Seriously, may be the single most influential figure in rock and roll history. I even got my 3 year old daughter into Johnny B. Goode. It's her favorite song. She would get a kick out of some of the old performances.
Chuck Berry was great in concert and tremendously influential. As the roll call of lost giants of rock and roll gets longer and longer, our collective sorrow grows. We were lucky to have him.
So, here's where we are with the original 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 1. Elvis Presley- gone 2. Chuck Berry- gone 3. Buddy Holly- gone 4. Little Richard- here 5. Jerry Lee Lewis- here 6. The Everly Brothers- Don here, Phil gone 7. Fats Domino- here 8. James Brown- gone 9. Sam Cooke- gone 10. Ray Charles- gone So, Richard, Jerry, Fats, and Don.
As an artist, he is probably the most underrated and under appreciated rock influence in the last 100 years. He was arguably the first real rock star as well. His personal life and lack of emphasis on television and media denied him the level of fame he has deserved.
Too many songs to post here, but these are two of my favorites: Hard to convey how radical and subversive he was but just consider these lyrics from 1956: Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the witness stand, The judge’s wife called up the district attorney, Said free that brown eyed man, You want your job you better free that brown eyed man. 1956. Think about what those lyrics really mean. Brilliant! In 1956, the Brown v. Board of Education backlash was in full swing. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia all tried to outlaw the NAACP. in 1956, Mississippi started their Sovereignty Commission. MLK,Jr. spent all of 1956 working the Montgomery Bus Boycott and it would be 9 years yet before the Selma march. Yet here's Chuck singing about a brown-eyed handsome man to white teenagers.
Sorry to hear this. No doubt he made his musical mark. For some reason, I had a bit of a negative impression of him overall as "difficult" in his latter years. I think it had to do with his documented interactions with Keith Richards when they were collaborating. He used to rip on Keith and his guitar playing is what I remember. He had to have Keith do things his way or he would get very upset. I think these guys had a love-hate relationship during that time. lol But, I can't say I really know enough about him to form an opinion like that. I just remember watching some of that and he didn't come across well imo. It could be his attention to detail was so great that he only wanted to do it right or not at all. So, maybe that is admirable because he put the music first.
He wasn't a saint by any means. And kind of prickly. But I don't think it is an understatement to say he was the Babe Ruth of Rock and Roll. He was the first, he established the common expectations, and he popularized the music.
I heard that he originally wanted to call it Brown skinned man, but was persuaded to change it. I don't even remember where I heard that, so who knows.
There's no "for some reason". There are many reasons. But regardless, he was one of my rock&roll heroes, I wish he had gotten more love, or wanted to.
My friend is an event coordinator and once coordinated an event that he was playing at. He said he literally drove up in a beat up old car 30 minutes before the gig, parked in the normal parking lot, got his guitar out of the trunk and walked in through the front entrance by himself straight to the stage even after the event had already started. He'd just make his way through the crowd all the way to the stage. Apparently, this was the norm for him. Sometimes the venue is responsible for hiring his backup band and he won't meet them or rehearse with them at all until it's time to play. Then he'll just start playing a song and it's up to the other players to keep up. He won't even give them a set list or tell them what the next tune is. That's got to be a tough gig but totally worth it, I imagine. Then when the gig is over, he'd just put his guitar back in it's case, walk out to his car, put it in the trunk and drive off. RIP
