Chuck Berry

Musician

• Born: October 18, 1926
• Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
• Died: March 18, 2017
• Place of death: Missouri

Rock-and-roll musician

One of the key contributors to the development of rock-and-roll music, Berry was a distinctive guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist whose classic songs “Maybellene” and “Johnny B. Goode” are among the most highly regarded recordings in twentieth century popular music.

Areas of achievement: Music: blues; Music: rhythm and blues; Music: rock and roll

Early Life

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1926. He spent most of his formative years attending school during the day while working in his father’s carpentry shop at night. Although details about his childhood are few, he was very young when he developed an interest in the blues. Berry’s talent and charismatic flair for performing developed early. While still in junior high school, he made his first public performance, playing a racy but well-received version of Jay McShann’s “Confessin’ the Blues” for his classmates at a school assembly. Hooked on performing, Berry quickly mastered the basic guitar chords and licks that would soon propel him to stardom.

Even early on, however, Berry was not without his struggles. He was arrested for armed robbery while still a teenager, his first of many run-ins with authority. Convicted of the crime, he served a three-year sentence in reform school. He worked at a General Motors factory and, Determined to walk the straight and narrow, Berry got married and started a family shortly after his release, although he also intended to pursue his musical ambitions. In 1952, local St. Louis pianist Johnnie Johnson invited Berry to perform at a New Year’s Eve gig at a local nightspot with his Sir John's Trio, the Cosmopolitan Club. The gig led to a three-year stint at the popular club, which routinely attracted hundreds of people eager to see Berry perform his unique hybrid of high-energy rhythm and blues and onstage antics, such as his signature “duck walk.” Although the term “rock and roll” did not exist at the time, Berry was already sculpting the sound and persona that would soon make him one of its best-known pioneers.

Life’s Work

In 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago to see his idol Muddy Waters perform. After the show, Berry asked Waters for help in becoming a professional musician. Recognizing the young man’s talent, Waters promptly referred him to Leonard and Phil Chess, owners of Chicago’s biggest blues label, the nationally distributed Chess Records. The Chess brothers were so impressed by Berry’s vivacious, original sound (including his signature two-string lick known later as the Chuck Berry lick) that they insisted on recording him right away. Soon Chess Records released Berry’s first hit, “Maybellene,” which rocketed up both the R&B and pop charts. Between 1955 and 1958 Berry released hit after hit, songs like "Johnnie B. Goode" and "Roll over Beethoven," and helped establish the sound of rock and roll. In 1957 he opened a short-lived amusement park outside of St. Louis, called Berry Park, and a year later, opened the Southern Air restaurant. By 1961, Berry had amassed ten more top-ten hits and had become one of the most popular and influential musicians in rock and roll.

Just when Berry was reaching the peak of his popularity, he ran into more legal trouble. Convicted in 1962 of taking an underage girl across state lines for immoral purposes under a 1910federal statute known as the Mann Act, Berry spent the better part of 1962 and 1963 in prison in Springfield, Missouri. Because the incarceration was not widely publicized, Berry publicly denied it for several years. He later acknowledged the conviction in his autobiography, and he also claimed that while behind bars in Springfield he wrote several of his most memorable hits, including “Nadine” and “No Particular Place to Go.”

Once he was released from prison and had resumed recording and performing, Berry was both pleased and amused to find that many younger artists were recording successful covers of his songs. Several American acts released Berry compositions in the early 1960’s, earning him enormous respect as a songwriter, not to mention lucrative royalties. During the British Invasion of 1964 through 1967, major English artists such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles covered many of Berry’s hits. Early Beatles albums included remakes of “Johnny B. Goode” and “Rock and Roll Music,” while memorable Rolling Stones covers include “Oh, Carol” and “Come On.” The Beach Boy's single "Surfin' USA" (1960) turned out to be a copy of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen." Berry successfully sued and was awarded a songwriting credit.

Berry left Chess Records for Mercury Records in 1966, but the music he released with the new label was not as successful. He returned to Chess in 1970 and, in 1972, released his biggest and last hit, "My Ding-a-Ling." He continued recording in the 1970s, but the records were not hits: 1973's Bio and 1979's Rockit. Three days after performing for President Jimmy Carter in July 1979, Berry was briefly imprisoned for income tax evasion.

Berry continued to perform well into his eighties. He was never awarded any Grammy Awards during the height of his recording career, but in 1984 he was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy. In 1986, Berry was fittingly one of the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The film Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, a documentary about his life and legacy, was released to wide acclaim in 1987.

Significance

The unique shuffle rhythm and universally recognizable guitar hooks Berry brought to classic recordings like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Sweet Little Sixteen” have made them some of the best-known songs in rock and roll. Berry’s innovative musicianship, lighthearted but incisive lyrics, and irresistible showmanship combine to make him one of the true giants not only of rock and roll but also of twentieth century popular culture. One would be hard pressed to find a fan of modern music unfamiliar with his work. Although Berry’s disdain for authority led him to run-ins with the law throughout his career, that same rebelliousness is what makes his music so reflective of the spirit of rock and roll.

Berry’s distinctive musical style has in some way influenced the music of practically every rock performer to follow him. Echoes of his guitar style can be heard in the work of Eric Clapton, George Thorogood, Albert Lee, and scores of other guitarists. The carefree spirit evoked by his lyrics is present in the songs of artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and even punk rockers like the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and Green Day. Few artists besides Elvis Presley, John Lennon, or Paul McCartney have had more influence on modern popular music than Berry. His ability to bring what had previously been considered “race music” to a mainstream white audience secures his place as one of the founding fathers of modern rock and rhythm and blues. Without Berry, rhythm and blues might never have been embraced by a mass audience.

In October of 2016, Chuck Berry announced he was releasing a studio album of new music, titled Chuck scheduled for release in June 2017. Chuck Berry passed away on March 18, 2017, from undisclosed causes. He was survived by his wife, Themetta, and their four children.

Bibliography

Berry, Chuck. Chuck Berry: The Autobiography. New York: Random House, 1989. 2d rev. ed. London: Faber & Faber, 2001.

Collis, John. Chuck Berry: The Biography. London: Aurum Press, 2002.

DeWitt, Howard. Chuck Berry: Rock ’n’ Roll Music. 2d ed. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Pierian Press, 1985.

Pareles, Jon. "Chuck Berry, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 90." New York Times, 18 Mar. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-dead.html?‗r=0. Accessed 3 Apr. 2017. Leer en español

Pegg, Bruce. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry. London: Routledge, 2002.