On May 21, 1955, the relatively unknown Chuck Berry recorded “Maybellene” at Chess Records in Chicago. The 29-year-old part-time musician then returned to St. Louis and his construction job, while starting to train for a career as a hairdresser. But soon, through various circumstances, the song began climbing the charts so that Berry could pursue music full time.
Berry got the opportunity to record “Maybellene” when, during his visit to Chicago, he approached Muddy Waters after a show for an autograph and asked for career advice. Waters suggested Berry go to his label, Chess Records. Berry did.
Berry met with Leonard Chess at Chess Records and then auditioned, thinking Chess would like his blues music, and in particular his song “Wee Wee Hours.” But Leonard Chess noticed something else in Berry’s music. Chess liked Berry’s R&B version of the traditional country song “Ida Red,” which had been recorded by performers such as Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who had recorded the song in the 1930s.
So, Chess recorded Berry’s take on “Ida Red,” although by the time Berry’s song was recorded, the song had new lyrics and a new name: “Maybellene.” Reportedly, Chess thought that Berry’s title of “Ida Mae” sounded too rural, so he found inspiration for the name from a mascara box nearby (changing the spelling of the Maybelline cosmetics to avoid a potential lawsuit).
With the new name and lyrics, the 2-minute and 18-second song was recorded, although it took 36 takes to get it right. In addition to Berry, the recording featured other musicians who would become legendary in their own right, including Johnnie Johnson on piano and Willie Dixon on bass.
Less than a year earlier in 1954, Elvis Presley similarly had recorded a Bob Willis song as one of his first recordings for Sun Studios. Presley’s version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky” kept the name and the lyrics of the original, while bringing the same rock and roll spirit that Berry brought to his interpretation of “Ida Red.”
In Berry’s version of his song, he not only added a driving R&B sound, he incorporated youthful energy in his lyrics. The lyrics captured the spirit of the emerging rock and roll music, connecting love and cars. In the song, the singer drives his V8 Ford seeking out his unfaithful girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe DeVille (“Maybellene, why can’t you be true”).
As I was motor-vatin’ over the hill,
I saw Maybellene in a Coup de Ville;
A Cadillac a-rollin’ on the open road;
Nothin’ will outrun my V8 Ford.
But Berry at first did not know what would become of “Maybellene,” which eventually was released in July with “Wee Wee Hours” as a B side. So Berry returned to St Louis.
In the meantime, Leonard Chess in a marketing move that was not unusual at the time, gave radio DJ Alan Freed co-songwriting credit and one-third of royalties in exchange for promoting the song. In retrospect, the deal seems unfair at the least, but assistance from the legendary DJ did not hurt.
One night on station WINS in New York, Freed played “Maybellene” for two hours straight. And the great sound of the song sent it to number ten on the pop charts and to number one on the R&B charts.
“Maybellene” helped launch the career of Chuck Berry, one of the holy creators of rock and roll along with his yellow Gibson ES-350T guitar. Below, Chuck Berry performs “Maybellene” live in 1958.
Although the song boosted Berry’s popularity, it also led to some hurdles for the young singer-songwriter. Some venues discriminated against Berry when they were surprised to find out the singer was not white. And, Berry had to fight for years to eventually get sole songwriting credit for the song in 1986.
Berry, of course, persevered with a long career and other hits. But “Maybellene” was a key turning point in the history of rock and roll. “Maybellene” is now listed as the 18th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
And that is the story behind the song.
Photo via public domain. Leave your two cents in the comments.
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