Maybellene – Chuck Berry | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#5) and R&B (#1); 1955
Story Behind The Song By Harris Sterling
In 1955, Chuck Berry released Maybellene, the single that launched his national career and helped define early rock and roll. Written by Berry and adapted in part from the Western swing song Ida Red, the record blended country structure with rhythm and blues energy.
Produced by Leonard Chess, the recording featured a driving beat and Berry’s distinctive guitar style. Released in the summer of 1955, Maybellene reached #1 on the R&B chart and climbed into the Top 5 on the Billboard Pop chart.
The lyric tells the story of a man chasing his unfaithful partner in a high-speed car pursuit. Rather than romantic longing, the song emphasizes urgency and confrontation.
Maybellene became Chuck Berry’s breakthrough hit and remains one of the foundational recordings of rock and roll.
This content was created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Harris Sterling. © 2026 Harris Sterling. All rights reserved.
Produced by:
Leonard Chess
Lyrics Written by:
Chuck Berry
Awards:
No Grammy Awards were awarded at the time of its release.
Harris Sterling
Independent music label executive Harris Sterling has worked in the music industry for most of his career.
As Executive Vice President for independent music label Madacy Entertainment, he led the strategic marketing and business development for the label, negotiating agreements with the major record labels to release custom music compilations under license with major brands, such as Ford Motor Company, Crayola, Care Bears and Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Harris also led Madacy’s strategy for the licensing of its entire music catalogue to Apple for their launch of the IPOD.
In 2011, Harris co-founded Starting Five Media, a company that specializes in recording and licensing custom renditions of popular songs as well as clearing the rights to the music composition for use by their clients in media projects.
Harris has negotiated publishing and master recording rights for many Top 40 songs for use in various media projects, TV Commercials and more.