This Day In Music 1956: Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry recorded “Roll Over Beethoven” which was released by Chess Records the following month. It is said that Berry wrote the song in response to his sister Lucy always using the family piano to play classical music when Berry wanted to play pop music. The lyric “roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news” refers to how classical composers would roll over in their graves upon hearing that classical music had given way to rock and roll.