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Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
By now it's easy to see that rock & roll was an inevitable outgrowth of all the seemingly disparate musics emerging in the post-World War II years, rather than something that feel out of the sky full-blown on the day Elvis Presley walked in the Memphis Recording Service. All the early rock & roll giants occupied distinctive niches defined by their musical approach. Chuck Berry was the first important writer, performer, and instrumentalist in the rock & roll style, a man whose immediately identifiable guitar playing and powers of observation and eloquence have remained touchstones for succeeding generations of artists, one of the standards by which great rock is measured. Had he been only a profound influence on Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones he would merit distinction: but Berry's signature shows up frequently in current performers from punks to singer/songwriters.
At a time when critics discounted rock & roll as adolescent caterwauling, Berry was not only defining a subculture, but he was providing a running commentary on a country in the midst of change, more mobile, more affluent, more restless, free for the moment from the specter of war but bitterly divided internal over racial issues. Aiming his messages unequivocally at the younger generation, Berry made poetry of the seemingly mundane complexities of adolescent life. His was a folk music for teens with references to a world with its own language, symbols and customs.
But as much as he was a chronicler of young American culture, so was Berry given to a deeper ruminations. "Too Much Monkey Business" is a vivid depiction of the drudgery and ennui of the working life. If you get past the clever images spicing "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" the story becomes on of black men overcoming the strictures of segregation. A touching memory of love lost and love renews is rendered in a mellow, bluesy fashion in "Time Was." The force and sincerity behind "I've Changed" will move anyone familiar with Berry's checkered history with the law. At a time when American families are breaking up in record numbers, the story of a divorced father's desperate search for his daughter in "Memphis Tennessee" takes on a new relevance. He also wrote the greatest songs about rock & roll in "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Around and Around," "Rock and Roll Music" and "Roll Over, Beethoven."
When Berry arrived at Chess Records in 1955, he was familiar with a number of styles. In his longtime pianist Johnnie Johnson he has an accompanist equally at home in blues, boogie-woogie, R&B and rock & roll, and at Chess he work with the sterling player populating the labe's studio: Willie Dixon, Fred Below, Jimmy Rogers; even Bo Didlet and his marace man Jerome Green sit in on a few cuts. Those seeking classic Berry all in one place now can check out The Anthology. Also noteworthy are the out-of-print L.P.'s Chuck Berry Is On Top, Rockin' at the Hops, and New Juke Box Hits. These show how Berry war wedging in what might be called alternative material amid his rock & roll- check out Berry's steel guitar on the instrumental "Blues for Hawaiians" from Chuck Berry Is On Top, the deeply felt covers of Jay McShann's "Confessin' the Blues" on Rockin' at the Hops and a stirring treatment of B.B. King's "Sweet Sixteen" on New Juke Box Hits. The most important deleted original LP, however, is St. Louis to Liverpool. This title is a reminder that in 1964, when this album was released, it was clear that The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and lesser British rockers were deeply indebted to the man. In addition to classic tracks- "Little Marie," "Promised Land," "You Never Can Tell" and "No Particular Place to Go"- the album includes a tough rendition of Guitar Slim's "The Things I Used to Do" before Berry calms down with a mellow, after-hours bluesy attempt at "Night Beat."
Berry left Chess to record for Mercury between 1966 and 1969, producing nothing of note. Apart from the Chess material, the other Berry album to note is Rockit (although I'm partial to 1971's San Francisco Dues), originally released on Atco in 1979. It is a return to good rockin' form. Guitar aficionados may find something of interest in the teaming of Berry and Bo Didley on two of the four extended instrumental tracks on Two Great Guitars, but for these two masters, the workouts are fairly routine.
Say whatever you will, but on the Mt. Rushmore of Rock 'N' Roll, Chuck is there. He came and conquered rock 'n' roll before we even had a name for it. It's not scary..
It's...
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
By now it's easy to see that rock & roll was an inevitable outgrowth of all the seemingly disparate musics emerging in the post-World War II years, rather than something that feel out of the sky full-blown on the day Elvis Presley walked in the Memphis Recording Service. All the early rock & roll giants occupied distinctive niches defined by their musical approach. Chuck Berry was the first important writer, performer, and instrumentalist in the rock & roll style, a man whose immediately identifiable guitar playing and powers of observation and eloquence have remained touchstones for succeeding generations of artists, one of the standards by which great rock is measured. Had he been only a profound influence on Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones he would merit distinction: but Berry's signature shows up frequently in current performers from punks to singer/songwriters.
At a time when critics discounted rock & roll as adolescent caterwauling, Berry was not only defining a subculture, but he was providing a running commentary on a country in the midst of change, more mobile, more affluent, more restless, free for the moment from the specter of war but bitterly divided internal over racial issues. Aiming his messages unequivocally at the younger generation, Berry made poetry of the seemingly mundane complexities of adolescent life. His was a folk music for teens with references to a world with its own language, symbols and customs.
But as much as he was a chronicler of young American culture, so was Berry given to a deeper ruminations. "Too Much Monkey Business" is a vivid depiction of the drudgery and ennui of the working life. If you get past the clever images spicing "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" the story becomes on of black men overcoming the strictures of segregation. A touching memory of love lost and love renews is rendered in a mellow, bluesy fashion in "Time Was." The force and sincerity behind "I've Changed" will move anyone familiar with Berry's checkered history with the law. At a time when American families are breaking up in record numbers, the story of a divorced father's desperate search for his daughter in "Memphis Tennessee" takes on a new relevance. He also wrote the greatest songs about rock & roll in "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Around and Around," "Rock and Roll Music" and "Roll Over, Beethoven."
When Berry arrived at Chess Records in 1955, he was familiar with a number of styles. In his longtime pianist Johnnie Johnson he has an accompanist equally at home in blues, boogie-woogie, R&B and rock & roll, and at Chess he work with the sterling player populating the labe's studio: Willie Dixon, Fred Below, Jimmy Rogers; even Bo Didlet and his marace man Jerome Green sit in on a few cuts. Those seeking classic Berry all in one place now can check out The Anthology. Also noteworthy are the out-of-print L.P.'s Chuck Berry Is On Top, Rockin' at the Hops, and New Juke Box Hits. These show how Berry war wedging in what might be called alternative material amid his rock & roll- check out Berry's steel guitar on the instrumental "Blues for Hawaiians" from Chuck Berry Is On Top, the deeply felt covers of Jay McShann's "Confessin' the Blues" on Rockin' at the Hops and a stirring treatment of B.B. King's "Sweet Sixteen" on New Juke Box Hits. The most important deleted original LP, however, is St. Louis to Liverpool. This title is a reminder that in 1964, when this album was released, it was clear that The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and lesser British rockers were deeply indebted to the man. In addition to classic tracks- "Little Marie," "Promised Land," "You Never Can Tell" and "No Particular Place to Go"- the album includes a tough rendition of Guitar Slim's "The Things I Used to Do" before Berry calms down with a mellow, after-hours bluesy attempt at "Night Beat."
Berry left Chess to record for Mercury between 1966 and 1969, producing nothing of note. Apart from the Chess material, the other Berry album to note is Rockit (although I'm partial to 1971's San Francisco Dues), originally released on Atco in 1979. It is a return to good rockin' form. Guitar aficionados may find something of interest in the teaming of Berry and Bo Didley on two of the four extended instrumental tracks on Two Great Guitars, but for these two masters, the workouts are fairly routine.
Say whatever you will, but on the Mt. Rushmore of Rock 'N' Roll, Chuck is there. He came and conquered rock 'n' roll before we even had a name for it. It's not scary..
It's...
Chuck Berry
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