Chuck Berry 1926-2017

[germanpoco]

Chuck Berry 1926-2017 - legend

[Jiff]

Most every music fan has an opinion on who is or was the "King Of Rock And Roll".   The real rock and roll, sometimes called boogie woogie, and later, rockabilly.  It borrows from the three chord 12 bar blues progressions that many black blues musicians had been using for many years, and adds a mid to fast backbeat, "you can't lose it".   Music that lends itself to the jitterbug and the twist.  I think the King is Chuck Berry.  He wrote clever lyrics, melodies, rhythms, played some exceptional guitar, danced it and sang it, like Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B Goode, Maybellene to name a few.  Not just a rock king, he's *the* rock pioneer, a major influence to all the rock guitarists and writers to follow.  Thank you, Chuck.

Rock and roll's hay day was the late 1950s with acts like Elvis, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, etc.  Berry was about the only black guy to have success with it, the old guys sticking with the blues.  The Beach Boys capitalized with variants of it in the 1960s with their surfing and car songs like Fun Fun Fun, I Get Around, Surfin' USA, etc.  The Stones and Beatles wrote a few rock and roll songs, like She Was Just Seventeen.  Neil Young recorded a rockabilly album in 1983, Everybody's Rockin', partly to anger Geffen Records.  Today, rockabilly bands like Brian Setzer play it, but that's about it.  Classic rock cover bands might have one or two in their setlist, like Bob Seger's Old Time Rock And Roll or Steve Miller's Keep On Rockin' Me Baby.  Those kind of songs always get us on the dance floor.

Meesa Magloo from Seattle Music & More wrote,  "At a Bumbershoot show in the Coliseum some 20 years ago they gave him Heart as his back up band (minus Ann & Nancy) and whatever the bassist was doing was sure #@$! off Chuck...he kept running over and yelling at him, finally pointing him off stage in the middle of a song..."  That show was 1981.  The bassist was Steve Fossen.  From yesterday's Seattle Times:  "It’s still not clear what made Berry embarrass Fossen. To this day, Fossen says, “It’s painful.”

I had the pleasure of seeing Berry once, at Sky Church in Paul Allen's Experience Music Project in 2001.  Jerry Lee Lewis was scheduled, but cancelled, replaced by Berry.  Fortunately I did see Lewis later, at Farm Aid at White River in 2004.   The full Junior Cadillac band was on stage waiting for Berry.  They had backed Berry for several of his area shows.  He came on stage and walked in front of them, indicating the ones he didn't want by pointing at each then pointing off stage. He kept the pianist, bassist and drummer. Kind of embarrassing and unnecessary. The show was a joy though.  Berry had a good time, mugging for the audience and doing some semi duck walks.  He was 75 then.  Gotta go play Rock And Roll Music and Johnny B Good now.

[Quinn]

There's only one king.. Chuck Berry was the rock and roll poet. His lyrics were way beyond what was in most rock songs. Not many have songs recorded by The Beatles and Elvis Presley.