. The singles featured an edited version of the song, having been edited down to 4:32 from the full album version. There are, in fact, two "full" album versions. The UK ELO 2 album featured a 7:03 version and the USA Electric Light Orchestra II album features a longer 8:11 version. Currently, according to Jeff Lynne, the 7:03 version which was originally released only in the UK and Japan, is the correct version of the song as he had intended release. It was through a series of mistakes by United Artists (supposedly), in a rush to release the music, that all other territories mistakenly released the 8:11 version (as well as the album being mistakenly retitled as Electric Light Orchestra II and using the wrong artwork). With the 2006 remaster of the album from Sony, the correct 7:03 version was finally released worldwide (although in this instance they again mistakenly renamed the album as ELO II). This idea that the 8:11 version is the incorrect version didn't actually surface until the 2006 remaster, so the idea may also be a bit of revisionist history. The 8:11 version has turned up on the original Harvest ELO 2 Germany LP and several European Harvest compilation albums. It also appeared on the Jeff Lynne compiled 2000 Flashback compilation (sans the harmonium intro). There appears to have been several opportunities to correct any mistake over the years, both by EMI and Jeff Lynne; so this leaves doubt about it being solely a United Artists mistake and it is likely a more recent attempt to make the 7:03 version the preferred and definitive version by declaring the 8:11 version an error. Through several promo releases and reissues on compilation albums, several more edits also exist.

Promotion and the Public Reaction: Although the song was never a big chart success for the band, it was a breakout hit in the US, introducing the band and their concept. The band had their first tour of the US and made several prominent TV appearances on American Bandstand and The Midnight Special, which brought them much public attention. It certainly caught attention, seeing a long-haired rock 'n' roll band in tuxedos playing with "the big fiddles" (as many critics referred to them) on stage belting out Chuck Berry rock 'n' roll music. It was all very strange and different and it may be this that brought the band more attention than the music itself, thus the song was never a big chart success.

The song was quickly adopted as the Electric Light Orchestra concert closing/encore song and it was used to close every single show from 1972 to 2001. It's not entirely clear why this song, a non-Jeff Lynne song, was chosen for such an honor. However it was probably chosen originally because it so well defined what the ELO concept was about (fusion of classical instruments in a rock band) and it was a well known and rousing rock 'n' roll number that could easily get the crowd on their feet. Over time, although ELO went on to have much bigger hits with other songs, some equally as rousing, it probably just became a tradition to always close the song with the song, no matter what. There were several different arrangements used on the various tours; however the arrangement first used on the 1976 Eldorado tour, replacing much of the song with an extended jam session, became the most common arrangement (with a few very slight variations from tour to tour).

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To help promote the single and the band, United Artists also developed a rather amusing drawing of an image of Ludwig van Beethoven with a very dour expression and his fingers jammed in his ears, as if he strongly objected to the music and was "rolling over in his grave" (from the English language idiom from which the song was derived). This image is still used today in some ELO promotional material.

Miscellany: Also of note, ELO cellist Hugh McDowell wrote a rather audacious send up, at least in title, of Roll Over Beethoven entitled Bend Over Beethoven (and subtitled "The Official Follow Up To California Man!") that appeared on the B-side of the May 1973 Wizzard single, See My Baby Jive. Hugh was a member of ELO in 1972 when they were touring in support of the first album. When Roy Wood left in July 1972 to form Wizzard, Hugh left to join this new band. Shortly after Roll Over Beethoven's release in the UK, Hugh wrote the Bend Over Beethoven song (although rumor has it that Roy actually wrote it and gave the writing credit to Hugh). Other than the title similarities, the songs have no relation, with Bend Over Beethoven being a jazz influenced song. Although today the various band members attribute this song as a fun joke only, one has to wonder if it wasn't much more mean spirited at the time. Roy's (and Hugh's) defection from the Electric Light Orchestra was still quite a sore subject for the various players and they didn't like to talk about it at the time. And the subtitle ("The Official Follow Up...") on the record appears to be a major jab at the success of Roll Over Beethoven. Obviously ELO forgave any hard feelings because they allowed Hugh to join the band again in late 1973 (when they were apparently hard up for a cellist after Colin Walker left).

Jeff Lynne states that he once crossed paths with the songwriter, Chuck Berry, but he did not approach or speak to him for fear that he would not have approved of what his band did with the song.

ELO gave a nod to Roll Over Beethoven in their 1983 on song Rock 'n' Roll Is King with the lyric "she rolled over Beethoven and gave Tchaikovsky back." They also gave a nod of sorts in the 1976 song Rockaria! with the lyric "and the orchestra were playing all Chuck Berry's greatest tunes."