Old Melody, New Lyrics

I remember seeing Chuck Berry on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson some years back. He played* Roll Over Beethoven*, and that was supposed to be his only performance of the evening…but he and Johnny were having so much fun that he wound up bumping all the other guests on the show that night. Towards the end of the show, Chuck goes back on stage, to play Johnny B Goode., with the Tonight Show Band backing him.

Of course, they hadn’t rehearsed anything but the first song (if that). Before he started in, he says to Tommy Newsom and the band, “It’s the same thing as Roll Over Beethoven…same kind of do-si-do”, walks to the stage, grabs his guitar, and starts playing…

El Condor Pasa (1913 song by Peruvian composer Daniel Alomía Robles, based on Peruvian folk tune)

El Condor Pasa (If I Could) - Simon and Garfunkle (I’d rather be a hammer than a nail…)