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Art & Inspiration The hot rod poetry of Chuck Berry

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Mar 21, 2017.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,754

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

    The hot rod poetry of Chuck Berry

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    Continue reading the Original Blog Post
     
  2. typo41
    Joined: Jul 8, 2011
    Posts: 2,571

    typo41
    Member Emeritus

    A true 'Background Sound' for Hot Rods, cruzing, and making out,,,(does anyone still do that??)
     
  3. Rolleiflex
    Joined: Oct 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,243

    Rolleiflex
    Member

    Poetry is definitely the word for his lyrics. Add in his guitar licks and it all paints a vivid picture in your mind of being there.

    Way too many car songs this day and age come off as kitschy or hokey. Brian Setzer is one of the few that can carry on that torch.
     
  4. Chuck Berry was "duck walking" long before Michael Jackson ever thought about "moon walking".......................Rest in Eternal Peace, Sir. You will be greatly missed.
     

  5. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    My favorite, "No Particular Place To Go" His expressions crack me up!

     
    OG lil E, Montana1, Paul and 3 others like this.
  6. BrandonB
    Joined: Feb 24, 2006
    Posts: 3,434

    BrandonB
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from nor cal

    Hail hail rock and roll
    Hail Chuck Berry

    On a side note, Bill Baily was "moonwalking" 30 years before MJ was.
     
  7. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    Was,is,sound for my rides tell I'm gone,thanks Chuck
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  8. Super/Stock Poncho
    Joined: May 11, 2009
    Posts: 182

    Super/Stock Poncho
    Member
    from Missouri

    I might be in the minority, but Chuck Berry is the King of Rock n Roll, not Elvis.
     
  9. AV8 Dave
    Joined: Jan 3, 2003
    Posts: 680

    AV8 Dave
    Member

    Funny, I always imagined the Ford as a '56 and the Caddy the same year. Same Caddy in "Hot Rod Lincoln", but I imagined the Model A with an early overhead in it. Got to drive a '56 deVille in my first real job and found out why they were the stuff of some of the hotrod songs - that sucker hauled ass!! Regards, Dave.
     
    56cadillackid and djr041060 like this.
  10. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    Writing one huge hit record will provide it's artist with a good retirement income from royalties. If the writer also recorded it the royalties are even more. Chuck Berry wrote and recorded these giant hits:
    MAYBELLINE
    ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
    TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS
    YOU CAN'T CATCH ME
    SCHOOL DAY (RING, RING GOES THE BELL)
    ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC
    SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN
    REELIN' AND ROCKIN'
    JOHNNY B. GOODE
    CAROL
    BACK IN THE U.S.A.
    MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
    NADINE
    NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO
    PROMISED LAND
    These were just the BIG hits. He wrote and recorded dozens more.
     
    biggeorge likes this.
  11. Corn Fed
    Joined: May 16, 2002
    Posts: 3,278

    Corn Fed
    Member

    Don't forget "C'est la vie". It's one of my favorite Chuck Berry songs:

    They bought a souped-up jitney, it was a cherry red '53
    And drove it down to New Orleans to celebrate their anniversary
    It was there where Pierre was wedded to the lovely mademoiselle
    C'est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
     
  12. exterminator
    Joined: Apr 21, 2006
    Posts: 1,695

    exterminator
    Member

    Early Elvis was and is still king of Rock and Roll period- in my ever so humble opinon.;)
     
    Montana1 and S.F. like this.
  13. ruffie tuffshitski
    Joined: Aug 25, 2011
    Posts: 33

    ruffie tuffshitski
    Member

    I was given a couple Chuck Berry records to me when I was 10, by my dad- about the same time I was really getting into hotrods. I think they will always be big influences to me, thanks Chuck, RIP
     
  14. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Chuck Berry, you raised me up from the doldrums of the blues I was playin'...then encouraged me to never forsake 'em.
    Man...my whole life, Chuck was there. I played him and Little Richard daily on my portable Victrola I could take out to my garage, whilst chopping the top on my first car: my '36 Three window. I was 13. Spent $$ on acetylene and 45 RPM records.
    Chuck Berry. Gone but not forgotten. :(
     
    Alaska Jim and lothiandon1940 like this.
  15. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    Music is music, no matter who wrote or performed it. Chuck Berry did have a big influence on Rock and Roll. BUT, he also had some of the same issues Bill Cosby is finally facing. Chuck, was not an entirely nice person. Just do an internet search; you will find his involvement with porn, and his business dealings, were not what a role model should be made of. Sure, I liked some of his music, but from a personal standpoint, he ain't worth my spit on the sidewalk!
    I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
  16. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    A little Chuck Berry trivia. Out of all the Billboard Hot 100 hits he had only one went all the way to #1........and it was one of only a few of his recordings he didn't write. It was "My Ding-a-Ling".
     
