Sweet Little Sixteen

"Sweet Little Sixteen"
Single by Chuck Berry
from the album One Dozen Berrys
B-side"Reelin' and Rockin'"
ReleasedJanuary 1958
RecordedDecember 29–30, 1957[1]
StudioChess (Chicago)[2]
GenreRock and roll
Length3:03
LabelChess 1683
Songwriter(s)Chuck Berry
Producer(s)Leonard and Phil Chess
Chuck Berry singles chronology
"Rock and Roll Music"
(1957)
"Sweet Little Sixteen"
(1958)
"Johnny B. Goode"
(1958)

"Sweet Little Sixteen" is a rock and roll song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry, who released it as a single in January 1958. His performance of it at that year's Newport Jazz Festival was included in the documentary film Jazz on a Summer's Day. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, one of two of Berry's second-highest positions—along with Johnny Rivers cover of "Memphis, Tennessee"—on that chart (surpassed only by "My Ding-A-Ling", which reached number one in 1972). "Sweet Little Sixteen" also reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.[3] In the UK, it reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 272 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004. He used the same melody on an earlier song, "The Little Girl From Central" recorded on Checkmate in 1955.

  1. ^ 20th Century Masters — The Millennium Collection: The Best of Chuck Berry (CD). Chuck Berry. MCA Records. 1999. MCAD-11944.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ "The Chuck Berry Database: Details For Recording Session: 29./30. 12. 1957". A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry. Dietmar Rudolph. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 55.
  4. ^ "Official Charts - Chuck Berry". Official Charts. Retrieved October 28, 2017.