| Purchase Tickets Online for Chuck Berry Concerts at Blueberry Hill (St.Three Chuck Berry songs will be featured on an upcoming Saturday Night Live DVD out December 2007.Chuck Berry 2008 Concert Schedule AnnouncedThe 2008 Concert schedule has been announced.Russia are among a few of the stop for Chuck Berry this season.More tour dates may be added to the schedule as they are confirmed and come available to us.The Official Site of Chuck Berry has everything you want to know
about this dynamic artist.Looking for Chuck Berry lyrics?Or maybe you're here to find out which song was Chuck's only No.Visit the Music section for all your answers.Have you created your own Tribute to Chuck Berry?The Official Web Site of Chuck Berry.CMG Worldwide is the exclusive business representative for the Estate of Chuck Berry.Shopping for Chuck Berry Books, CDs and Videos and the latest products has never been easier!Sweden on July 18, 2007.Chuck Berry is an influential figure and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music.According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together."He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers."John Lennon was more succinct: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."Domingo, Angela Lansbury, and Clint Eastwood.The Immortals: The First Fifty.He was also ranked 6th on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included three of Chuck Berry's songs (Johnny B.Touring as Chuck Berry, the legend (1970s)
1.Influence
3 Chuck Berry songs
4 References in popular culture
5 Discography
5.Berry was the third child in a family of six.His middle class upbringing allowed him to pursue his interest in music from an early age and he made his first public performance while still at Sumner High School.In 1944, before he could graduate, he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery after taking a joy ride with his friends to Kansas City, Missouri.In his 1987 autobiography, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, he retells the story that his car broke down on the side of a highway and, not having a way home, flagged down a passing car.Berry attempted to commandeer the man's car at gunpoint with a non functional pistol.The carjacked man called the police from a nearby pay phone who quickly pulled over Berry in the car and arrested him and his friends.Chuck Berry had been playing the blues since his teens and according to the 1987 Taylor Hackford film "Chuck Berry: Hail!Rock 'n' Roll,", and used both guitar riffs and grandstanding done earlier by jump blues player T Bone Walker.After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."He also began singing the songs of Nat King Cole and Muddy Waters.Berry thought his blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording by Bob Wills, entitled "Ida Red" that got Chess's attention.In recent years, Chess had seen the blues market shrink and was looking to move beyond the rhythm and blues market, and he thought Berry might be that artist who could do it.So on May 21, 1955 Berry covered "Ida Red" (renamed "Maybellene") with Johnny Johnson, Jerome Green (from Bo Diddley's band) on the maracas, Jasper Thomas on the drums and blues legend Willie Dixon on the bass.Billboard Top 100 chart.The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the top 10 U."School Days," "Rock and Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Johnny B.He also had a taste for the "Spanish tinge", as in "La Juanda" and "Havana Moon".Berry appeared in two early rock 'n' roll movies.The first was Rock Rock Rock released in 1956.He is shown singing "You Can't Catch Me."Alan Freed, and also shown performing his songs "Johnny B.Goode," "Memphis, Tennessee," and "Little Queenie."By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star with several hit records and film appearances to his name, as well as a lucrative touring career.He had also established his own St.Apache waitress whom he met in Mexico to work as a hat check girl at his club.Berry resumed recording and placed six singles in the U.In 1966 Berry left Chess Records, moving to the Mercury label.Chuck during the Mercury era.He was still a top concert draw, however, and in July 1969 Berry was the headliner of the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park, along with The Byrds, Miles Davis, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, B.King, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and Patti LaBelle.The track became Berry's only No."The London Chuck Berry Sessions" which was part of a series of several albums by that title which included other Chess mainstay artists Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.Berry's second tenure with Chess ended with the 1973 album Bio, after which he did not make a studio record for 6 years.Touring as Chuck Berry, the legend (1970s)
In the 1970s Berry toured on the basis of his earlier successes.Neither did he either speak to or thank the band after the show.Internal Revenue Service's accusations that Berry was a chronic income tax evader.At the request of Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry performed at The White House on June 1, 1979.In 1986, Taylor Hackford made a documentary film, Hail!Keith Richards was the musical leader.Eric Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon, Robert Cray and Linda Ronstadt, among others, appeared with Berry on stage and film.Richards played a black Fender Custom Telecaster, Cray a Fender Stratocaster and Clapton a Gibson ES 350T, the same guitar Berry used on his early recordings.In the late 1980s, Berry owned a restaurant in Wentzville, Missouri, called The Southern Air.For many years, Berry hosted rock concerts throughout the summer at Berry Park.Current activities
