# Chuck Berry, Father of Rock & Roll



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

This is the complete show broadcast on Belgium TV 2-6-1965.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

Chuck Berry - Rest In Peace (1926-2017) (AVO Sessions Switzerland 2007)​


----------



## oldman (Dec 8, 2020)

I was never a fan of Chuck Berry. I did like “Johnny Be Good.”

He definitely was a rocker in his time.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

Chuck Berry - Roll over Beethoven 1972​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

*An Interview With guitarist, singer and songwriter, Chuck Berry*​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

Chuck Berry & John Lennon (1972)​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 8, 2020)

Chuck Berry With Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Johnny B. Goode​


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 8, 2020)

My father loved Chuck Berry. He wore out the record Johnny B Goode, and I'm still tired of it.

I did like Chuck Berry, but Father of Rock and Roll? I dunno. I vote Little Richard for that title.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> My father loved Chuck Berry. He wore out the record Johnny B Goode, and I'm still tired of it.
> 
> I did like Chuck Berry, but Father of Rock and Roll? I dunno. I vote Little Richard for that title.


In his interview, on Post#6, he does mention a list of "Founding Fathers" of R&R, including Little Richard.  We have to remember that "success has many Fathers...." Chuck also holds the title of "Prime Minister of R&R"!


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

"As well as suggesting that the guitar player is good, the _title_ hints at autobiographic elements, because Berry was born at 2520 Goode Avenue, in St. Louis. The song was initially inspired by Johnnie Johnson, the regular piano player in Berry's band, but developed into a song mainly about Berry himself".

"Chuck Berry was born October 18, 1926, at 6:59 a.m. inside a small home at _2520 Goode Avenue_, _now known as Annie Malone Drive_. The family moved a few years after Berry's birth, and the home was soon torn down for construction of Homer G. Phillips Hospital/Senior Apartments".


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

Havana Moon - Chuck Berry (Chess Records) 1956, 78 rpm!  A Direct Recording!​









"Berry’s story of a Cuban woman missing an American woman came from playing Nat King Cole’s “Calypso Blues” when Berry was still slugging it out at St. Louis’ Cosmopolitan Club at a time when Latin rhythms were popular. He decided to write his own song after a gigging in New York City, where he met Cubans for the first time".

“It is the differences in people that I think gives me a tremendous imagination to create a story for developing a lyric,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I had read, seen or heard in some respect all the situations in the Havana story. Certainly, missing the boat and surely missing the girl had bene experienced many times by me.” The Rolling Stones recently paid tribute to the song by naming a concert film, shot in Cuba, after the song".


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

Channelling Chuck Berry​Chuck Berry's son, Charles Berry Jr., speaks about his father's musical and political legacy

"When Chuck Berry died on March 18 at the age of 90, he left behind many things, including a legacy of inventive guitar riffs, genre-pioneering songs and a flair for narrative songwriting that explored and entertained the fledgling North American teen culture of the 1950s. He also left behind _Chuck_, his swan song and first studio album in 38 years. The recording features his only son, Charles Berry Jr., on guitar".





 Chuck Berry’s final studio album, Chuck, features his only son, Charles Berry Jr., on guitar.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

“My Dad Was A Poet”: Charles Berry Jr. On His Father Chuck’s Legacy​
“His ability to communicate a message was just outstanding,” says Charles. “That really comes from the background that my dad was first and foremost a poet, and he learned his poetry skills from his father. So he was able to adapt his poetry, which really required the cadence and his articulation of the words to convey a message".

“That, in combination with the fact that my dad’s mom was a teacher, so diction was extremely important to her. You are what your environment is, so [Chuck] melded what he had in his environment into something that turned out to be quite good from a lyrical standpoint.”


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 9, 2020)

Meanderer said:


> In his interview, on Post#6, he does mention a list of "Founding Fathers" of R&R, including Little Richard.  We have to remember that "success has many Fathers...." Chuck also holds the title of "Prime Minister of R&R"!


All righty, then!


----------



## Damaged Goods (Dec 9, 2020)

Many pundits argue that the guitarists who influenced Chuck's style, such as Carl Hogan, who played guitar for saxophonist Louis Jordan are the fathers.  Others say Jacky Brenston whose rocker "60-Minute Man" crossed-over to pop charts in 1951.

I would argue that Fats Domino is more father than Chuck or Little Richard.  Something from the 40s:







But there's no doubt that Fats, Chuck, and Rich brought the genre successfully to mainstream music.

