HAIL, HAIL ROCK 'N' ROLL
THE MASTER TURNS 82 TODAY!
 "Wanna see my ding-a-ling?" |
There are some musicians threaded into the DNA of things and there's zero doubt that an intrinsic part of rock's double helix is Chuck Berry. A pair of quotes at the beginning of his Wikipedia entry sum it up well:
"Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is the first and one of its greatest early songwriters and guitarists, the main shaper of its instrumental voice and one of its greatest performers." – Cub Koda (Brownsville Station)
"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." – John Lennon
The best thing to ever come out of St. Louis long ago left his stamp on this dirty planet, not just helping birth rock 'n' roll but changing popular music, the blues and much else in the sonic spheres with his possessed brilliance. Chuck Berry's music is like a doctor's slap on yo' newborn bottom – awakening, vaguely frightening and fantastically humanizing. We are so lucky to have him and his many gifts. Sure, he loves his money and isn't into niceties but what he's got going for him more than makes up for those deficiencies. Happy birthday, Chuck, we love you more than words can say!
We kick off our natal day festivities with "Johnny B. Goode" from '50s television. It just seems right that Chuck be sandwiched between a couple Jello shakin' cuties doing go-go like it needs to get done.
Next is "Let It Rock" from the famous 1972 London concert. You can really hear the blueprint for The Rolling Stones on this version. And is that not the flyest damn shirt you've ever seen?
And here's Chuck's disciples doing Berry's "Bye Bye Johnny" on their 1972 North American tour. Nasty good!
Back to his royal rockness with a lusty "Sweet Little Sixteen" at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958.
The flower people get real gone at the 1969 Toronto Rock Festival while Chuck schools 'em about "Too Much Monkey Business."
One of Berry's finest interpreters is Emmylou Harris, and here she is in the late '70s doing his grand wedding choogler "You Never Can Tell."
We light our last candle with Chuck taking us down to Memphis with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in this fab clip from the Mike Douglas Show.
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