October 18th is the 81st birthday of a man who helped write the book on rock and roll guitar... the one and only Chuck Berry. It's funny because just the other day I was tossing ideas around as to what I would write about Chuck when his birthday did come. Admittedly, I didn't realize that Chuck's birthday was on Thursday until I visited the blog of Dane Bramage (his webpage contains a birthday widget).One of the things that I have grown to admire about Chuck is that he does things the "Chuck Berry way". There are several scenes in the 1986 documentary "Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" that illustrate this point. If you are a fan and haven't seen this film, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite parts of the doc is when Bruce Springsteen talks about the time early in his career when he and the E Street Band backed up Chuck Berry one night. Bruce recalls that Chuck didn't show up until about 5 minutes before showtime. When Chuck did arrive, he headed straight to the promoter's office. Once Chuck left the office, Bruce and the band asked him what songs they were gonna do. Chuck replied, "We're gonna do some Chuck Berry songs." Probably the most famous scene in the film is when Chuck and Keith Richards have a heated exchange during a rehearsal for Chuck's 60th birthday concert. Lesson: whatever you do, don't ever mess with Chuck's guitar amp.
One of the most imitated performers in rock and roll, below are just a few examples of artists who have been influenced by Chuck.
1. The Beatles recorded Berry songs such as "Rock and Roll Music" and "Roll Over Beethoven" early in their career. Even towards the end of their time together, the Beatles were still being influenced by Chuck Berry. Their #1 hit "Come Together" contains the line "Here come old flat top he come moving up slowly". That's a direct rip from the Chuck Berry classic "You Can't Catch Me". It contains the lyric "Here come old flat top he come moving up with me". As a result, Chuck Berry's music publisher sued John Lennon for copyright infringement. The suit was eventually settled out of court. Ka-ching!
2. The Beach Boys hit "Surfin U.S.A." is a rewrite of "Sweet Little Sixteen". Basically what Brian Wilson did was use the melody of "Sweet Little Sixteen" and change the lyrics. Try playing both songs in your head if you doubt me. Eventually, the Beach Boys were forced to give Berry a co-writing credit in order to avoid a lawsuit. Again... Ka-ching!
3. The Rolling Stones (esp. Keith Richards) are some of the biggest disciples of Chuck Berry. Their very 1st single was a remake of the Berry tune "Come On". You can even hear Chuck's influence on such Stones classics as "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Tumbling Dice", and "Start Me Up" just to name a few.
4. Chuck's signature move, the Duckwalk, has been imitated by a variety of rock and rollers... mainly Angus Young of AC/DC.
When I think of all of the classics that Chuck recorded during the 50s and 60s, it amazes me that he had to wait until 1972 to have a #1 hit (My Ding-A-Ling) on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. You know that things are just not right when "You Light Up My Life" is allowed to clutter up the top of the charts for 10 weeks, while Berry songs such as "Johnny B. Goode" and "Sweet Little Sixteen" failed to land in the top spot for one lousy week.
Oh well... Chuck's music has stood the test of not only time, but space as well. In 1977, the Voyager Golden Record was included in the the spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Among the many sounds and images included on the record is the song "Johnny B. Goode". This means that in the far distant future, alien life form might be grooving to Chuck Berry. Take that Debby Boone!
Below is a clip of Chuck performing "You Can't Catch Me" in the 1956 film "Rock, Rock, Rock". He is introduced by legendary DJ Alan Freed.
5 comments:
Chuck Berry and possibly Little Richard are the undeniable "KINGS" of Rock and Roll. I don't care what you have heard to the contrary. The 50's were filled with wonderful music by Mr. Berry. In the early 80's I remember him playing in Michigan. That's when I found out that virtually every musician on the planet knew the music and all Mr. Berry had to do was show up with his guitar.
One of my favorite songs by Linda Ronstadt was her rendition of "Livin In The USA". I also loved "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Maybelline" and "Johnny B Goode". "My Dingaling" sucked, but you can't win em all. Anyhow Happy Birthday Mr. Berry!
My dad has always said that Chuck Berry was one of the greatest of his generation. I should send him over to read your post!
I would say Chuck, Little Richard and Fats Domino were the first triumvirate of rock.
Every year those three live reinforces my faith in divine justice.
Berry thought that what he and the others were doing in the 1950s helped the civil rights movement almost as much as such leaders as Martin Luther King. That might have sounded pretntious at the time, but in truth, he might have undersold it just a tad.
Pjazzy: You mean Elvis isn't the King? I thought if people said it enough that would make it true. I remember when Chuck played at the Pontiac Silverdome in the early 80s (I wonder if that's the show you are referring to).
It's funny how things work out. "My Ding-A-Ling" is easily his weakest single, but it turns out to be his only #1 hit.
Holly: By all means, send your dad over. Did your dad turn you into a Chuck Berry fan or do you still need to be converted?
X. Dell: I never heard Berry's theory regarding he and his contemporaries' hand in the civil rights movement. He makes a very valid point though.
My wife and I got to dance with Chuck Berry on stage at a party we crashed. It was a wonderful evening we will remember the rest of our lives.
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