R.I.P. Chuck Berry

[GuitarGeek]

As was, and still is the practice in the blues. Chuck came from the blues, and so did most of the early black rock 'n rollers.

Well, yeah that's true. You can say that someone like T-Bone Walker set a precedent that Chuck merely followed. There's a whole lot of Chuck in T-Bone, not just in terms of guitar playing but also in showmanship terms too.

But you're right in that Chuck was probably the first rock 'n roll guitar hero.

Well, he was the first one who immediately recognizable to the public, I that was my point. At the time, records often times didn't have credits, so nobody knew who James Burton, Scotty Moore or Danny Cedrone were (and in any case, Danny Cedrone died just a couple months after Rock Around The Clock was recorded, so for many years, it was believed by most people that it was his replacement, Fran Beecher who played that solo), and as I said, they were sort of pushed aside, in terms of publicity, by the frontmen they were backing up. It was really only "insiders" and geeks like us who knew who any of those guys were, until years or even decades later, when people started writing books and magazine articles and making documentaries, where the names came to be known to the public.

[SteveSly]

One of the all time greats. Never saw him live unfortunately, but no doubt he was one of the most influential in the history of rock n roll.

[Jefferson James]

It's still amazing to me how a guy from St. Louis, Missouri, sowed the seeds for what would eventually lead to the music of Yes and beyond. An incredible legacy, an American icon, a pioneer, a maverick. Staggering influence. Rest in peace.

[Trane]

The sad reality is Chuck out lived rock and roll, you're not supposed to outlive your kids.

I knew it was coming but it still hurts like hell.

RIP Mr Berry.

Absolutely...

My fave 50's RnR star... the only one that survived without losing his soul (along with Bo Diddley).

RIP, Chuck... and thanks for the music

[Zeuhlmate]

chuck berry.jpg

[gryphs also]

There aren't many musicians who can say they influence music overall as much as he did. Legends aren't replaced....

[adap2it]

He was one of my early musical idols. I got his LP, 1 Dozen Berries, courtesy of one of my Merchant seaman friends, that made frequent trips to the USA. This was just about the only way of obtaining US music back in the day, unless you were wealthy. I got to see Chuck on his 1st UK tour in 1964. His backing band was The Nashville Teens, of Tobacco Road fame.

[GuitarGeek]

chuck berry.jpg

There was a classic Weekend Update gag on Saturday Night Live, a couple years after the Voyager probes first went up. The gag hinged on a report that NASA had received the first message from extraterrestrials, which consisted of four words: "Send more Chuck Berry!".

[Scrotum Scissor]

As somewhat expected, yet still a downer. Grandpa indeed.

Rock music has been dead a long time already, though. Overall interest in its potential for actual development and the cultural connotations inherent is close to *null*, even among most followers of "progressive" branches of it.

[JJ88]

Predictably people have gone nuts on Amazon UK...always wonder why it takes someone dying for people to buy even best-ofs, but there we go.

IMHO it is a misnomer to first go to 'albums' by acts like Chuck Berry- that was simply not the primary format under consideration in rock at the time and it will usually show. It always looked on the surface like the albums were filled up with throwaway jams. These seem to be the 'best of the best of's' to me:

https://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-.../master/465217 (This one was also put out as Gold and seems the best all-round one ever released, but if it's too long, look below)

https://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-...elease/9315799 (I'd call this ancient one The Really Great Twenty Eight as it has a far better tracklist than the acclaimed The Great Twenty-Eight and is still 28 tracks!)

Neither features 'Run Rudolph Run', but that is the only really significant omission IMHO. And I guess its lyrics link it to Christmas...

[2steves]

RIP---great trailblazer of rock and roll----influenced everyone important---including a prog great like Howe who admired him.

[JJ88]

^Think Berry played Howe's guitar in a gig where one of Howe's earlier groups (Syndicats or Bodast) were used as one of Berry's infamous 'pick up bands'. Howe was not required!

