"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might
call it 'Chuck Berry'." -- John Lennon
Chuck Berry IS Rock and Roll...Period. I had to take a second to wish happy birthday to the absolute legend of the rock and roll sound and attitude...Chuck Berry.
I have actually been listening to a lot of Chuck lately, and finding his tunes just as timeless as I am sure they sounded when they were released. He is the man who inspired The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and everyone else who ever picked up an electric guitar.
He never really found success after his initial sound was milked for as long as it could be but who cares? In the past I have argued that "Johnny B Goode" is the greatest Rock & Roll Song of All-Time and I still stand by that today:
Willie Dixon's bass lines and Lafayette Leaks piano fills are critical, but it is that ringing guitar lead and swaggering vocal that makes it leap to the front of the class...what a tune! It never gets old!
What I have been listening too lately has been Two Great Guitars matching up Berry with the equal legend Bo Diddley.
It is wild to hear the two together and those jams on that disk go on for a loooong time...I have been digging Chuck's longer stuff, even though it doesn't go a lot of directions, the repetition can be soothing, like with "Concerto in B Goode"
I swear his guitar says "Meah" around the 8:00 mark...
He was a rebel, hitting jail multiple times and not giving a flying fuck about anything, touring solo and demanding to get paid in cash while playing with backing bands who he could give two shits about. A pure Rock and Roller and one who I am excited to honor on his 85th birthday.
Here is the song that started it all....
B Goode Chucky! or better yet, don't....
No comments:
Post a Comment