Currently, Berry performs one Wednesday each month at Blueberry Hill, a restaurant and bar located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in St.Influence
A pioneer of rock and roll, Chuck Berry was a significant influence on the development of early rock and roll guitar techniques and a major catalyst in the rhythm and blues to rock and roll transition.He was the first to define the classic subjects of rock and roll in his songwriting; cars, girls and school.His guitar style is legendary and many later guitar musicians acknowledge him as a major influence in their own style.When Keith Richards inducted Berry into the Hall of Fame he said, "It's hard for me to induct Chuck Berry, because I lifted every lick he ever played!".Richard Berry (no relation) drew on Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon" as an inspiration for his own song, the now classic "Louie Louie".John Lennon borrowed a line from Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" for his song "Come Together", and was subsequently sued by Berry's music publisher Morris Levy.Nevertheless, they became good friends and played together on more than one occasion.DC and many other rock guitarists.In the 1980s, George Thorogood created a reasonable career out of what was essentially a Chuck Berry tribute show.While there is debate about who recorded the first rock and roll record, Chuck Berry's early recordings, including his cover of the 1938 country hit "Ida Red", entitled "Maybellene" (1955), are among the first fully synthesized rockabilly singles, combining blues and country music with lyrics about girls and cars.The kids wanted the big beat, cars and young love.Throughout his career Berry recorded both smooth ballads like "Havana Moon" and blues tunes like "Wee Wee Hours".UK and he found his songs being covered by hundreds of blues, country and rock and roll performers.Eight was also named 21st on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time feature.Please improve this article if you can.The song was also featured in the feature film Back to the Future.The band The Grateful Dead recorded this song in the 1970s.Judas Priest did so as well in the 80's.Johnny Winter's version boasts "he could play a guitar like a bat out of Hell".The station's classical audience was so outraged they successfully petitioned the FCC to force a return to the previous format.The Sonics also covered the song on their album Here Are the Sonics.It was famously covered by the Rolling Stones during their 1971 UK Tour and by Yardbirds on their Live at Craw Daddy Club album.Rex borrows the line, "Meanwhile I'm still thinkin", at the conclusion of "Bang A Gong".The British rock supergroup Queen references the song (and themselves) in the song "Now I'm Here" with the line "Go!"Same thing every day, gettin' up, goin' to school, no need of me complaining, my objection's overruled".The Beatles' "Back in the USSR", covered by the MC5 and the Modern Lovers.Berry's lyrics and some of Mack's improvisations.Bobby Troup and originally performed by Nat King Cole.Similar to Berry's "Come On", the Rolling Stones recorded a cover of it, which appeared as the first track on their first album.CD Anthology set has better sound and provides a more complete overview of his musical output.Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty McFly anachronistically performs "Johnny B.Goode" at a 1955 school concert.Your cousin, Marvin Berry?!The Gibson ES 335, 345 and 355 were not produced until 1958.In Stephen King's novel Christine, many chapters open with lyric fragments from Berry's songs.In the Saturday Night Live broadcast of April 22, 1978, Steve Martin appeared as a psychic in a mock news show entitled "Next Week in Review."The message: "Send more Chuck Berry."On the Disney cartoon The Proud Family, Sticky Webb, in a flashback of Penny Proud's in "I Had A Dream", was dressed up as Chuck Berry.However, Penny's response to this claim was "Who's Chuck Berry?"Penny told Sticky about it after waking up, he asked "Chuck Who?"In the episode "Chick Cancer" from the cartoon Family Guy, A commercial for a parody of Welch's juice is made with Chuck Berry as the new spokesperson for the juice to replace Olivia, Stewie Griffin's acting partner and now wife.Goode" who eventually turns out to be played by Stephen King.Dar Williams references Chuck Berry in her song "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono," singing "and when he whispered old Chuck Berry only then would Yoko set him free."The Toasters have a song called Chuck Berry about the musical genre ska.The lyrics say, "In their eyes where does Chuck Berry fit?Well he influences the Ska, that's the long and the short of it.And the rest is history, just as everybody knows...."Gilberto Gil created a song Chuck Berry Fields Forever about the creation of rock and roll.Side configurations as in the US.Box Hits (1961)
Chuck Berry Twist (1962)
Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits (1964)
Two Great Guitars (with Bo Diddley) (1964)
St.In Memphis (1967)
From St.Live albums
Chuck Berry on Stage (1963) (Actually studio recordings with overdubbed M.The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 2)
Chuck Berry Live in Concert (1978)
Chuck Berry Live (1981)
Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival 1969 Vol.II (1982)
Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival 1969 Vol.Rock 'N' Roll (1987)
Live!Anthologies
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade (1967)
