Chuck Berry – Carol

One of many songs by Chuck Berry that helped defined Rock and Roll.  I first heard the song by the Rolling Stones as Keith Richards is a huge fan of Berry. The Beatles also covered the song live.

Berry’s assistant, Francine Gillium, told Berry about the High School that she worked at and helped him get in the right mindset to write these songs about teenagers. He mostly stayed away from politics and topical references in his songs…which is why many are relatable today.

Chuck Berry got the name Carol from the daughter of Clyde McPhatter’s girlfriend’s daughter. McPhatter was popular R&B singer who fronted The Drifters for a time.

The song peaked at #18 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 in the R&B Charts in 1958.

From Songfacts

This song is about a boy who must learn to dance or risk losing Carol to other men. He insists he will learn, and tempts her with a trip to a jumping little joint he knows about.

The Rolling Stones covered this on their first album in 1964. They were the first to bring this and many other R&B songs to a white audience.

The Beatles recorded this song for a BBC radio special in 1963. This recording was released in 1994 of on the Live At The BBC album.

Carol

Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away
I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day

Climb into my machine so we can cruise on out
I know a swingin’ little joint where we can jump and shout
It’s not too far back off the highway, not so long a ride
You park your car out in the open, you can walk inside
A little cutie takes your hat and you can thank her, ma’am
Every time you make the scene you find the joint is jammed

Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away
I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day

And if you want to hear some music like the boys are playin’
Hold tight, pat your foot, don’t let ’em carry it away
Don’t let the heat overcome you when they play so loud
Oh, don’t the music intrigue you when they get a crowd
You can’t dance, I know you wish you could
I got my eyes on you baby, ’cause you dance so good

Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away
I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day

Don’t let him steal your heart away
I’ve got to learn to dance if it takes you all night and day
Oh Carol

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

44 thoughts on “Chuck Berry – Carol”

      2. Oh I did…it was a mistake…I was being sarcastic…I wrote it weeks ago and was going to proof read it last night…after work…I feel asleep. A lot of hours recently. I’m 23 posts now ahead.

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  2. “helpt”…LOL. The only real online games I ever play are the crossword types – Words with Friends and Wordscapes. It amazes me sometimes what odd things show up as words.
    Not familiar with this one, but seems like another prototypical Berry song. His music isn’t really my thing but there’s no way to deny how much of the music that followed that I do like owes a debt of gratitude (and maybe royalties) to Chuck.

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    1. The Stones probably did the best-known version of the song but I didn’t want everyone listening to them automatically without hearing Chuck’s version.
      What I like about Chuck is his poetry about teenagers. He could tell a story as in Johnny B Goode…and many of them still ring true. Bruce took his songs about the freedom of cars and expanded them.

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  3. I’m always conflicted when it comes to Chuck Berry. His “The Great Twenty-Eight” is one of my most treasured albums. He pulled together elements of R&B, swing, country blues and jazz and created rock n roll. He was shrewd business man. He fashioned his craft to appeal to white audiences. He wanted to sell records and this informed his style and his creation as much as his artistry. All of this I laud him for. But he was perverted man. His corrupted instincts drove him to personal atrocities and a musical one–My Ding A Ling.
    “Carol,” though, is an absolute treasure.

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    1. Yes…that is when I try to separate the art from the artist. Sometimes it’s really hard. He was not an easy man to get along with either…as seen in Hail Hail Rock and Roll.

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      2. Just to hear the stories of Bruce, Bo, and Little Richard is worth it….not to mention the interaction between Keith and Chuck. I don’t think Chuck respected Keith a bit.

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      3. Nonetheless, Keith loves him. Keith doesn’t give a damn. He knows how great he is (himself) and Berry’s attitude didn’t cloud his judgement about Berry’s greatness. He’s very forgiving of his idol. Still, he let him have it over My Ding a Ling. Keith was disgusted.

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      4. And that was his only number 1….go figure! No Keith didn’t care at all.
        Lennon had a good relationship with Berry…one of the very few.

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  7. I love Chuck Berry. “Chuck Berry Is on Top” might as well have been titled ‘The Greatest Hits of Rock & Roll.”

    Yes, he was a complicated character and his live performances could be hit and miss, in part because he refused to play with a standing backing band. But his songs had great groove and great lyrics.

    While Berry didn’t invent classic rock & roll, there’s no doubt it would have been different without him! There’s a reason artists like Keith Richards and The Beatles loved him.

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    1. Rock would have been different without Chuck Berry. Maybe the best storyteller songwriter ever. I think Bruce Springsteen really benefited from him and took his ideas and just expanded on them. Bruce grew the characters up but they are Chuck Berry characters or at least many of them.

      What did John Lennon say? Another name for rock ‘n’ roll is Chuck Berry.

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      2. I have to becasue of my work now…its a huge project I’m on…moving all of our 15 year old servers…the data…to Microsofts cloud…Azure…a long 6month process

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      3. Still, Max, I’m impressed! I think the biggest number of scheduled posts I ever had was four or five when I did the Carole King Tapestry series earlier this year.

        Until sometime last year, I had never even scheduled a post! I wrote and posted right away.

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      4. I will get in spells where everything comes easy and I’ll do them on a streak…then I wait until inspiration hits again. The hardest part is coming up with the song.
        I used to write them the night before but now I can’t do that…I do sleep better now lol…knowing I don’t have to worry.

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      7. It just shut down. It’s a curious thing. I tried to start it, again, the next day and it gave me the notice that it was out of power. Ok. So. I plugged it in to charge up. It takes a charge. It shows it on the screen even when off. I got it charged up to 80%, yesterday and tried to start it, again. It tried. The only thing I got to see was the main Samsung Screen (S7). Then, it shuts down, again…not showing any charging. I tried, again, today…tried to turn it on, it said it was out of power (little frowny-face) so, I plugged it up. It started charging. At 11%, I tried to boot, again. I got the same Samsung Screen and it shut off, again…not showing charging, anymore. It’s like I have to wait for the battery to run totally down before it will respond to me. It will initially take the charge but, trying to get it to boot up, it shuts right back off.

        One too many times dropping it, I guess.

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      11. If I could have, I’d still be using my Samsung Alias II:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_U750_Alias_2

        I loved that phone. It had a pivot gear where you could open it as a phone or open it for texting. You could get on the ‘net but, I never really used that. I bought a second one for a backup but, soon discovered that both phones’ batteries were dying. And, I never could find new batteries for them. They don’t make them, anymore. I wanted to cry.

        My classmates in Driver License school in 2014 were telling me, even when my phone was still working, that I needed a stupidphone. I was the only one is class with an old flip phone. To be the computer geek that I am, I’m not a “new technology” type. If something works, I’m not one to just replace something because the latest & greatest comes out. I only trade vehicles when I’m forced to.

        I’m holding onto Win7 with my fingernails.

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      12. I’m not either….I don’t get new just to get it but sometimes I have to move up. The phone looks cool but with what I do…I couldn’t use it.

        I like Windows 10…I just turn everything off. I have to have it because of the new office and etc.

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  9. I’m late to the conversation, but I’ll stop and listen to anything from Chuck. He’s so good and smooth at his style, it makes me almost forget that he was at that moment setting the standard for generations of rock and roll.

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