"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry."— John Lennon "There's only one true king of rock 'n' roll. His name is Chuck Berry."— Stevie Wonder“I stole every lick of mine from Chuck Berry.”-- Keith RichardsIt’s a happy 81st birthday to Chuck Berry. He may not have invented rock and roll but he was certainly its poet laureate. Plus he created a music blueprint he rarely strayed from and in it defined what our music’s about: a riveting intro, hip-shaking rhythm, a blazing guitar solo and lyrical themes of cars, escape, freedom, luxury and sex. To those of us who grew up outside of America, his songs described a Camelot land of dreams. It’s impossible to be a true rock and roll fan and not love Chuck Berry. Because without him so much of what followed wouldn’t have. No Beach Boys. No Beatles. No Stones. Forget Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. And no Dylan, who definitely studied Chuck’s poetry.Chuck can sound deceptively simple. Every song seems to start the same, but Aerosmith’s Joe Perry understands that it’s a lot more complicated: “A lot of people have done Chuck Berry songs, but to get that feel is really hard.”You’ve all heard Chuck – he’s the soundtrack when Travolta and Uma dance for the trophy in ‘Pulp Fiction’. There’s more poetry in that one song (“You Never Can Tell”) than there is in some band’s entire careers. Two examples of his flow? “With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye”…. “She moves around like a wayward summer breeze”….Chuck was in his 30s and 40s when he wrote his amazing odes, but somehow he understood the quintessence of teenage. Lyrics about trying to make it with girls, being a king of cool and the joy of hearing great music were mixed with Berryesque slang and shaken up in an atomic-age cocktail shaker. I love the way he used words like “motorvatin’,” “coolerator,” “calaboose,” “botheration”. My own favourite song is “Nadine”, a three verse travelogue in pursuit of the “future bride” who won’t give him the time of day.I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled backAnd started walking toward a coffee coloured CadillacI was pushing through the crowd to get to where she’s atCampaign shouting like a Southern diplomatDowntown searching for her, looking all aroundSaw her getting in a yellow cab heading up townI caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybody’s tabWith a twenty dollar bill, told him catch that yellow cab.My own Chuck Berry moment came in Paris in 1976 with my photographer friend Kate Simon. Strolling along a boulevard in mid-morning and coming towards us is Chuck Berry! With a statuesque blonde on his arm a good 6 inches taller than him. Kate calls out to him and asks to take a photo. He declines and asks if we speak French, because he's looking for a film projector he can rent and take back to his hotel room. Something about the hour, the blonde and his mission make it feel somewhat blue in hue. We happen to be outside a camera store so we all go in and Kate talks to the staff, while I'm thinking to myself, I'm standing with Chuck Berry! The blonde's expression never changes. They can't help him and as we leave there's another request for a photo which again he declines. But Kate gets ready anyway and 20 feet away he looks over his shoulder and casts her a lovely impish Chuck Berry smile.
deedee says
Lovely, Jonh. You mean Chuck Berry and Tony Bennett are the same age? That's a little weird. ... Agree about the word choice. I mean, everyone knows about the riffs and all, but I love those Berry coinages. And I saw Chuck do a show at my college, about a million years ago. Alas, it was during the "ding-a-ling" phase, but c'est la vie, say the old folks.
jameson says
Here's a question that might be a little abstract, but worth a conversation: Where would Mog be without Chuck Berry?
Happy Birthday, King of All That Is Rock!
Jonh Ingham says
dee dee - I never thought of that; that is a little weird. I saw him around ding-aling time as well. I was about row 3 and there was a look of bitterness about his face. Oh jeez, I just remembered another Chuck moment -- in early 72 when he had a backing band of Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Dr. John and Keith Richards -- and threw Dr. John and Keith offstage!
Jameson - we'd be talking about very different music, if we cared at all.
contrabandwidth says
Have I seen that picture of Berry with the blond, looking back over his shoulder? Because I can in my mind, and it's so vivid. Certainly, Berry and Diddley are Rock n' Roll, period. I have a great live performance from the Filmore of Berry (69 I think) backed by the Steve Miller Band (pre - keyboardiness) and it's some of the greatest blues you've ever heard - when you think of him as a catchy rock n' roller. And of course he fdoes "My Ding-a-ling. Long live Chuck Berry, that dirty old coot.
Anna says
Happy b-day, Mr. Berry!
