Twelve-Bar Blues - A Popular Rock Chord Progression

Historically, rock has been made up of varied chord structures, but none is as interesting, or even as popular as twelve-bar blues

What is twelve-bar-blues?

 In a nutshell, twelve-bar blues involves playing the I chord - base chord of a key signature for four  bars, the fourth inversion (IV) chord for two bars, back to the first (I) inversion for two more bars, followed by the fifth (IV) inversion for one bar and fourth (IV) inversion for one more bar, before playing two final bars with the I inversion.
Image result for twelve bar blues
Twelve-bar blues first came to attention in roock'n'roll of the late 50s and early 60s. Let's take a look at a few popular riffs, shall we?

The Surfaris - Wipe Out

 Need I say more? This is the "flagship" song of the twelve-bar blues. Being in the key of C major, the song is built around a repeating, arpeggiated guitar riff, which goes up and down in tone playing C,F, and G chords. The drums are also very interesting and its a popular song among school marching bands.

The song was top 10 in Canada, the US, and the UK. Its highest position was #2 on the US Bilboard Chart.

Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven

 Even before Wipe Out, there was Roll Over Beethoven. The track was written by Chuck Berry in response to his sister playing classical music on the piano, while he wanted to play popular music. The song is an ode to the fact that classical music had become obsolete with the dominance of rock'n'roll in the 50s.

The song has two notable covers: the Fab Four covered it in 1965, but arguably the BEST known cover is Electric Light Orchestra's 1973 take. The song appropriately opens with an excerpt of Beethoven's fifth symphony - one that Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan always cited as their favorite and folks did I mention that I admire how Lynne's vocals are a near tribute to Jim Morrison's high-pitched voice?

James Brown I Got You (I Feel Good)

 More in the realm of soul, but the Godfather created what you might call "twelve-bar jazz" here. The only difference is that the brass gets a two-beat rest (i.e. pause) during the final four bars.

Do these songs always have a fast tempo?

 Twelve-bar blues does not neccessarily need to be fast-paced. There are several instances of slower twelve-bar blues. Perhaps the most common of these is Riders on the Storm by The Doors.

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