My take is that Elvis is the King and Chuck is the Emperor and America's Troubador.


----------



## fmdog44 (Dec 9, 2020)

Buddy Holly may have been King had he not died so young. Fact is there really can't be a  single king.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

Solid Gold (Season 1 / 1980) Chuck Berry - "Johnnie B. Goode"​


----------



## Damaged Goods (Dec 9, 2020)

fmdog44 said:


> Buddy Holly may have been King had he not died so young. Fact is there really can't be a  single king.


He was in my top 5 but believed that r&r was on its way out.  In one of the video interviews captured on YouTube he said as much and added that he was collaborating with orchestrator Dick Jacobs to introduce more pop music into his repertoire.  He liked the sound of violin strings for accompaniment.  R&r did not die out but the gritty 50's version of it was a changing and who really knows what would've transpired.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

A bronze statue of rock and roller Chuck Berry sits at its new home after installation in University City, Missouri on July 1, 2011. ​


----------



## JustBonee (Dec 9, 2020)

what a class ...


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 9, 2020)

*Was Chuck Berry the lone genius he’s made out to be?  (link)*​"In the days following Chuck Berry’s death, commentators have trampled over each other in a race to honor him as the “Father of Rock and Roll,” the art form’s lodestone and mastermind. They’ve marveled at his songs, not just because of how witty, influential and danceable they were, but because they were the work of Berry alone".

"A few have mentioned a lawsuit involving Berry’s longtime piano player Johnnie Johnson, where Johnson claimed he was Berry’s co-writer, but which the court dismissed because he took too long to sue. And that’s all they say".

"As a St. Louis lawyer, teacher and music geek, I had heard about the case a few years back and wondered if there was more to the story than simply “Johnson sued too late.” (Continue)

Johnnie & Chuck


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Have Mercy Judge​




Lyrics"
*Have Mercy Judge*​Chuck Berry

Have mercy, I'm in a world of trouble now
I'm being held by the State Patrol
I am charged with traffic of the forbidden
And I almost finished doing my parole
Now, I'm on my way back down town
Somebody help me, have mercy on my soul

I go to court tomorrow morning
And I got the same judge I had before
Lord, I know he won't have no mercy on me
'Cause he told me not to come back no more
He'll send me away to some stoney mansion
In a lonely room and lock the door

Ow! Have mercy on my little Tulane
She's too alive to try to live alone
And I know her needs
And although she loves me
She's gonna try to make it
While the poor boy's gone

Somebody should tell her to live
And I'll understand it
And even love her more
When I come back home

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Chuck E. Berry


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Wuden't me - Chuck Berry​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Chuck Berry reciting poetry​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Run Run Rudolph - Chuck Berry​


----------



## JimBob1952 (Dec 10, 2020)

Chuck Berry was a genius as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.  He was also an awful human being.  I guess that's not uncommon but it's hard to celebrate one thing without mentioning the other.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Chuck Berry - Darlin'​


----------



## Damaged Goods (Dec 10, 2020)

JimBob1952 said:


> Chuck Berry was a genius as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.  He was also an awful human being.  I guess that's not uncommon but it's hard to celebrate one thing without mentioning the other.


As Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions would say "Amen."


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)




----------



## Damaged Goods (Dec 10, 2020)

Went to a concert in ‘64 or ‘65 at Baltimore's Lyric Theater in which Chuck was the closing act but the rest of the entertainers were soul or blues and even pop singer Dionne Warwick. Others I recall were Little Walter, Solomon Burke, Sir Walter Jackson, and Joe Tex.

Chuck got a lukewarm reception from the mostly black audience, and you could hear comments like “sell out.” I guess they were hardcore blues fans who didn’t like his brand of rock ‘n’ roll in the name of commercial success. Conversely, they raved on the other performers.

Ironically, Chuck was on fire that night. He scrapped his duckwalk and other choreography; he didn’t scream or talk the lyrics. Instead, he stood there and sounded like he does on his records, standing in one place, tapping his left foot, and playing that Gibson like he was ringing a bell.

Really impressive that night.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 10, 2020)

Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 11, 2020)

Merry Christmas Baby by Chuck Berry 1958​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 11, 2020)

Spending Christmas​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 11, 2020)

Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run Animation​


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 12, 2020)

Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode​on Hollywood A Go Go


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)

Chuck Berry - Father Christmas?


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2020)

A  Bluesy Christmas.....