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Vol.Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Vol.Roll Music (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Chuck Berry (1999)
Johnny B.Goode (Legacy) (2000)
Anthology (2000)
Blast from the Past: Chuck Berry (2001)
Johnny B.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.Rolling Stone Issue 946.The Immortals: The First Fifty.Rock pioneer Johnson dies aged 80.This page was last modified 19:35, 15 January 2008.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.Certainly the single most important black artist in rock and roll, Chuck
Berry is arguably the most important figure, regardless of race, in rock history.The
archetypal rock and roller, Chuck Berry melded blues, country, and a witty, defiant teen
outlook into songs that influenced vitally every rock musician in his wake.He achieved all of this with a driving rock and roll rhythm that was, if
not brand new certainly unique enough to be instantly recognizable.When performing his material Berry made sure to enunciate clearly, singing outside the
standard blues realm, and he improvised lyrics that caused to audience to pay closer
attention.Chuck Berry was born October 18, 1926 in St.Henry, was a contractor and deacon of the nearby Antioch
Baptist Church.The third of six children, he grew up in The Ville, an area just north of
downtown St.Louis which was one of the few areas in the city where Blacks could own
property.Consequently, during the 1920's and 30's, The Ville became synonymous
with Black prosperity.Louis church's Baptist choir at age six.But music was not his only focus at that
time.Intermediate Reformatory for Young
Men at Algoa, near Jefferson, Missouri.While there Berry joined a gospel group and boxed
briefly before being released on his 21st birthday in 1947.Berry worked as a janitor at the Fisher Body auto assembly plant, trained
to be a hairdresser at the Poro School, freelanced as a photographer, assisted his father
as a carpenter, and began his career as a musician.During this time he was playing the
guitar and developing a reputation around St.In 1952 Chuck Berry began to play professionally at different clubs in St.Chuck Berry
Induction Year: 1986
Induction Category: Performer
"While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together.Charles Edward Berry was born in St.It also had a lot to do with his knack for language.TIMELINE
October 18, 1926: Charles ("Chuck") Edward Anderson Berry is born in St.May 1, 1955: Chuck Berry signs with Chess Records, landing a contract on the strength of his songwriting.Both singles are released on Chess Records.May 31, 1961: Berryland Amusement Park opens outside St.Top 40 at a time when Chuck Berry is serving a term in a federal penitentiary for violating the Mann Act.The concert, held in Santa Monica, California, is released the next year as a feature film.Santa Monica, CA, featuring James Brown, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones and the Supremes.June 1, 1966: Chuck Berry leaves Chess for Mercury Records.June 1, 1979: Chuck Berry performs at the White House at the request of President Jimmy Carter.February 26, 1985: Chuck Berry is given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.January 23, 1986: Chuck Berry is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City.Chuck Berry, because I lifted every lick he ever played!Chuck Berry, with Keith Richards as musical director, debuts.Chuck Berry is filed on behalf of pianist Johnny Johnson.Maybellene
Rock and Roll Music
Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Too Much Monkey Business
Roll Over Beethoven
Sweet Little Sixteen
School Day
Johnny B.Chuck Berry's longtime pianist Johnnie Johnson died on April 13, 2005.We have no further details at this time.And he did some kind of duckwalk, which I've never seen but apparently was pretty cool.There has been some dispute about how much of his classic songbook was actually written by pianist Johnnie Johnson, who sued him in the 80s...Berry says if Johnson really thought he'd been ripped off, he wouldn't have waited that long to do something about it, which seems reasonable.His voice was decent enough, with remarkably crisp enunciation though not too expressive, and he did have a tendency to repeat his lead guitar riffs.Rolling Stones
"Back In The U.And that's not even counting the homages ("Back In The U."Too Much Monkey Business" is even better, a motormouthed rant with equally impressive delivery and wordplay.There are also some instrumentals which are just excuses for Berry's enjoyable soloing (the fast "Roly Poly," the slow slide feature "Deep Feeling"), but not a single misfire.Latin mishmash "Hey Pedro," and another slide instrumental "Blues for Hawaiians."Each has clever lyrics, though they're all rehashes of his classic sound, and a couple of other tunes are even more blatant ("Go Bobby Soxer," which manages to reuse bits and pieces from half a dozen Berry songs).As usual, he stretches most on the instrumentals: "Liverpool Drive" has some manic soloing though the title seems purely inspired by marketing rather than any audible Mop Top influence; "Night Beat" does live up to its name, a quietly desperate evocation of a nightclub after closing.At the dawn of the CD age, Chess decided to release this collection of alternate takes and mixes rather than reissuing the original albums."Back To Memphis," "Sweet Little Rock And Roller") or standards ("Goodnight Well It's Time
To Go," "Ramblin' Rose," "It Hurts Me Too").Despite all that, the record's enjoyable enough, with louder guitars and more prominent sax than his Chess work.I'll dig out my copy and review it comprehensively at some point.My Heart Will Always Belong To You
