What was the dispute between chuck berry and the beach boys?

Answer 1

"Surfin' U.S.A.," The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys' hit song "Surfin' U.S.A." is set to the melody of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," but Chuck Berry had never given the Beach Boys permission to use his song. Years after the song's initial release, Chuck Berry successfully sued the Beach Boys, causing all subsequent releases of "Surfin' U.S.A." on compilation albums to credit Berry alongside Brian Wilson, who wrote the new lyrics.

Raphael

Answer 2

The Beach Boys' song "Surfin' USA", was a note-for-note cover, albeit with new lyrics, of Chuck Berry's song "Sweet Little Sixteen". On the first two-fer album sets, brought out in 1990, Chuck Berry is in fact given sole credit for the authorship of Surfin' USA - even though this is demonstrably not the case.

Answer 3

It's not clear that there was a lawsuit, but "Surfin' USA" (1963) is set to the music of "Sweet Little Sixteen" (1958). [per Wikipedia.org]