[Jerjo]

An epic piece on the importance of Chuck Berry by music writer (not bass player) Bill Wyman:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/chuck...-and-roll.html

[Digital_Man]

What's all this talk on here about rock being dead? Is prog dead too? Obviously there are a lot of prog bands and albums out. You really think "prog" is more popular than rock? So if prog isn't dead then rock isn't either. However, if you guys are trying to see some kind of big picture I get it but I still don't agree. Rock may not be as culturally relevant as it once was and it might not be the most popular genre but it's still very much alive and well in the 21st century. I guess maybe you think anything that's not "culturally relevant" is dead? I guess then all underground genres are dead. Post rock dead. Prog rock dead. Psych dead. And the list goes on and on. If it doesn't get thousands of young teenage girls screaming it must be dead right? Listen, there are tons of rock bands out there and it still gets radio play. Yes, I'm talking about modern rock bands. To paraphrase Frank it's not dead it just smells funny.

http://uproxx.com/music/rock-music-dead-2017/2/


Back to Chuck though. It's interesting(and maybe a bit sad) that his only Billboard number one song was a novelty tune called "my ding a ling." This song is often considered to be one of the worst songs to ever make number 1. Oh well. It still doesn't tarnish his legacy. That's how important he was(and is).

[Scrotum Scissor]

What's all this talk on here about rock being dead? Is prog dead too? Obviously there are a lot of prog bands and albums out. You really think "prog" is more popular than rock? So if prog isn't dead then rock isn't either. However, if you guys are trying to see some kind of big picture I get it but I still don't agree. Rock may not be as culturally relevant as it once was and it might not be the most popular genre but it's still very much alive and well in the 21st century. I guess maybe you think anything that's not "culturally relevant" is dead? I guess then all underground genres are dead. Post rock dead. Prog rock dead. Psych dead. And the list goes on and on. If it doesn't get thousands of young teenage girls screaming it must be dead right? Listen, there are tons of rock bands out there and it still gets radio play. Yes, I'm talking about modern rock bands.

Yes, and we too - all of us in here - are going to pass soon as well. No one will remember us, because we're as irrelevant as "rock" has proved to be in the grander scheme of things as far as history is concerned. Faded epitaphs on overgrown, cheap assembly-line tombstones. Forgotten, point-, worth- and meaningless existence.

[Digital_Man]

Yes, and we too - all of us in here - are going to pass soon as well. No one will remember us, because we're as irrelevant as "rock" has proved to be in the grander scheme of things as far as history is concerned. Faded epitaphs on overgrown, cheap assembly-line tombstones. Forgotten, point-, worth- and meaningless existence.

Don't bury us while we're still alive though. As KC would say "dig me but don't bury me."

You're right though. In the grand scheme of things the New Kids on the Block, The Spice Girls and NSync will be regarded as far more relevant than the Beatles, Elvis and the Rolling Stones. What was I thinking?

[spellbound]

Terrible news to wake up to on a Sunday morning. Rest in peace to one of the originators of rock and roll. Whenever I hear exciting, real rock and roll, I will remember Chuck Berry. Thanks for all the kick-ass music.

[arturs]

Yes, and we too - all of us in here - are going to pass soon as well. No one will remember us, because we're as irrelevant as "rock" has proved to be in the grander scheme of things as far as history is concerned. Faded epitaphs on overgrown, cheap assembly-line tombstones. Forgotten, point-, worth- and meaningless existence.

Scrotem, I think you need to put away the Camus and Kirekegaard for a bit. A dose of Chuck Berry might help, actually.

[Zeuhlmate]

Yes, and we too - all of us in here - are going to pass soon as well. No one will remember us, because we're as irrelevant as "rock" has proved to be in the grander scheme of things as far as history is concerned. Faded epitaphs on overgrown, cheap assembly-line tombstones. Forgotten, point-, worth- and meaningless existence.

The people of your century no longer require the service of composers.
A composer is as useful to a person in a jogging suit as a dinsoaur turd
in the middle of his runway.
Zappa

- And that was the previous century

[interbellum]

I shall watch 'Back To The Future' in his honor.

