Bummer. I will never forget seeing him duck walk across the stage in hundred degree weather opening for the Grateful Dead. Felt lucky to see him. My younger sister got to dance on stage with him at a gig in NYC about 10 years ago.
Such a uniquely influential talent, such a finger on the pulse of "the sound". It's easy and common to over-emphasize a single person's influence on various things; "Oh it never would have happened without him/her!" But in Chuck Berry's case (with help from Johnny Johnson) has any one person had more to do with defining the sound of rock 'n roll?
The first time I saw him he was playing a benefit with the San Jose Symphony, probably around 1984 or so. I thought he was going to play with the symphony and wasn't expecting much of a rocking show, but the symphony played a 45 minute opening set of classical music, then it was Berry rocking with an excellent hired band (as always). After a clunky beginning he and the band got in a groove and began ripping. It was obvious that it was one of the nights he was feeling it, and he just destroyed for over an hour. He was brilliant, I was blown away and that show has a place on my all-time greatest shows I've seen list.
After that I saw him three or four more times over the years, every one just the most dreadful trainwreck imaginable. Each time it was painful and truly embarrassing to see him barely even trying, which I think was the much more normal type of performance he'd give.
I've seen quite a few bad performances over the years, but when I'm asked what is the worst professional performance I've ever seen, without hesitation I say Chuck Berry in Reno in the mid-'90s. My friends and I wanted to walk out but I just couldn't turn my back on Chuck Berry, so I suffered through that entire wretched, drunken performance. I vowed to never seen him again, and I never did.
But none of that changed my attitude about the singular, Mt. Rushmore greatness of Chuck Berry, and I did get to see him once as the true superstar he was, and for that I'll be eternally grateful.
I was able to snap off three photos at that SJ show before they confiscated my camera (but didn't take the film) and this is the one that came out well. It's always been one of my favorites. Thanks for smilin' Chuck...
Chuck is now and forever, Rock N Roll. My hero and the archetype for every single rock guitarist who ever strapped on an ax. I think tonight we will fire up Hail, Hail Rock N Roll in his honor. For me, the greatest rock n roll song ever written is Johnny B Goode.
Mr. Berry’s music has remained on tour extraterrestrially. “Johnny B. Goode” is on a golden record in the Voyager I spacecraft, launched in 1977 and awaiting discovery.
RIP Chuck Berry- “What can I say? His influence is among the greatest in musical history which is noted worldwide. Sadly enough, more elsewhere than in his own back yard of America. Chuck Berry is one of the architects of one of the greatest gifts to mankind- Rock and Roll.
As a guitar player Chuck brought us something “new and different” that is now so much a part of the fabric of Rock and Roll that we often forget where it came from and how original it was at the time. I remember Dickey Betts telling me, a long time ago, how people my age and younger didn't really get the impact of Chuck Berry and that, if you were a guitar player from his generation, Chuck Berry had the same impact on you that Jimi Hendrix had on guitar players of my generation. To quote Bob Seger, “All Chuck’s children are out there playing his licks.”
As a songwriter he stands alone. He contributed more to the Rock and Roll songbook than anyone. Imagine being covered by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, the Band, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Kinks, Count Basie, the Byrds, Eric Clapton, Cream, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Peter Tosh, Elton John, Santana, Conway Twitty, the Sex Pistols, James Taylor, Humble Pie, Johnny Winter, Wilson Pickett, Simon and Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, the Animals, Tom Petty, David Bowie, the MC 5, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, AC/DC….well you get the point. Chuck Berry wrote songs that you could visualize. He brought lyrical stories to life in music. He gave the “feeling" a voice. The world of music has lost one of its' great composers.
“Roll over Beethoven-tell Tchaikovsky the news”.- WH
A Mench and a munchkin such a mischievous grin and pure joy when he's playing dancing about sweat flowing his electric body alive standing alone at the top of the mountain you have James Brown for soul and Chuck Berry for rock 'n' roll
A true cornerstone in fact the originator the genesis of the living breathing spirit. We are blessed to call rock 'n' roll
And rebel and be energized and find joy under its magic spell
One fond memory seen the king at the foothill college gym in the early 70s he swept by the local union hall through together for bandmembers and probably practiced for half an hour
what came out with purifier enjoy
like the heathen said it's kind a hard to describe but you know it when you're blessed with that moment
Long live rock
all hail rock 'n' roll
goddamnit this shit gets hard sometimes but it's only hard and sad because it was so good it was and always will be
Looking at my earlier post I feel as though I disparaged him more than I meant to.
