Released 1960 Length 1:46 Writer(s) Chuck Berry | Genre Rock and roll Label Chess | |
B-side "Too Pooped to Pop (Casey)" | ||
"Let It Rock" is a song by Chuck Berry from his 1960 album Rockin' at the Hops. The same year, it was released as a single and reached #64 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released as a single in the UK in 1963, where it reached #6.
The song was originally credited to Edward Anderson; Chuck Berry's complete name is "Charles Edward Anderson Berry".
The song is about working on a train track as a train is headed toward the workers. Its opening guitar riff, chord structure and verse tune are reminiscent of Berry's 1958 mega-hit, "Johnny B. Goode", which also mentions trains.
Covers
This song has been covered by the Connection, the Grateful Dead, Rockpile, the Rolling Stones, Motörhead, Jerry Garcia, Hasil Adkins, Skyhooks, the Yardbirds, Widespread Panic, the MC5, Bob Seger, the Stray Cats, George Thorogood, the Head Cat, Shadows of Knight, John Oates, the Georgia Satellites, Jeff Lynne and the Refreshments. latter recording also featuring British guitar legend Albert Lee as a guest soloist.
"Let it Rock" (recorded live at Leeds in 1971) was released as a B-side of "Brown Sugar" in 1971 in UK only, and was included on the Spanish version of Sticky Fingers. In 1972 "Let it Rock" was released as a single in Germany, backed with "Blow with Ry" from the 1972 album Jamming with Edward!. "Let it Rock" opens the concert video The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live In Texas '78, released in 2011.