Chuck Berry - Merry Christmas Baby​


----------



## tbeltrans (Dec 16, 2020)

I think what needs to be remembered by those of us who were there when Check Berry hit the radio waves, was the cultural impact he had, rather than whether he was the greatest guitarist, the first to play that general style, etc.  Sure, he, like ALL musicians, borrowed from what came before and went off in at least somewhat his own style.  

However, for those of us old enough, remember the impact hearing him on the radio had.  It was big and influential.  Looking back at it from the distance of time, it would be arguable what greatness he may or may not have had.  But remember when we first heard him, what was typically on white American radio at the time, and we remember him in that cultural context.  Being able to do so is the way to put him in proper perspective.  

Whether individually we were fans of his music and style or not, we can't deny his impact on the radio listening audience as a whole.  He was very (not solely) instrumental in paving the way for what was to come in rock and roll of that time.

Tony


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2020)




----------



## Meanderer (Jan 6, 2021)

Chuck Berry - C'est la vie (1972) Live​


----------



## Damaged Goods (Jan 16, 2021)

Anyone who thinks that Chuck's main focus wasn't commercialism need only to reference his release of the novelty trash "My Ding-A-Ling."  He finally got a no. 1 Billboard pop hit.

Not saying there's anything wrong with commercialism, just sayin'.

I think he should've been embarrassed though when later albums and concert tours listed "Surfin' USA" as one he wrote. Yes I know that Brian Wilson admitted that the song's source was "Sweet Little Sixteen" and Chuck deserved a part credit for writing it, but still ....  Frankly, I think that Chuck's "Promised Land" is a clearer rip-off of the old "Wabash Cannonball" although "Wabash" may have been in the public domain at the time Chuck wrote his song.

Recall reading in "Ramparts" magazine as well as "Chuck Berry -- The Autobiography" that early promoters ripped him off and he always demanded payment up front.  He once told a promoter that if he was ever offered less than $1K for a performance he would say, "Congratulations sir, you have just retired the great Chuck Berry."


----------



## Meanderer (Jan 16, 2021)

Chuck Berry - Promised Land​


----------



## Meanderer (Jan 16, 2021)

Chuck Berry Memphis Tennessee​


----------



## Damaged Goods (Jan 16, 2021)

Meanderer said:


> Chuck Berry Memphis Tennessee​


Flip to "Back In The USA" which I preferred, and rather than Chuck's or Johnny Rivers' versions of "Memphis," I preferred the creativeness of what Lonnie Mack did to the song.

Lonnie Mack - Memphis (Stereo Remix) - YouTube


----------



## Meanderer (Jan 16, 2021)

Chuck Berry & Bo Diddley Together LIVE​


----------



## Meanderer (Jan 16, 2021)

Linda Ronstadt & Keith Richards   Back In The Usa St Louis 1987​


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 14, 2021)

Chuck Berry & Julian Lennon - Johnny B Goode (1986)​


----------



## Serenity4321 (Jun 14, 2021)

JimBob1952 said:


> Chuck Berry was a genius as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.  He was also an awful human being.  I guess that's not uncommon but it's hard to celebrate one thing without mentioning the other.


I honestly did not know that..I never researched his life but I knew I loved his songs!!!


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 14, 2021)




----------



## Llynn (Jun 14, 2021)

IMHO the best cover of my favorite CB song.


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 14, 2021)

Thanks @Lynn!


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 5, 2022)

Chuck Berry Live in London 1972


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 5, 2022)

Johnny B. Good  by Chuck Berry. Cover by Crockets Rockets. Queens 70's Jubilee Party, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK.


----------



## JonSR77 (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry & John Lennon (1972)


----------



## JonSR77 (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry's Keyboard Player, Daryl Davis, has become quite a force for change.

For decades, he has been influencing KKK members to leave the Klan, through simple human friendship!!!

Started out because he was playing in a club. Took a break. Had a drink at the bar with some guy who absolutely loved his music.

That guy started coming to his shows, whenever he was in town. They became friends.

The guy finally admitted to Daryl that he was a member of the Klan. Instead of walking away, Daryl maintained the friendship and eventually the KKK guy just left the Klan...fascinating story...

and then Daryl used that experience, to start doing that generally, with other members of the Klan!!!


Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies. | Daryl Davis | TEDxNaperville​​


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry's daughter sings national anthem


----------



## JustDave (Jun 6, 2022)

Father of Rock and Roll?  He was certainly a great contributor, as was Elvis, but Rock and Roll had already been annoying parents for years before the big names showed up.  What comes to my mind is Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley and the Comets.  I remember my parents shocked by that song.  Granted Bill Haley was not all that good, and the equipment back then was limited, but I think he was there earlier.  I could be wrong.  Although, I wouldn't call Bill Haley the Father of Rock and Roll either.  I suppose every genre needs a "Father of", but I'm thinking that going from "Swing" to "Rock and Roll" was more of a transition, with no real father, but just a bunch of innovators reaching out to those that were moved by something new, probably some of the early Blues Men that took Blues in a new direction that caught on.


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

RadishRose said:


> My father loved Chuck Berry. He wore out the record Johnny B Goode, and I'm still tired of it.
> 
> I did like Chuck Berry, but Father of Rock and Roll? I dunno. I vote Little Richard for that title.


The true Father of Rock n Roll was way before Chuck. Maybe Arthur Crudup or Howlin Wolf or numerous others. Chuck Berry was a blues guitarist who jumped on the RnR train after he saw it being successful. He was obviously great at it but certainly not "the father". Chuck's first record "Maybelline" came out in 1955 and Elvis already had "That's All Right " out in 1954 and Bill Hailey and the Comets had "Crazy Man Crazy" out in 1953. And there were lots of RnR sounding songs before that.


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

JustDave said:


> Father of Rock and Roll?  He was certainly a great contributor, as was Elvis, but Rock and Roll had already been annoying parents for years before the big names showed up.  What comes to my mind is Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley and the Comets.  I remember my parents shocked by that song.  Granted Bill Haley was not all that good, and the equipment back then was limited, but I think he was there earlier.  I could be wrong.  Although, I wouldn't call Bill Haley the Father of Rock and Roll either.  I suppose every genre needs a "Father of", but I'm thinking that going from "Swing" to "Rock and Roll" was more of a transition, with no real father, but just a bunch of innovators reaching out to those that were moved by something new, probably some of the early Blues Men that took Blues in a new direction that caught on.


Exactly. No one invented RnR. It just morphed over time. On one side you had black R&B turning RnR and on the other you had Western Swing turning that way too.  That was one of the things with Elvis , he combined both sides in his early Sun sessions with R&B songs like "Good rockin' Tonight" and "That's All Right" and rocking up country songs like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "I'm Left,You're Right, She's  Gone". Check out that album if you want to hear some great early RnR.


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

Damaged Goods said:


> Anyone who thinks that Chuck's main focus wasn't commercialism need only to reference his release of the novelty trash "My Ding-A-Ling."  He finally got a no. 1 Billboard pop hit.
> 
> Not saying there's anything wrong with commercialism, just sayin'.
> 
> ...


Chuck's hit "Maybelline" was basically a rewrite of the song "Ida Red"


----------



## JustBonee (Jun 6, 2022)

I loved Elvis,  but even he called Chuck Berry the Father of Rock n Roll .....

https://www.thetoptens.com/rock/father-of-rock-and-rill/


----------



## Geezer Garage (Jun 6, 2022)

Definitely one of the greats. Couldn't count the number of times I've danced to "Johnnie be Goode". Arguably one of the most dance-able tunes ever written.


----------



## Sachet (Jun 6, 2022)

RadishRose said:


> My father loved Chuck Berry. He wore out the record Johnny B Goode, and I'm still tired of it.
> 
> I did like Chuck Berry, but Father of Rock and Roll? I dunno. I vote Little Richard for that title.


Little Richard, Jerry Lee.


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

Bonnie said:


> I loved Elvis,  but even he called Chuck Berry the Father of Rock n Roll .....
> 
> https://www.thetoptens.com/rock/father-of-rock-and-rill/


Nothing in that link where Elvis calls Chuck the Father of RnR.  Elvis was very nice when it came to discussing other RnR stars , never saying a bad word about anybody. He said he wished he could write a song like Chuck, said he couldn't sing rock as well as Fats Domino ( which I think is ridiculous, Elvis was 10 times the singer Fats was)etc.
    It's just silly to call Chuck the Father when that connotates being the first and as I've already stated Elvis, Bill Haley, and lots of other acts had RnR records out before Chuck. Call him the greatest if you want, or most influential, etc but he can't be the Father of RnR.


