Let It Rock (Chuck Berry song)

"Let It Rock"
Single by Chuck Berry
from the album Rockin' at the Hops
B-side"Too Pooped to Pop"[1]
Released1960 (1960)
RecordedJuly 1959[2]
GenreRock and roll
Length2:28
LabelChess
Songwriter(s)Chuck Berry[3]
Producer(s)Leonard Chess, Phil Chess
Chuck Berry singles chronology
"Broken Arrow"
(1959) 		"Let It Rock"
(1960) 		"Bye Bye Johnny"
(1960)

"Let It Rock" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Chess Records released it as single, which reached number 64 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1960.[4] Chess later added it to Berry's album Rockin' at the Hops (1960).[2] In 1963, Pye Records released it as a single in the UK, where it reached number six.[5]

"Let It Rock" was recorded by Berry on guitar and vocal, with long-time backing musicians Johnnie Johnson on piano, Willie Dixon on double bass, and Fred Below on drums.[2]

In a song review for AllMusic, critic Matthew Greenwald called it a "rock & roll masterpiece ... Utilizing the same geographic images as 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'Johnny B Goode,' (among others), Chuck Berry creates an atmosphere that is definitive rock & roll poetry".[6]

  1. ^ "Too Pooped to Pop" was subtitled "Casey" (in quotes) on the original single.
  2. ^ a b c Altman, Billy (1998). Chuck Berry: The Chess Box (Box set booklet). Chuck Berry. Universal City, California: Chess Records/MCA Records. pp. 26, 30. CHD3-80.001.
  3. ^ The original Chess single listed the songwriter as "E. Anderson"; Berry's full name was "Charles Edward Anderson Berry".
  4. ^ "Chart History: Chuck Berry Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "Chuck Berry – Singles". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  6. ^ Greenwald, Matthew. "Chuck Berry: 'Let It Rock' – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2020.