Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: The hot rod poetry of Chuck Berry Continue reading the Original Blog Post
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.
Chuck Berry was "duck walking" long before Michael Jackson ever thought about "moon walking".......................Rest in Eternal Peace, Sir. You will be greatly missed.
Hail hail rock and roll Hail Chuck Berry On a side note, Bill Baily was "moonwalking" 30 years before MJ was.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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".
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.
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...)
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.
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.
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
As mentioned Hail hail rock and roll is a great movie and worth a look (and another look by me). RIP Chuck