6.Berry fell back on the Chicago blues that had brought him to Chess in the first place.Back Home (1970)
The title refers to his return to Chess Records."London Berry Blues," "Let's Boogie").The title track, a bittersweet summary of Berry's recording career, was a single, but it's not particularly gripping; the lengthy "Talkin' About My Buddy" is downright depressing.Berry trades solos with a sax player (uncredited, like the other players).Rock It (1979)
The single was "California."Berry seems to be in a good mood, but he dashes through each tune as if it was past his dinnertime ("Around And Around").Your search did not match any products.Too many keywords can constrain your search.Use fewer keywords to find more results.If you want to specify which of your search terms should match the author's name and which should match the title, you should conduct an Advanced Search.View or change your orders in Your Account.Visit our Help department.You have no recently viewed items or searches.Daughter: Ingrid Berry claySon: Chuck Berry, Jr.Hollywood Walk of Fame 1777 N.Do you know something we don't?Object MovedThis object may be found here.Select Article
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Guitarist and singer Chuck Berry's output from 1955 to 1965 includes some of the earliest classics in rock history, from "Maybellene" and "Rock 'n' Roll Music" to "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B.Louis in the early 1950s.His 1955 hit "Maybellene" made him a national star, and he followed with a string of hit records that appealed to both black and white audiences.His career was briefly derailed in the early 1960s, when he ran afoul of the law and ended up spending three years in prison.American whose influence on rock 'n' roll was overshadowed by the popularity of white artists such as The Beatles and the The Rolling Stones.Berry claims he was born in St.Geils Band,
John Fogerty,
The Flamin' Groovies,
Joe Ely,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Dave Edmunds,
Dr.Bonds,
The Blues Project,
The Blasters,
The Black Crowes,
The Big Bopper,
George Bedard,
The Beatles,
The Beach Boys,
The Band,
The Animals,
Phil Alvin,
Dave Alvin,
The Allman Brothers Band,
Aerosmith,
Lonnie Mack,
John Hammond, Jr.Worked With:
Eddie Hardy,
Jasper Thomas,
Lafayette Leake,
L.Quite simply, without him, there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, nor a myriad others.There would be no standard "Chuck Berry guitar intro," the instrument's clarion call to get the joint rockin' in any setting.Chuck Berry was its heartbeat and original mindset.Jay McShann's big band number, "Confessin' the Blues."He quickly found out that black audiences liked a wide variety of music and set himself to the task of being able to reproduce as much of it as possible.Berry's showmanlike flair, coupled with his seemingly inexhaustible supply of fresh verses to old favorites, quickly made him a name on the circuit.In 1954, he ended up taking over pianist Johnny Johnson's small combo and a residency at the Cosmopolitan Club soon made the Chuck Berry Trio the top attraction in the black community, with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm their only real competition.Upon listening to Berry's homemade demo tape, label president Leonard Chess professed a liking for a hillbilly tune on it named "Ida Red" and quickly scheduled a session for May 21, 1955.Billboard pop chart, its overall influence was massive and groundbreaking in its scope.Helping to put the record over to a white teenage audience was the highly influential New York disc jockey Alan Freed, who had been given part of the writers' credit by Chess in return for his spins and plugs.Within a years' time, Chuck had gone from a local St."Little Queenie," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Johnny B.Goode," and the tune that defined the moment perfectly, "Rock and Roll Music."He started investing heavily in St.By decade's end, he was as in demand as ever, working every oldies revival show, TV special, and festival that was thrown his way.Upon release this time, the creative days of Chuck Berry seemed to have come to an end.In 1987, he published his first book, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, and the same year saw the film release of what will likely be his lasting legacy, the rockumentary Hail!Major Genres: Music, Musical
Career Highlights: Chuck Berry: Hail!Let the Good Times Roll
First Major Screen Credit: Rock, Rock, Rock!Chuck Berry was born in California and raised in St.Blues groups in the 1950s, notably Johnny Johnson's.Berry himself could still be heard on some emboldened radio stations who weren't concerned about offending the bigots.Rock and Roll (57) and Go, Johnny Go (58).Having appeared with disc jockey Alan Freed in the last two films, Berry was a logical choice to appear in the 1978 Freed biopic American Hot Wax, which starred Gary Busey.Chuck Berry was the whole show in the 1987 "rockumentary" Chuck Berry: Hail!Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry (born 1926), creator of the "duck walk" and known as the "father of rock and roll," has been a major influence on popular music.Even though his career and life reached great peaks and declined to low valleys, he still prevails in music while his contemporaries have vanished."If there were a single fountainhead for rock guitar, Chuck Berry would be it," wrote Gene Santoro in The Guitar.From the Beach Boys and the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix and on to Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan, every popular musician knows the impact that Chuck Berry has had on popular music.As Eric Clapton stated, there's really no other way to play rock and roll.Took up Guitar in Junior HighBorn in 1926, Berry didn't take up the guitar until he was in junior high school thirteen years later.He spent his teen years developing his chops while working with his father doing carpentry.Near the end of 1952 he received a call from a piano player named Johnnie Johnson asking him to play a New Year's Eve gig at the Cosmopolitan Club.Berry accepted, and for the next three years the band literally ruled the Cosmo Club (located at the corner of 17th and Bond St.At the beginning the band (which included Ebby Hardy on drums), was called Sir John's Trio and played mostly hillbilly, country, and honky tonk tunes.Berry's influence changed not only their name (to the Chuck Berry Combo) but also their style.Met Idol Muddy WatersWhile the swing guitarists had a major impact on his playing, it was the blues, especially that of Muddy Waters, that caught Berry's attention.He and a friend went to see the master perform at a Chicago club, and with some coaxing, Berry mustered the nerve to speak with his idol.Those very famous words were, 'Yeah, see Leonard Chess.Berry flatly rejects the story of him hopping on stage and showing up Waters: "I was a stranger to Muddy and in no way was I about to ask my godfather if I could sit in and play."But he did take the advice and went to see the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil.They were interested in the young artist but wanted to hear a demo tape before actually cutting any songs.So Berry hurried back home, recorded some tunes and headed back to Chicago."It was a trend and we jumped on it."Berry was a tremendous hit on the touring circuit, utilizing what is now known as his trademark.He explained its development in his autobiography: "A brighter seat of my memories is based on pursuing my rubber ball.Once it happened to bounce under the kitchen table, and I was trying to retrieve it while it was still bouncing.But this time my manner of retrieving the ball created a big laugh from Mother's choir members.An act was in the making.The money from touring and record royalties were filling his pockets enough for Berry to start spending on some of the dreams he had long held.Cadillacs, his pride and joy."To own a piece of land is like getting the closest to God, I'd say."Berry was charged with transporting a teenage girl across a state line for immoral purposes.He spent from February 19, 1962 until October 18, 1963 behind bars at the Federal Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri.For years Berry denied this, claiming he was acquitted and never served time.He used his prison term constructively though, taking courses to complete his high school education and also by penning some of his most notable songs: "Tulane," "No Particular Place To Go," and "Nadine."By the time Berry was released from jail the British Invasion was about to take over.Groups like the Beatles were churning out cover versions of Berry classics and turning whole new audiences on to him.Stones have done over ten of his tunes), Berry sees only the positive aspects."It struck me that my material was becoming marketable, a recognizable product, and if these guys could do such a good job as to get a hit, well, fantastic.I'm just glad it was my song."While his style is remarkably simple, it is also next to impossible to duplicate with the same feel and sense of humor.Shrewd Rock and Roller"Chuck Berry dominated much of the early rock scene by his complete mastery of all its aspects: playing, performing, songwriting, singing and a shrewd sense of how to package himself as well," wrote Santoro.Chess to Mercury Records from 1966 to 1969 did little to help.This has led to many complaints from fans and critics alike that his performances are sometimes shoddy and careless.Ling," from The London Chuck Berry Sessions.The operation resulted in the confiscation of marijuana and hashish and pornographic videotapes and films, but charges against the entertainer were later dismissed.In 1986 Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard, perhaps the ultimate student of the Chuck Berry School of Guitar, decided to put it all together with a 60th birthday party concert to be filmed and released as a movie, Hail!Louis's Fox Theater, a venue which had at one time refused a youthful Berry entrance because of his skin color.The show featured Berry's classic songs with Richard, Johnnie Johnson, Robert Cray, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, and Julian Lennon also performing.Goode" is riding around in outer space on the Voyager I just waiting to be heard by aliens.Despite the accolades, in his own book Berry shrugs off his contributions, stating that "my view remains that I do not deserve all the reward directed on my account for the accomplishments credited to the rock 'n' roll bank of music."Nevertheless, Rolling Stone's Dave Marsh's words seem to be more appropriate: "Chuck Berry is to rock what Louis Armstrong was to jazz."Rock Revolution, by the editors of Creem magazine, Popular Library, 1976.Rolling Stone Press, 1981.Rolling Stone Press, 1979.Guitar Player, February, 1981; May, 1984; June, 1984; January, 1985; January, 1987; November, 1987; December, 1987; March, 1988.Louis, MO to Henry (a carpenter) and Martha Berry; married to Themetta with three daughters and one son.Roll of a concert played in honor of his sixtieth birthday, 1986; wrote and published his own autobiography entitled Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, 1987.Life's WorkChuck Berry embodied the spirit of rock and roll as a pioneer of the new musical movement in the 1950s.Goode" for appreciative audiences.Although scandal often dogged his career, Berry managed to overcome his personal obstacles to retain his revered place in rock and roll history.Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926, in St.When the baby began to yell loudly immediately upon his entry into the world, Henry and Martha Berry experienced the first performance of one of the most influential and prolific figures of the early years of rock and roll.By the age of 17, he had a job playing records for soldiers at USO dances, and the ready access to money and girls tempted him away from school and church.On their way home Berry and his two friends were caught by the police after stealing a car.Berry went to a prison called Algoa, where he lived in a dormitory with other prisoners.In early 1946 he participated in the St.Golden Gloves boxing competition, but life in prison mainly involved doing laundry and keeping out of the way.Berry began working as a carpenter with his father and bought a 1941 Buick Roadmaster.He met Themetta Suggs at a local fair and the two soon fell in love.Almost one year after being released from prison Berry married Themetta.By the end of 1950 Berry and his wife had their first child and he had bought his first electric guitar.He joined a trio and developed his musical style at a nightclub every Friday and Saturday night.He soon was headlining at a bigger, more popular nightclub in St.Louis, playing everything from the blues to country western.Career is BornOn a trip to Chicago Berry met his idol, legendary blues man Muddy Waters, who suggested that he visit Chess Records if he wanted to record some of his songs."Maybellene" in exchange for his promotion of the song on his show.As early as 1956 Berry became a wholly independent contractor, disdaining even to employ a permanent backup band.He explained to Rolling Stone how he inadvertently invented his trademark "duck walk" at a 1956 concert at the Paramount Theater in New York: "I had to outfit my trio, ...They were rayon, but looked like seersucker by the time we got there.Apart from his musical career, Berry opened Club Bandstand, a local nightclub, and bought land for what was to become Berry Park Country Club.Berry served a shortened sentence and returned to his life as a musician.However, the music scene had changed during his prison term as the British Invasion swept America, and Berry found his popularity waning.Ling" became an instant hit.One year later the Internal Revenue Service began investigating Berry in what would culminate in a 1979 trial for tax evasion.Berry pleaded guilty to a reduced sentence and received 120 days in jail and 1,000 hours of community service.On April 10, 1979, Berry began his sentence at Lompoc Prison Camp in southern California.Berry took his guitar, writing tablets, and two dictionaries with the intention of writing his autobiography, which was published in 1987.Keith Richards, an unabashed Berry acolyte, served as musical director.No one knew a thing about this guy.Green, and took a typically businesslike approach: "I have stayed in music because the business interested me and for a long time I had a family to support and I was paying for a house."WorksSelected DiscographyAfter School Sessions, Chess, 1958.Chuck Berry on Stage, Chess, 1963.With Bo Diddley) Two Great Guitars, Checker, 1964.Chuck Berry in London, Chess, 1965.Chuck Berry in Memphis, Chess, 1967.Live at the Filmore, Chess, 1967.The London Chuck Berry Sessions, Chess, 1972.Chuck Berry: The Autobiography.The Rolling Stone Interviews.PeriodicalsPeople Weekly, November 3, 1986.He continued to perform into the 1990s.Chuck Berry,
visit Britannica."If you tried to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry,'" John Lennon of the Beatles once said.The Voyager I spacecraft, heading out toward distant galaxies, includes among its messages to other worlds a recording of "Johnny B.Its success only underscored the fact that none of his classic records ever sold as well as those of white crooners like Pat Boone.As a rock lyricist, Berry was among the best.His lyrics convey an immense, childlike delight in linguistic play, cataloging the fun and frustrations in the lives of white teenagers.That these lyrics were the work of a black man in his thirties makes them especially remarkable.Ultimately, every great white guitar group of the early sixties imitated Berry's style."In 1987 he published a widely praised autobiography.Rock 'n' Roll, available on home video, documents his career.Bibliography: Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography (1987); Robert Christgau, "Chuck Berry," in Jim Miller, ed.In 1962 he was sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes.His creative output subsequently dwindled and he cut his last record in 1981, butt he continued to be an active and popular performer into the 21st cent.Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.American rock 'n' roll musician and composer, who influenced many musicians of the 1950s and 1960s, including the Beatles and Bob Dylan.Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born 18 October 1926, St.According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll,
Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together."He is its
greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest
performers."John
Lennon was more succinct: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame on its opening in 1986.Louis neighborhood known as "The Ville", an area where many middle class St.Louis blacks lived