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

Geezer Garage said:


> Definitely one of the greats. Couldn't count the number of times I've danced to "Johnnie be Goode". Arguably one of the most dance-able tunes ever written.


Top 5 greatest rock n roll song of all time, no question,  and probably #1


----------



## JustBonee (Jun 6, 2022)

garyt1957 said:


> Nothing in that link where Elvis calls Chuck the Father of RnR.  Elvis was very nice when it came to discussing other RnR stars , never saying a bad word about anybody. He said he wished he could write a song like Chuck, said he couldn't sing rock as well as Fats Domino ( which I think is ridiculous, Elvis was 10 times the singer Fats was)etc.
> It's just silly to call Chuck the Father when that connotates being the first and as I've already stated Elvis, Bill Haley, and lots of other acts had RnR records out before Chuck. Call him the greatest if you want, or most influential, etc but he can't be the Father of RnR.



Elvis'  beginnings were  Rockabilly  .... "That's All Right Mama" , etc. ... '54, '55   .....   Chuck Berry was strictly Rock n Roll.

_In July 1954, in his first session for Sam Phillips’s Sun label of Memphis, Tennessee, Presley recorded two songs that would lay the foundation for rockabilly: “That’s All Right,” written by Mississippi bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and a hopped-up version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” a mid-tempo waltz by Bill Monroe, the creator of bluegrass. Presley sang with African-American inflections and more emotional intensity than country singers of the time. He accompanied himself on strummed acoustic guitar, Scotty Moore provided fills with electric guitar, and Bill Black added propulsive upright bass as the trio established rockabilly’s quintessential instrumentation. Following this blueprint, rockabilly records typically featured a wildly expressive vocalist tearing into a bluesy song while flailing away on an acoustic guitar. Backing was provided by a bass played in the slapping style, frequently supported by a drummer; an electric guitarist filled the gaps and took an energetic solo; and the whole sound was enlarged by a studio effect called slap-back, or “Sun echo,” developed by Phillips.
_


https://www.britannica.com/art/rockabilly


----------



## Packerjohn (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry was a real showman.  Never wore torn jeans  nor showed the audience his undershirt.  The nice thing is that I can understand all the words to his songs.  That's impossible today in most songs.  Some of the modern singers sound like that have a baby sooder in their mouths when they sing and the band is so loud that their voice cannot be heard!  Perhaps it's a good thing?


----------



## garyt1957 (Jun 6, 2022)

Bonnie said:


> Elvis'  beginnings were  Rockabilly  .... "That's All Right Mama" , etc. ... '54, '55   .....   Chuck Berry was strictly Rock n Roll.
> 
> _In July 1954, in his first session for Sam Phillips’s Sun label of Memphis, Tennessee, Presley recorded two songs that would lay the foundation for rockabilly: “That’s All Right,” written by Mississippi bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and a hopped-up version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” a mid-tempo waltz by Bill Monroe, the creator of bluegrass. Presley sang with African-American inflections and more emotional intensity than country singers of the time. He accompanied himself on strummed acoustic guitar, Scotty Moore provided fills with electric guitar, and Bill Black added propulsive upright bass as the trio established rockabilly’s quintessential instrumentation. Following this blueprint, rockabilly records typically featured a wildly expressive vocalist tearing into a bluesy song while flailing away on an acoustic guitar. Backing was provided by a bass played in the slapping style, frequently supported by a drummer; an electric guitarist filled the gaps and took an energetic solo; and the whole sound was enlarged by a studio effect called slap-back, or “Sun echo,” developed by Phillips._
> 
> ...


Chuck's beginnings were blues, everybody started somewhere.  "That's All Right " wasn't rockabilly at all. It was an old Arthur Crudup blues song. "Baby Let's Play House " was certainly rockabilly though. Rockabilly was a precursor to RnR.
By the early 1950s, Berry was working with local bands in clubs in St. Louis as an extra source of income.[21] He had been playing blues since his teens, and he borrowed both guitar riffs and showmanship techniques from the blues musician T-Bone Walker.[23] He also took guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris, which laid the foundation for his guitar style.[24]

By early 1953 Berry was performing with Johnnie Johnson's trio, starting a long-time collaboration with the pianist.[25][26] The band played blues and ballads as well as country. Berry wrote, "Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering 'who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?' After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."[12]


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry With Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Johnny B. Goode


----------



## Meanderer (Jun 6, 2022)

Chuck Berry 'Memphis Tennessee' live 1965 hi-res remaster


----------