"But Kate gets ready anyway and 20 feet away he looks over his shoulder and casts her a lovely impish Chuck Berry smile" what a moment!
Jonh Ingham says
cb - I'm sure you have seen it. Kate was a regular music photographer (that's her shot on the cover of Kaya) and the photo got published. I've heard that the live Fillmore album is really good. One of the Miller Band recently talked about what a great night it was behind Chuck.
anna - it sticks in my mind!
Scotch says
Great write-up! Chuck is a treasure, and I'm happy we still have him. There is a Johnny B. Goode vid from SNL on his site: http://www.chuckberry.com/
Where would Hendrix have been without Chuck's antics to analyze and use? I bet Hendrix knew... :)
Jonh Ingham says
Scotch - good point! Hendrix stole from everyone with a cool schtick. I'm a bit stupified to learn that even Chuck Berry has a web site. On YouTube you can find a lot of later video recordings, especially the special he did with Keith Richards, which has Keith showing off some pretty stunning Chuck Berry licks. Chuck looks amused, like a doting dad.
Scotch says
I saw some of stuff with Keef. Some of it makes ol' Keef look kind of lost... well, more than usual. :P And I read Chuck's expression as one of a man thinking, "And this dude is more famous than I am. heh"
Cody B says
Beautiful stuff. To me the funniest thing is that he just wanted to sell records, and he made the blueprint for this thing we all obsess over.
contrabandwidth says
Agreed, genius, but he definitely realized if he could tap in to subject matter that white teenagers could relate to, he'd sell a bunch of records. And twenty year later, "Happy Days" was built on this formula (or I guess "American Graffiti" was, and "HD" just ripped that off. don't think those things make him any less of a musician or talent though. Aparently Chekov was very fond of telling people how much he made from each piece of his writing he did. Some how I find this relates.
dachmo says
Great write up Jonh, I'm sure Chuck just wanted to show her movies of where he grew up, nothing untoward. I would love to see that photograph as well.
Thanks for pointing out this day, I never would have known.
Lyrikhan says
You know, I caught some concert doc on Chuck not too long ago on TV (Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll perhaps) .... and Chuck is jamming with Keith Richards at some old joint he used to play at and they are playing a song i can't remember since, as you said, they all start out the same....but Chuck is just being harsh on Keith, wanting him to get the intro right....and you can see both of them getting really pissed. I mean its evident Berry is Keith's idol but it's not all sunshine with them playing together. Chuck seemed like a very difficult man to me, but he had a formula to his music and he wanted it a certain way....guess thats why he's a legend.
darmuzz says
My daughter asked me to fill her in on the history of rock music. I decided to start with Chuck Berry. If she's interested I will give her some leads on the country and blues roots of rock prior to Chuck.
deadmandeadman says
I have long held the opinion (and shared it with any who'd listen, a few who wouldn't, and a whole bunch that didn't give a shitake) CHUCK BERRY is the KING of Rock & Roll. Period, end of discussion.
Lester Jonze says
Absolutely! My dad made sure I knew about Chuck Berry by the time I was about six or seven. This song is from a later album from the early 70's called _The London Chuck Berry Sessions_, and it stands up as well as anything from his heyday.
Spike says
Not bad at all, Lester.
Another beautifully written post, Jonh. One of many things about Chuck Berry that astound me is that if you read out loud, conversationally, any of his song lyrics, their rhythms are already perfectly syncopated as is. If you ever come across the late-fifties rock & roll movie _Rock, Rock, Rock_, there's a brief scene of him talking with Alan Freed, and his presence, his personality, is mesmerizing enough to make me imagine him as a memorable movie actor.
Here's an unusual track from a 1967 LP otherwise riddled with inferior remakes.
Jonh Ingham says
ocean - how true. Facts or legend? Print the legend!
Lyrikhan - Not seen that before. I laughed at the look Jimmie Johnson gives about the 3rd time Keith gets it wrong. And props should go to Mr. J - what a pianist. [BTW, the song is 'Carol'.]
darmuzz - All kids' education should start with Chuck.
dm - You mean you don't field the inevitable question, 'Chuck who?'?
Lester - nice choice, Tho it's strange to hear Chuck sing 'blow your mind'.
Spike - That sounds like a fun jam. I've always had a fondness for the album tracks where he and the band explore what sound like styles they like in their leisure moments.
dermahrk says
I don't remember Chuck getting near enough MOG love in the past, so I'm glad to see this well-written post.