at the time.His father was a contractor and a deacon of a nearby Baptist church, his mother a
qualified principal.His middle class upbringing allowed him to pursue his interest in
music from an early age and he made his first public performance while still in high school.In his 1987
autobiography, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, he retells the story that his car broke down on the side of a highway and,
not having a way home, flagged down a passing car.The carjacked man called the police from a nearby pay phone who quickly pulled over Berry in the car and arrested him and
his friends.Berry was released from the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men at
Algoa, near Jefferson, Missouri on his 21st birthday in 1947.Early career
Chuck Berry had been playing the blues since his teens and according to the 1987
Taylor Hackford film "Chuck Berry: Hail!Although the band played mostly blues and ballads, the most popular music among whites in the area was hillbilly.After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly
stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."Berry's calculated showmanship began luring larger white audiences to the club.He also began singing the songs of
Nat King Cole and Muddy Waters.In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago where he met Waters himself, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess of Chess Records.Berry thought his blues material
would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording by Bob Wills, entitled "Ida Red" that got Chess's attention.In the autumn of 1957 Berry joined the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and other rising stars of the new
rock and roll to tour the United States.The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles
during this period, including the top 10 U.The first was Rock Rock Rock released in 1956.After being fired from the club, the girl was arrested on a
prostitution charge and Berry was arrested under the Mann
Act.Alan Freed's payola conviction
gave rock and roll an image problem that limited its acceptance into mainstream U.Berry resumed recording and placed six singles in the U.In 1990, Berry was sued by several women who claimed that he had installed a video
camera in the ladies' bathrooms at two of his St.Chuck during the Mercury era.He returned to Chess from 1970 to 1975.This song is Berry's only No.Touring as Chuck Berry, the legend
In the 1970s Berry toured on the basis of his earlier successes.He was on the road for many years, carrying only his
Gibson guitar, confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music
no matter where he went.Springsteen related in
the video Hail!Internal Revenue Service's accusations that Berry was a
chronic income tax evader.At the request of Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry performed at The White House on June 1, 1979.In 1979, Berry released Rockit for Atco Records, his last studio album to
date.In 1986, Taylor Hackford made a documentary
film, Hail!Keith Richards was the musical leader.Eric
Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon,
Robert Cray and Linda Ronstadt, among others,
appeared with Berry on stage and film.Image Entertainment released a new version of the film in June 2006, which
contains the original movie and bonus material such as rehearsals and documentaries.In the late 1980s, Berry owned a restaurant in Wentzville, Missouri, called The
Southern Air.Influence
A pioneer of rock and roll, Chuck Berry was a significant influence on the development of early rock and roll guitar
techniques and a major catalyst in the rhythm and blues to rock and roll transition.He was the first to define the classic subjects of rock and roll in his
songwriting; cars, girls and school.When Keith Richards inducted Berry into the Hall of Fame he said, "It's hard for me to induct Chuck
Berry, because I lifted every lick he ever played!".Richard Berry (no relation) drew on
Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon" as an inspiration for his own song, the now classic
"Louie Louie".John Lennon borrowed a line from Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" for his song "Come Together", and was
subsequently sued by Berry's music publisher Morris Levy.Nevertheless, they became good friends and played together on more than one occasion.DC, who has cited Berry as one of his
biggest influences, is famous for using Berry's duckwalk as one of his gimmicks.DC and many other rock guitarists."In the 1980s, George Thorogood created a reasonable career out of what was essentially a Chuck Berry tribute show.While there is debate about who recorded the first rock and roll record,
Chuck Berry's early recordings, including his cover of the 1938 country hit "Ida Red", entitled
"Maybellene" (1955), are among the first fully synthesized
rockabilly singles, combining blues and country music
with lyrics about girls and cars.Reelin' and Rockin'", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and
"Rock and Roll Music".History, the rest, you know?The kids wanted the big beat, cars and young love.It
was a trend and we jumped on it."Poet of Rock 'n'
Roll:
While Elvis was a country boy who sang "black" to some degree ...UK and he found
his songs being covered by hundreds of blues, country and rock and roll performers.Berry was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in
1984.In 2003, Rolling Stone named him number six on their list of the 100 Greatest
Guitarists of All Time.In 2004 six of his songs were included in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, namely "Johnny B.Chuck Berry songs
