There she is againStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazine
Every single time I post a Chuck Berry song I go on and on about how great a lyricist he was…and this one will be no different. The words in his songs have a flow to them that seems so natural.
This song has the Chuck Berry style all over it. It appeared on the 1959 album Chuck Berry Is on Top and was released as a double A-side with “Almost Grown.” He has a line in the song that people seem to frown on these days. “She’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen” because of her age. What some forget is back then the target audience was teenagers. The singer whether it be Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, or Buddy Holly…they were the voice of the teens. They were the teenagers talking…the rock stars were the teen’s voices.
The song peaked at #80 on the Billboard 100 in 1959.
Later on in the late 60s and to the 2000’s he would tour by himself and in his contract…the promoter had to provide a backing band. He did this to save money but it affected the quality of the shows at times. He did have a super backing band at one of his gigs in 1973.
Berry’s contract stipulated that it was the promoter’s responsibility to supply him with a backing band for this concert. Apparently, Bruce Springsteen learned about a week before the show that the promoter was seeking a group to support Berry and immediately volunteered his band’s services for free, which the promoter gladly accepted.
There was no rehearsal or soundcheck with Berry, so Bruce and the band improvised as best they could. The show was Bruce’s first known appearance in Maryland. Bruce and the E-Street Band opened their part of the show with a 50-minute set, followed by a 60-minute set by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band. Chuck Berry (with Springsteen’s entire band backing him, including Bruce and Southside Johnny) closed the evening’s festivities with a 70-minute performance.
Springsteen asked Chuck what songs they were going to do. Berry said: “We’re going to do some Chuck Berry songs.” That is one of the funniest rock stories I’ve ever heard. Imagine being on stage and not knowing what song is coming. What makes it worse is that Chuck would change the keys of songs. So instead of playing in the universally known A chord to Johnny B Goode…he would start in an F# chord sometimes. Luckily the bass player Gary Tallent was a music historian so he led the band that night. He played in those keys because his former piano player Johnnie Johnson helped him write and arrange those songs so Chuck would play them in keys as a piano player would.
More than 20 years later, Springsteen again played backup for Berry, at a concert at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, celebrating the opening of the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame.
Bruce Springsteen when Chuck Berry died: “Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived. This is a tremendous loss of a giant for the ages.”
Little Queenie
I got lumps in my throatWhen I saw her comin’ down the aisleI got the wiggles in my kneesWhen she looked at me and sweetly smiledThere she is againStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazineShe’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen
Meanwhile I was thinkin’
If she’s in the mood no need to break itI got the chance and I oughta take itIf she can dance we can make itC’mon queenie let’s shake it
Go, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenie
Tell me who’s the queenStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazineShe’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen
Meanwhile, I was still thinkin’If it’s a slow song, we’ll omit itIf it’s a rocker, then we’ll get itAnd if it’s good, she’ll admit itC’mon queenie, let’s get with it
Go, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenie
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