I was thinking the same thing when I read about Chuck's death last night.



Rock in Peace.

[GuitarGeek]

Predictably people have gone nuts on Amazon UK...always wonder why it takes someone dying for people to buy even best-ofs, but there we go.

IMHO it is a misnomer to first go to 'albums' by acts like Chuck Berry- that was simply not the primary format under consideration in rock at the time and it will usually show. It always looked on the surface like the albums were filled up with throwaway jams. These seem to be the 'best of the best of's' to me:

https://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-.../master/465217 (This one was also put out as Gold and seems the best all-round one ever released, but if it's too long, look below)

https://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-...elease/9315799 (I'd call this ancient one The Really Great Twenty Eight as it has a far better tracklist than the acclaimed The Great Twenty-Eight and is still 28 tracks!)

Neither features 'Run Rudolph Run', but that is the only really significant omission IMHO. And I guess its lyrics link it to Christmas...

I'd still say you need Chuck Berry Is On Top, for Blues For Hawaiians. Maybe it's "insignificant" to you, but I always thought it was great instrumental.

[GuitarGeek]

Back to Chuck though. It's interesting(and maybe a bit sad) that his only Billboard number one song was a novelty tune called "my ding a ling." This song is often considered to be one of the worst songs to ever make number 1. Oh well. It still doesn't tarnish his legacy. That's how important he was(and is).

To give you an idea of how bad the taste of Americans, as calculated by Billboard magazine, was in 1972, do you know what the number two song immediately behind My Ding-A-Ling was? Burning Love, by Elvis Aaron Presley, arguably a far better song, and a far better recording.

But yeah, My-Ding-A-Ling is listed in the 100 Worst Rock And Roll Records Of All Time, with the note that none of his classic 50's era singles ever made number 1, but You Light My Life was number one for like 10 weeks or whatever it was, the inference being that this is an example of how there's no justice in the world.

[The Dark Elf]

To give you an idea of how bad the taste of Americans, as calculated by Billboard magazine, was in 1972, do you know what the number two song immediately behind My Ding-A-Ling was? Burning Love, by Elvis Aaron Presley, arguably a far better song, and a far better recording.

But yeah, My-Ding-A-Ling is listed in the 100 Worst Rock And Roll Records Of All Time, with the note that none of his classic 50's era singles ever made number 1, but You Light My Life was number one for like 10 weeks or whatever it was, the inference being that this is an example of how there's no justice in the world.

Ding-A-Ling was funny for 1972. Lighten up, Francis, it was a novelty song for god's sake, not some magnum opus. As far as American's taste in music in 1972, Thick as a Brick went to #1, Fragile to #4 and Close to the Edge #3 in the U.S. that year. Besides, ever see a year by year list of hit singles on the Brit charts? Bad taste is not exclusive of one country.

[JJ88]

'My Ding A Ling' is crap. His only Number 1 in the UK too....in fact he had remarkably few hits here. But two young guys made a connection on a train station in Dartford as one of them was carrying a Chuck Berry album (Rockin' At The Hops, to be precise!) and a Muddy Waters album (The Best Of Muddy Waters). And the rest is indeed history!

I'd still say you need Chuck Berry Is On Top, for Blues For Hawaiians. Maybe it's "insignificant" to you, but I always thought it was great instrumental.

The point I was making is that these collections have the obvious hits. A long-forgotten instrumental is hardly likely to turn up on such collections.

'Guitar Boogie' is on Anthology, though...noteworthy for turning up with very few arrangement changes but different writing credits as 'Jeff's Boogie' on a Yardbirds album.

[Obscured]

From wiki-
"My Ding-a-Ling" is a novelty song written and recorded by Dave Bartholomew. It was covered by Chuck Berry in 1972 and became his only number-one single in the United States. Later that year, in a longer unedited form, it was included on the album The London Chuck Berry Sessions. Two members of the Average White Band, guitarist Onnie McIntyre and drummer Robbie McIntosh, played on the single.
Nic Potter of Van der Graaf Generator played bass on the track.