Talk about elusive: we know of at least four documented occasions on which Bruce covered Chuck Berry’s seminal “Roll Over Beethoven” from as early as 1971 through 2002, but no one managed to capture it on tape until a fan requested it during the Working on a Dream Tour in 2009.
Here’s that performance from St. Louis:
It’s a bit surprising that Bruce didn’t give us more opportunities to catch “Roll Over Beethoven” in concert. We know he’s a big fan of Chuck Berry after all, and besides: how could a young rock musician resist an anthem that loudly proclaimed the arrival and power of rock and roll? (He couldn’t–two of his first four performances of the song took place long before Bruce garnered national attention.)
Berry’s 1956 original wasn’t a huge hit upon initial release–it didn’t even crack the Top 40 in the U.S. But “Roll Over Beethoven” was hugely influential, and Rolling Stone now ranks it at a very high #97 in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Nevertheless, besides a 2017 Asbury Park jam session mash-up appearance, that 2009 performance is our only opportunity to hear Bruce perform it.
Roll Over Beethoven
First performed: May 14, 1971 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: April 21, 2017 (Asbury Park, NJ)
