School Days (Chuck Berry song)

1957 single by Chuck Berry

"School Days"

Single by Chuck Berry
from the album  After School Session
B-side| "Deep Feeling"
Released| March 1957 (1957-03)[1]
Recorded| January 21, 1957[2]
Studio| Universal Recording Corp. (Chicago)[3]
Genre| Rock and roll, rhythm and blues
Length| 2:40
Label| Chess 1653[1][2]
Songwriter(s)| Chuck Berry
Producer(s)| Leonard and Phil Chess[2]
Chuck Berry singles chronology
| "You Can't Catch Me"
(1956)  | "School Days"
(1957)  | "Oh Baby Doll"
(1957)

|
|

"School Days" (also known as "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)") is a rock-and-roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry and released by Chess Records as a single in March 1957 and on the LP After School Session two months later (see 1957 in music).[1] It is one of his best-known songs and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.

The last verse of the song contains the lyrics "Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old." Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll became the title of a 1987 concert film and documentary about Berry; the song itself is also commonly mistitled as Hail Hail Rock and Roll. Much of the song's musical arrangement was reused by Berry in 1964 in "No Particular Place to Go". A similar arrangement, though quite different, was also used for "Big Ben".[4]

## Recording

[edit]

Berry recorded the song on January 21, 1957, at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. The sessions were produced by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil.

* Chuck Berry - vocals, guitar
* Johnnie Johnson \- piano
* Hubert Sumlin (known for his work with Howlin' Wolf) - guitar
* Willie Dixon \- bass
* Fred Below \- drums[2]

## Charts

[edit]

Berry's record peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (his third highest-ranked pop hit) and hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.[5][6] It was also his first appearance on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 24.[7][8]

## Cover versions

[edit]

A 1959 live version by Eddie Cochran was released in 1999 on the album The Town Hall Party Shows.

A 1957 British cover version by Don Lang and His Frantic Five reached number 26 in the UK.

The song was covered in 1957 by "The Bob Court Skiffle" as "School Day" and released on UK Decca F 10905

The song was covered by Jan & Dean on their 1964 album Dead Man's Curve – The New Girl In School, under the title "School Days". Their version was released on a single by Liberty Records in 1966.

The Knights, a studio project of Gary Usher, covered the song on their only album, Hot Rod High, in 1964.

The song was covered by Phil Ochs played at second concert at Carnegie Hall in 1970.

The song was covered by Australian rock band Daddy Cool on their debut album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool. The album was number 1 in Australia for seven weeks in 1971.

An unofficial version of "School Days" was played at the sound check for a Led Zeppelin concert at Chicago Stadium on July 6, 1973.

New Riders of the Purple Sage performed "School Days" live at the Academy of Music in New York City on November 24, 1973.

The Australian hard rock band AC/DC recorded a version of "School Days" for their second album, T.N.T. It was originally released only in Australia,[9] but in 1997 it was released internationally on Volts, a compilation of songs sung by Bon Scott, as part of the box set Bonfire.

The song was remade by the British rocker Gary Glitter, who recorded it under the title "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" on his album Glitter in 1972.

The song was covered by the Iron City Houserockers for their first album, Love's So Tough, under the title "School Days (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)", but was cut from the final release. The track was released on their compilation album Pumping Iron & Sweating Steel: The Best of the Iron City Houserockers.

The Australian rock-and-roll revival band Ol' 55 recorded a version of "School Days" as an "outro" track on their album Take It Greasy, released in 1976.

"School Days" was covered by the Beach Boys, under the title "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" on their 1980 album Keepin' the Summer Alive, with Al Jardine on lead vocals. This version includes a verse from the 1907 song of the same name in the intro.

"School Days" was covered and performed by The Rock-afire Explosion in 1981

"School Days" was covered by the blues pianist and vocalist Ann Rabson on her album Struttin' My Stuff in 2000.

Lil Rob remade the song, retitled "Street Dayz", for his album The Album, adding a skit and replacing the school-related lyrics with references to gang life, drugs, and sex.

A version of "School Days" was included on The Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues, with vocals from Buster Poindexter and the cartoon character Bart Simpson, and featured a lead guitar solo by Joe Walsh.

Elvis Presley's orchestra often played a version of "School Days" in concert in the last years of his life as an instrumental as Elvis introduced the members of his ensemble. Record releases of this performance were often mistitled "Hail Hail Rock and Roll."

