Willie Simpson

Tag: Chuck Berry

  • Battle of the Bands, Part 1, The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, I Wanna Be Your Man

    I was sitting around my new apartment, feeling kind of directionless and antsy, when a genius idea struck my temple.  Get this, you take bands, and you pit them in some sort of competition, almost like a battle.  Then, after all the notes are sung, and the riffs are all licked, you determine a winner,…

  • Chuck Berry, Run, Run, Rudolph

    “All I Want for Christmas is a Rock and Roll Electric Guitar…” I wonder how many Fenders and Gibsons this line sold.  1958’s “Run, Run, Rudolph,” is basically Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” rewritten as a Christmas song, but when you’ve written the 4 greatest possible rock and roll songs or so, what does it matter…

  • George Harrison, All Those Years Ago

    If you’ve read this site enough, you know that I like making declarations, so here is a strong one.  “All Those Years Ago,” is required listening for Beatles fans and one of the best George Harrison songs ever.  It was written by George Harrison as a song for Ringo Starr to sing, but Ringo thought…

  • Jimi Hendrix, Johnny B. Goode

    And here it is, the ultimate rock and roll guitar song played by the ultimate guitar rock god.  We have Jimi Hendrix, taking the Chuck Berry classic “Johnny B. Goode,” to a place no one thought imaginable.  His guitar sounds like a galloping steed from Hell, riding headlong into a firestorm, conquering everything in its…

  • Jimi Hendrix, Hear My Train A Comin'

    You’d suspect on a site like mine, there would be no shortage of Jimi Hendrix material to peruse through, but alas, this is the first one I’ve got.  It’s not for lack of love for the man, as in fact, I possess great quantities of the emotion for the guy.  I sit firmly in the…

  • My Top 100 Youtube Favorites, a Retrospective, Part 4

    Sex sells!  I want to thank this “Drunken Angel” above and Tal Wilkenfeld from yesterday for drawing a few extra clicks to my humble little site.  Before anyone accuses me of perversion or lechery or something, I’d like to defend myself a bit by saying this is one of the better lists of rock and…

  • Chuck Berry, Johnny B. Goode, and Maybellene

    Part 21 of my youtube countdown continues with a special Two for Tuesday!  A few weeks ago we saw Chuck Berry rip up “Roll Over Beethoven” on a French TV show in 1958.  It was one of the most iconic moments of all time, and guess what, we’re going back to that very same show…

  • Motorhead, Let it Rock!

    Part 15 of my youtube favorites continues with Motorhead covering Chuck Berry’s Let it Rock on the old David Letterman show.  Now, you’ve probably never heard of Let it Rock.  It’s one of Chuck’s lesser known tunes.  It’s basically Johnny B Goode with different lyrics and no choruses.  But the lyrics are amazing, featuring an…

  • The Rolling Stones, Respectable

    Welcome to part 10 of my youtube favorites countdown where we take a look at the rollicking 1978 single, “Respectable,” by the Rolling Stones.  Its appropriate that we take a look at this awesome song right after diving into Chuck Berry’s world.  This s0ng is basically a master course on what happens when you combine…

  • Chuck Berry, Roll Over Beethoven

    Part 9 of my youtube favorites countdown rocks on with Chuck Berry’s legendary 1956 ultra-classic, Roll Over Beethoven.  This clip is like none you’ve ever seen of Chuck.  Here he was on a French TV show in 1958 in his utter prime.  He’s young, happy, and capable of bending his guitar into a piece of…