Many of his songs are among the leading rock and roll anthems:
"Johnny B.Johnny Winter's version
boasts "he could play a guitar like a bat out of Hell".The Beatles on their 1964 album
Beatles for Sale and by the Beach Boys on their 1976 album 15 Big Ones.Tchaikovsky the news" a battle yell for rock and roll.In 1973, new owners of New York City
classical music station WNCN announced a change of format
to rock and roll by interrupting a performance of the Mozart Requiem with "Roll Over Beethoven".The Sonics also covered the song on their album Here
Are the Sonics.This song has been recorded by David Bowie, The
Animals, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful
Dead, and Maureen Tucker of The Velvet
Underground.Rex borrows the line, "Meanwhile I'm still thinkin", at the conclusion of
"Bang A Gong".Go, Go, Go, Little Genie.Bluegrass standard "Ida Red"."Same thing every day, gettin' up, goin' to school, no need of me complaining, my
objection's overruled".New
Orleans novelty song that he had been singing for years and included on a live recording in Coventry in February,
1972.Also recorded by Emmylou Harris, and
Bob Seger on his Greatest Hits album, under the title "C'est la Vie."Similar to Berry's "Come On", the Rolling Stones
recorded a cover of it, which appeared as the first track on their first album.Trivia sections are discouraged under
Wikipedia guidelines.In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty
McFly anachronistically performs "Johnny B.Goode" at a 1955 school concert.During the performance, the band's lead singer is shown on the phone saying "Chuck,
Chuck, it's Marvin!You know that new sound you're looking for?In Stephen King's novel Christine, many
chapters open with lyric fragments from Berry's songs.In the Bob Seger song "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," one line states that "All of Chuck's children are out there, playin' his
licks."The message: "Send more Chuck Berry."On the Disney cartoon The Proud
Family, Sticky Webb, in a flashback of Penny Proud's in "I Had A Dream", was dressed up as Chuck Berry.However,
Penny's response to this claim was "Who's Chuck Berry?"In the episode "Chick Cancer" from the cartoon Family
Guy, A commercial for a parody of Welch's juice is made with Chuck Berry as the new spokesperson for the juice to
replace Oliva, Stewie Griffin's acting partner and now wife.Goode" who eventually turns out to be played by Stephen
King.Dar Williams references Chuck Berry in her song "I Wont Be Your Yoko Ono," singing "and
when he whispered old Chuck Berry only then would Yoko set him free."The Toasters have a song called Chuck Berry about the musical genre ska.The lyrics say, "In their eyes where does Chuck Berry fit?Well he influences the Ska, that's the long and the
short of it.And the rest is history, just as everybody knows..."Gilberto Gil created a song Chuck Berry Fields Forever about the creation of
Rock and Roll.On his birthday Adult Swim's website's opening page said "Happy Birtday Chuck".Side configurations as in the US.Box Hits (1961)
Chuck Berry Twist (1962)
Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits (1964)
Two Great Guitars (with Bo Diddley)
(1964)
St.Live albums
Chuck Berry on Stage (1963) (Actually studio recordings with overdubbed
M.The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 2)
Chuck Berry Live in Concert (1978)
Chuck Berry Live (1981)
Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival 1969 Vol.Anthologies
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade (1967)
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Vol.Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Vol.Roll Music (1998)
20th Century Masters: The
Millennium Collection: The Best of Chuck Berry (1999)
Johnny B.Goode (Legacy) (2000)
Anthology (2000)
Blast from the Past: Chuck Berry (2001)
Johnny B.Rolling Stone Issue 946.Rolling Stone Issue 946.The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Post a question or answer questions about "Chuck Berry" at WikiAnswers.See the Chuck Berry biography from Who2.Read more
Black Biography.Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia.Read more
Fine Arts Dictionary.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chuck Berry".How did chuck berry become famous?Why did Chuck Berry stopped singing?Is chuck berry dead?What movie was the Chuck Berry song 'You Never Can Tell' in?Do you have the answers?What do people research in Antarctica?How do you make a chef hat?Are clownfish bony fish?Lyrics to practically every song Chuck has ever written can now be found at the Chuck Berry, Rock 'n' Roll Poet site; it takes a while to download, but most of the lyrics have been transcribed correctly.However, there is a version of the guitar parts for Johnny B.Goode here, though I have no idea how accurate it is.Louis' famed Blueberry Hill.Booking Information
For information on booking Chuck Berry, contact:
Dick Alen
William Morris Agency
151 El Camino Dr.The Chuck Berry Page now has its own picture gallery.AMJAM Festival, Washington D.Picture from Robert Altman Communications
(a version of which appears at the top of this page)
Picture by Steve Taylor.Another Picture by Steve Taylor.Picture of Chuck Berry's hands on the Hollywood RockWalk
Picture of Chuck by Ron Wood (yes, the Ron Wood) from A2 Gallery in Japan.Frankfurt, Germany in 1973 from Fergusson Studios in California.Cozette "Momma" Murphy's Homepage has some nice pictures from one of Chuck's Blueberry Hill shows.Chuck Berry Page by Roine Wik.Chuck Berry News by Johan Hasselberg.Chuck Berry homepage by Maurice Fletcher.Rock and Roll by Wolfgang Guhl. |
