Chuck Berry’s "Maybellene" was taken from the countrysong "Ida Red", as recorded byBob Wills and His Texas Playboysin 1938. In 1955 Berry brought his version of Ida Red, to Chess Recordswhich he had renamed "Ida May."Leonard Chess was enthusiastic about the commercial possibilities in a “hillbilly song sung by a black man, but he thought the title Ida May, was “too rural”
Spotting amascarabox on the floor of the studio, Chess said, “Well, hell, let’s name the damn thing Maybellene” altering the spelling to avoid a suit by the cosmetic company. “The kids wanted the big beat, cars and young love,” “It was the trend and taking old recordings and modifying them, by changing the instrumentals and the lyrics was a common practice in the 1950s.
The lyrics struck a chord with teenagers fascinated by cars, speed and sexuality. "Maybellene” became one of the first records to score big onrhythm and blues, country and western, and pop charts. Featuring some inimitable Chuck Berry riffs, some blues-style picking on a country guitar and Johnson’s piano, which added rhythm to the steady back beat, "Maybellene" was a pivotal song in the emergence of rock 'n' roll. This exciting fusion of a rhythm and blues beat with a rural country style was the catalyst for the type of rock 'n' roll that emerged in the mid-1950s.
Read more about it and so much more in The Maybelline Story, buy a signed copy from me. Now listen to the book, on audible books from Amazon.
