One of the earliest hits for Electric Light Orchestra came through a cover of Chuck Berry. It stuck around for perhaps too long in their live sets, but the influence Roll Over Beethoven has cannot be understated. It is not the go-to track for a passing listener. There are plenty of other crowd pleasers the band can rely on, and certainly, those are the songs we keep returning to. Don’t Bring Me Down, Twilight, and Mr. Blue Sky all feel like better fits of what the band is recognised for accomplishing. Roll Over Beethoven has the spotlight on a skilful Jeff Lynne vocal performance, but it feels horrendously tame, both in studio and on stage, when compared with the original works. Part of the problem, but also the charm, of Roll Over Beethoven, is how different it feels to popular ELO works.
Roll Over Beethoven may still be an important part of the live show, but the cover is made that much more individual, more out-there than others, with its inclusion of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Those overworked and recognisable strings feel like a way to stand out from The Beatles’ cover and Berry’s original more than anything else. Don’t mistake the song for anything less than a thrilling cover, though. Those string sections in the latter part of the song are put to brilliant use, underscoring the orchestral part of the band’s namesake. A great song with the context of the original releases from ELO, but Roll Over Beethoven, for all its punchiness and ragtime-like piano, pales in comparison to what Lynne could do with this similar pace on later releases. He does not exactly break from The Beatles’ vocal work here, those interjections and “oooh” noises so synonymous with the Fab Four. Another slice of their work Lynne would implement and continue to over the years.
Where the Berry cover is instrumentally and vocally overhauled, it does feel like the excitement of being involved with a legendary song overwhelms the purpose of the cover. An incredibly fun song, though on its own, it lacks the build-up and comedown around it. As a choice for a single, it certainly provides the range ELO would go on to use on original works down the line, though it would be overhauled rapidly on later releases. Play it loud and lose yourself in the sound. It may be the old rocking way, an old hat expression, but it stands the test of time with this ELO song. Let the percussion and bass work overwhelm the rest of the song, and it becomes one of the more thrill-filled tracks from the band in their early, progressive-rock period. They would work their way out of those genre strokes, and their drift begins here.
A show closer but not a showstopper, Roll Over Beethoven does little to stand out from other contemporary covers, but it does have enough of an ear for detail to work. Those spaced-out additions the band makes in the studio, the brass and trumpet with an edge of sci-fi flavour to them, are brilliant. It is the difference-maker the band are searching for, and the rapid violin, the scraping and stylishness of which it is presented, is such a treat. Richard Tandy is the real hero of this Roll Over Beethoven cover, a skilful display of the keyboard work which would become the solid foundation for ELO in their works to come. B-Side Queen of the Hours is a pull from their debut album and fits the string-heavy sound of Roll Over Beethoven well enough. Not exactly a contrast, but it at least keeps a similar form across the single release, which remains very nice, a soft recontextualisation of the Berry cover is heard within.
