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Chapter 39: Roll Over Beethoven

Seminal rock & roll hits

I first heard these 50s rock hits flipping through a coin-operated tableside jukebox at Johnny Rockets. (With the exception of “Space Guitar” - Johnny Rockets wasn’t that hip.) This is rock and roll at its cheesy peak - for the best listening experience, pretend you’ve never seen someone dance on a table to a medley of these songs, and appreciate them as pure joy-delivery mechanisms. In the right headspace, the just-behind-the-beat vocal delivery on “At The Hop” can leave you breathless.
1. Jerry Lee Lewis

Great Balls of Fire

2. Chuck Berry

Roll Over Beethoven

3. Danny & The Juniors

At the Hop

4. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I Put a Spell On You

5. Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Space Guitar

6. Little Richard

Tutti-Frutti

7. Ritchie Valens

La Bamba

8. The Coasters

Yakety Yak

9. Elvis Presley

Hound Dog

10. Chuck Berry

Johnny B. Goode