Rock n roll music

    A million years ago, John Lennon put out an album called "Rock n Roll Music." A few years later, friends of mine at Penn put a song from it on a tape for me. "Sweet Little Sixteen" was the song. I liked it OK, but it always struck me as too slow. John was an incredible rock singer, maybe the best. Just think of what he did on "Twist and Shout." So yesterday, I thought of that album again and how good it might be if he captured half of that early Beatles energy. I looked up tunes on YouTube, but all I could find was him doing "Peggy Sue." While it was fun and interesting to hear John sing like Buddy Holly, it would have been even more fun and interesting to hear him do it as John Lennon. So still a disappointment.
    Anyway, I looked up some reviews (which were retroactively enthusiastic) and got the story on the record. Apparently, Chuck Berry's management felt that "Come Together" was too close a copy of a Chuck Berry song, and John agreed. So he further agreed to make an album with a bunch of Chuck Berry songs on it. (There are some cool side angles involving Phil Spector and Berry's management putting out an early version of the Lennon record via TV ads; you could look it up.) But what made me laugh was what got me there in the first place: "Sweet Little Sixteen" the song that the Beach Boys ripped off to make "Surfing USA" and which Chuck had to sue over to get writing credit on (and royalties from). I suspect John put it on the record for that reason, but what do I know?