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Roll over Beethoven - The Chess Records Saga

Documentary commemorating the 60th anniversary of the blues, rock 'n' roll, R&B and soul record label which shaped the musical landscape of the second half of the 20th century.

Chicago's Chess Records was one of the greatest labels of the post-war era, ranking alongside other mighty independents like Atlantic, Stax and Sun. From 1950 till its demise at the end of the 60s, Chess released a myriad of electric blues, rock 'n' roll and soul classics that helped change the landscape of black and white popular music.

Chess was the label that gave the world such sonic adventurers as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James. In this documentary to mark the label's 60th anniversary, the likes of Jimmy Page, Mick Hucknall, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Paul Jones and Little Steven, as well as those attached to the label such as founder's son Marshall Chess, pay tribute to its extraordinary music and influence.

The film reveals how two Polish immigrants, Leonard and Phil Chess, forged friendships with black musicians in late 1940s Chicago, shrewdly building a speciality blues label into a huge independent worth millions by the end of the 1960s. Full of vivid period detail, it places the Chess story within a wider social and historical context - as well as being about some of the greatest music ever recorded, it is, inevitably, about race in America during these tumultuous times.

1 hour

Last on

Sat 1 Mar 2014 23:35
BBC Four

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Muddy Waters

    Rollin' Stone 

  • Etta James

    I Just Want To Make Love To You

  • Little Walter

    Juke 

  • Little Walter

    Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) 

  • Howlin’ Wolf

    Mr Highway Man

  • John Lee Hooker

    Worried Life Blues 

  • Jody Williams

    Lucky You 

  • Leon D. Tarver & The Chordones

    I'm a Young Rooster 

  • Sonny Boy Williamson

    Little Village 

  • Lowell Fulson

    Trouble, Trouble 

  • Paul Gayten

    You Better Believe It 

  • Willie Mabon

    The Seventh Son 

  • Muddy Waters

    I'm a Hoochie Coochie Man 

  • Howlin’ Wolf

    Smokestack Lightning 

  • The Moonglows

    Sincerely 

  • Chuck Berry

    Brown-Eyed Handsome Man 

  • Bill Haley and His Comets

    Rock Around The Clock

  • Bo Diddley

    Roadrunner 

  • Bo Diddley

    I'm a Man 

  • Bo Diddley

    Bo Diddley 

  • Chuck Berry

    Maybellene

  • Chuck Berry

    Roll Over Beethoven

  • Sonny Boy Williamson

    Help Me 

  • Etta James

    Something's Got a Hold on Me 

  • Ramsey Lewis

    Wade in the Water 

  • Etta James

    I Just Want To Make Love To You

  • Etta James

    At Last 

  • The Gospel Classics

    More Love, That's What We Need

  • Dorothy Ashby

    Soul Vibrations 

  • Bo Diddley

    I'm Alright 

  • Howlin’ Wolf

    Moanin' at Midnight

  • The Rolling Stones

    Little Red Rooster 

  • Howlin’ Wolf

    The Red Rooster 

  • Marlena Shaw

    California Soul 

  • Fontella Bass

    Rescue Me

  • The Ramsey Lewis Trio

    The In Crowd (Bohemian Caverns, 1965)

  • Etta James

    I'd Rather Go Blind 

  • Phil Upchurch

    Crosstown Traffic 

  • Muddy Waters

    I Just Want to Make Love to You

  • Rotary Connection

    Amen 

  • The Dells

    Wear It on Our Face 

  • Rotary Connection

    Respect 

  • Rotary Connection

    Didn't Want to Have to Do It 

  • Chuck Berry

    Johnny B. Goode 

Credits

Producer James Maycock
Director James Maycock
Executive Producer Paul Bullock

Broadcasts