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Rudolph, Dietmar. "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry: The Chess Era (1955-1966)". Retrieved December 7, 2010.
2. ^ a b c d Gold (CD liner). Chuck Berry. United States: Geffen Records/Chess Records. 2005. pp. 21, 27. 0602498805589.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
3. ^ "The Chuck Berry Database Details For Recording Session: 15. 12. 1956". A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry. Dietmar Rudolph. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
4. ^ Big Ben, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-05-09
5. ^ "Billboard Magazine, May 27, 1957". 27 May 1957.
6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 55.
7. ^ "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" (PHP). Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
8. ^ "Official Charts - Chuck Berry". Official Charts. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
9. ^ Wall, Mick (2012). AC/DC: Hell Aint a Bad Place to Be. London: Orion Publishing. ISBN 9781409115359.

## External links

[edit]

* "School Days" at AllMusic
* Analysis of the song on ReasonToRock.com

* v
* t
* e

Chuck Berry

Studio albums|

* After School Session (1957)
* One Dozen Berrys (1958)
* Berry Is on Top (1959)
* Rockin' at the Hops (1960)
* New Juke Box Hits (1961)
* Two Great Guitars (with Bo Diddley) (1964)
* St. Louis to Liverpool (1964)
* Chuck Berry in London (1965)
* Fresh Berry's (1965)
* Chuck Berry's Golden Hits (1967)
* Chuck Berry in Memphis (1967)
* From St. Louie to Frisco (1968)
* Concerto in "B Goode" (1969)
* Back Home (1970)
* San Francisco Dues (1971)
* The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 1)
* Bio (1973)
* Chuck Berry (1975)
* Rockit (1979)
* Chuck (2017)

Live albums|

* Chuck Berry on Stage (1963)
* Live at the Fillmore Auditorium (1967)
* The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 2)
* Chuck Berry Live in Concert (1978)
* Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
* Live! (2000)
* Live on Stage (2000)
* Chuck Berry – In Concert (2002)

Compilations|

* Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956)
* Chuck Berry Twist (1962)
* Chuck Berry's Golden Decade (1967, 1973, 1974)
* The Great Twenty-Eight (1982)
* The Chess Box (1988)
* The Anthology (2000)
* Volume 2 (1995)

Singles|

* "Maybellene" / "Wee Wee Hours" (1955)
* "Roll Over Beethoven" / "Drifting Heart" (1956)
* "Too Much Monkey Business" / "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (1956)
* "School Days" / "Deep Feeling" (1957)
* "Rock and Roll Music" / "Blue Feeling"
* "Sweet Little Sixteen" / "Reelin' and Rockin'" (1958)
* "Carol"/ "Hey Pedro" (1958)
* "Johnny B. Goode" / "Around and Around" (1958)
* "Run Rudolph Run" (1958)
* "Almost Grown" / "Little Queenie" (1959)
* "Back in the U.S.A." / "Memphis, Tennessee" (1959)
* "Nadine" (1964)
* "No Particular Place to Go" (1964)
* "My Ding-a-Ling" (1972)

Other articles|

* Discography
* Chuck Berry House
* Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
* Chess Records
* Johnnie Johnson
* Gibson ES-350T
* Gibson ES-355

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Jan and Dean

* Jan Berry
* Dean Torrence

Albums|

* Carnival of Sound (2010)

Singles|

* "Baby Talk"
* "Clementine"
* "Gee"
* "Heart and Soul"
* "A Sunday Kind of Love"
* "Who Put the Bomp"
* "Frosty the Snowman"
* "She's Still Talkin' Baby Talk"
* "Linda"
* "Surf City"
* "Honolulu Lulu"
* "Drag City"
* "Dead Man's Curve"
* "The New Girl In School"
* "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)"
* "Ride the Wild Surf"
* "Sidewalk Surfin'"
* "You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy"
* "I Found a Girl"
* "Norwegian Wood"
* "Batman!"
* "Popsicle"
* "School Days"
* "Louisiana Man"
* "Yellow Balloon"
* "Tijuana"
* "Vegetables"
* "In the Still of the Night"
* "Gonna Hustle You"
* "Blue Moon"
* "Oh What a Beautiful Morning"

Songs|

* "Julie"
* "Stay"

Related topics|

* Discography
* Deadman's Curve
* "Barbara Ann"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work
* MusicBrainz release group

|

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