  17. Bad Eye Bill
    Joined: Sep 1, 2010
    Posts: 841

    Bad Eye Bill
    Member
    from NB Canada

    I wonder if the hearse was "A coffee coloured Cadillac"?

    RIP Chuck.
     
  18. Very sad. RIP Chuck and thanks for all.
     
    biggeorge likes this.
  19. The man understood the car culture.
    So.............. RIP Chuck Berry.
     
  20. olcurmdgeon
    Joined: Dec 15, 2007
    Posts: 2,289

    olcurmdgeon
    Member

    The movie that Keith Richards made, Hail Hail Rock and Roll, does a good job of spotlighting Berry's poetic ability. Combined with Johnny Johnson's piano melodies it was dynamite music. Richards makes the point in the film that a lot of Chuck Berry tunes were in keys typically used for piano, not guitar. If you haven't seen the film, well worth seeing. My daughter's first husband was in a backup band for Chuck at a Hampton Beach show years ago in NH. Typical Chuck tour, hire local musicians, never meet or practice with them. He showed up at the venue, went in office and got paid in cash and went on stage, nodded to the back up band and said "let's go". The guys, my son-in-law said, just scrambled to get the right key and keep up. When gig was done, Chuck packed up and split.
     
    belair likes this.
  21. You got a point there. Doesn't matter how great of an artist or how big anyone's influence on culture is, when they suck as people, I'm with you. I would list some examples, but it would get a cool thread shitcanned.

    I don't think Butch means it as a straw man. I kinda feel the same way, wish I didn't because I've been a huge fan of Chuck Berry's since I was 6 and listened to "London Sessions" over and over again on 8 track. (My ding-a-ling....)

    But I see how it could be a straw man argument if someone didn't like Chuck.

    I have always had an obsession with Cadillacs that I credit to Chuck Berry's songs.

    Hey was that a '32 Ford? (Just doin' my part to distract the mods...)
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2017
    PunkAssGearhead88 likes this.
  22. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    I remember seeing a TV special with Chuck Berry and Keith Richards, where Berry was trying to teach Richards how to play HIS music HIS way. It struck me then as kind of odd where one professional can't get along with another; it HAD to be HIS way, NO compromise. I've been a Neil Young fan for as long as I can remember, especially when he teams up with Crazy Horse. The last two shows we went to were disappointing. Then I learned he was divorcing his wife (Pegi) of 36 years, and hooking up with the actress Darryl Hannah (boy she's looking rough!). He wrote music with AND about his wife, Pegi for years, and heaped praise upon her and their life. Before he was married to her, he was with another actress Carrie Snodgrass, and had his first son with her (that son was born with Cerebral Palsy). His second son with Pegi was also born with Cerebral Palsy. There's something not right with that gene pool. Anyway, with the divorce and all coming out of nowhere, and the hypocrisy, he's lost a fan. I still like his music just the same. Still like Chuck Berry's music. The people in the spotlight have really started to let a lot of people down, actors, musicians, sports figures, politicians, and then it trickles down to people we actually know and care about. That's all for me in this thread. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
  23. Road Runner
    Joined: Feb 7, 2007
    Posts: 1,256

    Road Runner
    Member

    Two of my all time favorite Chuck Berry songs about cars....

    No Money Down



    Mustang Ford

     
  24. I enjoy the music that Chuck Berry created and leave it at that. He truly was a talented performer and song writer who blazed a trail in the history of rock and roll. If you think of any musician as a role model I think you are really looking in the wrong place. I can't think of very many that are role models and that even includes gospel singers. Fame brings great temptation and us humans all fail in some way sooner or later. God's grace is for all. Rest in peace Chuck.
     
  25. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    There isn't much information out there about nice entertainers because it is boring.
     
  26. 56cadillackid
    Joined: Dec 23, 2016
    Posts: 103

    56cadillackid
    Member
    from new york

    A great little known song by him is jaguar and thunderbird it's definitely worth looking up


    Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  27. Gahrajmahal
    Joined: Oct 14, 2008
    Posts: 493

    Gahrajmahal
    Member

    As mentioned Hail hail rock and roll is a great movie and worth a look (and another look by me). RIP Chuck
     
  28. He was a legend!
     

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