And I think only Dave Edmunds has mastered how to get that Chuck Berry beat going strong. Sounds simple, but....
FastRMacR says
CHOICE! Simply a _choice_ post/engaging discussion! Thanks much, Jonh.
I've heard that Chuck is still playing gigs .. still puts the Gibson in the case right after his show, walks out to his convertible and drives himself home.
An incredible music icon - There can be only one.
Bartleby says
An impishly perfect celebration of Johnny B Goode's creator. Speaking of which, I'm surprised you didn't mention this mojo song used in one the most cult trilogies in cinema: "Back To The Future."
I agree with you, the man is the Bard of Rock. * Happy birthday Mr Chuck *
Blue Meenie says
Jonh, great post. I have to agree with you 'bout Nadine. It's my fav as well! Close second and third gotta be, Little Queenie, and You can't catch me :) Chuck is the bomb!
I've heard him give so much credit to Jimmy Johnson, that it seems to me, Jimmy did much of the musical composing. Chuck just tries to copy the piano solos and comes up with these great licks, which are forever emblazoned in all our minds.
Keith never gives up in that film, and tries to be humble towards his sometimes torturous idol / mentor. Kudos to Keef!
Happy Birthday to the KING of Rock n' Roll !!!
2Serenity says
This is what happens when you go away on vacation and you miss everything! Dang..he is 81! Thank you for sharing. He is definitely a living legend. Loved his grooves all my life!
"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry."— John Lennon "There's only one true king of rock 'n' roll. His name is Chuck Berry."— Stevie Wonder“I stole every lick of mine from Chuck Berry.”-- Keith RichardsIt’s a happy 81st birthday to Chuck Berry. He may not have invented rock and roll but he was certainly its poet laureate. Plus he created a music blueprint he rarely strayed from and in it defined what our music’s about: a riveting intro, hip-shaking rhythm, a blazing guitar solo and lyrical themes of cars, escape, freedom, luxury and sex. To those of us who grew up outside of America, his songs described a Camelot land of dreams. It’s impossible to be a true rock and roll fan and not love Chuck Berry. Because without him so much of what followed wouldn’t have. No Beach Boys. No Beatles. No Stones. Forget Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. And no Dylan, who definitely studied Chuck’s poetry.Chuck can sound deceptively simple. Every song seems to start the same, but Aerosmith’s Joe Perry understands that it’s a lot more complicated: “A lot of people have done Chuck Berry songs, but to get that feel is really hard.”You’ve all heard Chuck – he’s the soundtrack when Travolta and Uma dance for the trophy in ‘Pulp Fiction’. There’s more poetry in that one song (“You Never Can Tell”) than there is in some band’s entire careers. Two examples of his flow? “With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye”…. “She moves around like a wayward summer breeze”….Chuck was in his 30s and 40s when he wrote his amazing odes, but somehow he understood the quintessence of teenage. Lyrics about trying to make it with girls, being a king of cool and the joy of hearing great music were mixed with Berryesque slang and shaken up in an atomic-age cocktail shaker. I love the way he used words like “motorvatin’,” “coolerator,” “calaboose,” “botheration”. My own favourite song is “Nadine”, a three verse travelogue in pursuit of the “future bride” who won’t give him the time of day.I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled backAnd started walking toward a coffee coloured CadillacI was pushing through the crowd to get to where she’s atCampaign shouting like a Southern diplomatDowntown searching for her, looking all aroundSaw her getting in a yellow cab heading up townI caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybody’s tabWith a twenty dollar bill, told him catch that yellow cab.My own Chuck Berry moment came in Paris in 1976 with my photographer friend Kate Simon. Strolling along a boulevard in mid-morning and coming towards us is Chuck Berry! With a statuesque blonde on his arm a good 6 inches taller than him. Kate calls out to him and asks to take a photo. He declines and asks if we speak French, because he's looking for a film projector he can rent and take back to his hotel room. Something about the hour, the blonde and his mission make it feel somewhat blue in hue. We happen to be outside a camera store so we all go in and Kate talks to the staff, while I'm thinking to myself, I'm standing with Chuck Berry! The blonde's expression never changes. They can't help him and as we leave there's another request for a photo which again he declines. But Kate gets ready anyway and 20 feet away he looks over his shoulder and casts her a lovely impish Chuck Berry smile.
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