Chuck Berry was the king. No matter how half-hearted many of his shows may have been, no matter what disclaimers people use to say that Johnny Johnson "wrote the music" or T-Bone Walker was the true guitar influence, or whatever, Chuck Berry could be GREAT live, NO ONE rocked like Chuck Berry and NO ONE could big-league Chuck Berry.
He was a uniquely brilliant, elemental rock star.
Such a cornerstone. Such a rare talent. Such a huge passing.
I've been watching this show from '72. Very good CB, and a very good representation of how great he was.
"Let's put it down frank. Rock had more passion to (kids in the '50s) because (they) were in school. I was in school when the big bands (were popular), so it had passion to me."
The reporter wanted to make sure he was hearing Berry right. Was this rock 'n' roll legend saying he would have been just as happy spending his life singing ballads like Nat Cole?
"Oh, I'd have been (ecstatic)," Berry beams. "I never would have touched rock 'n' roll. I'm sorry. ..."
Chuck was the Rosetta Stone of Rock & Roll. His synthesis of Rhythm & Blues with Hillbilly Honky-Tonk was revolutionary, and his clever lyricism was fuel for a new era of thinking that challenged old staid social, sexual, and racial mores.
I feel fortunate to have seen Chuck perform three times.
The first was at those 2 Portland Meadows shows in 1995, where his playing far eclipsed my hero, Jerry Garcia's. Chuck was still doing the duck-walk at those shows, and helped lighten the mood that watching a funereal Jerry was bringing.
The last time I saw Chuck play was at the Long Beach Blues Festival, on Labor Day Weekend, 2001. It was just a few days before 9/11 and the changes to our lives that event incurred. In retrospect, I always think of it as the last event of a more innocent and carefree time. Chuck was doing a much more modified Duck Walk by then, but was still playing sharply, and enjoying himself and the presence of his daughter, who joined him on stage. Koko Taylor played a memorable set at that festival, too. just out of the hospital and singing from a wheelchair, but Chuck was the star of the show. They brought Bo Diddley out on stage for a jam at the end of Chuck's set, and Chuck cut Bo to pieces. A great Rock & Roll memory.
The movie chuck berry, hail hail rock and roll might be one of Keef's greatest moments, he was doing god's work right there, gave chuck the band he deserved for that moment in time and now for all of eternity to witness
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _________
RIP CB ! Huge L-E-G-E-N-D !
RIP CB ! Huge L-E-G-E-N-D !
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Long Live Rock n Roll. The
Long Live Rock n Roll. The original guitar hero.
Can't say he died too young. What a life.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. RIP Chuck Berry.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: St. Mark
Wish I had made a pilgrimage
Wish I had made a pilgrimage to St. Louis to see him.
Hugely formative for me as a little kid. RIP, Chuck Berry.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Oaksterdam Dan
Agree with Ken completely.
Agree with Ken completely. Legend for sure.
Johnny B. Goode was in the Grateful Dead songbook and was an encore for most of the bands life in music.
RIP!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: charmskooldropout
What Ken said. What a life
What Ken said. What a life indeed!
So long Mr. B
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Skitime
Bummer. I will never forget
Bummer. I will never forget seeing him duck walk across the stage in hundred degree weather opening for the Grateful Dead. Felt lucky to see him. My younger sister got to dance on stage with him at a gig in NYC about 10 years ago.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: CT
I was at those dead shows,
I was at those dead shows, assuming you mean Portland meadows '95
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Saw Chuck at the Hollywood
Saw Chuck at the Hollywood Palladium in the late 70's, fantastic show!
RIP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
RIP Mr. Rock n' Roll.
RIP Mr. Rock n' Roll.
Opened up for my last-ever GD shows, PDX 1995.
Sent a copy of his autobiography to a Zoner out near St. Louis a few years back.
Definitely worth reading.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ausonius
Hail hail rock and roll!
Hail hail rock and roll!
RIP to the master. Goodbye Johnny B. Goode.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Bluelight
Speechless.
Speechless.
RIP Mr. Chuck Berry.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
This one is as big as it gets
This one is as big as it gets.
Such a uniquely influential talent, such a finger on the pulse of "the sound". It's easy and common to over-emphasize a single person's influence on various things; "Oh it never would have happened without him/her!" But in Chuck Berry's case (with help from Johnny Johnson) has any one person had more to do with defining the sound of rock 'n roll?
The first time I saw him he was playing a benefit with the San Jose Symphony, probably around 1984 or so. I thought he was going to play with the symphony and wasn't expecting much of a rocking show, but the symphony played a 45 minute opening set of classical music, then it was Berry rocking with an excellent hired band (as always). After a clunky beginning he and the band got in a groove and began ripping. It was obvious that it was one of the nights he was feeling it, and he just destroyed for over an hour. He was brilliant, I was blown away and that show has a place on my all-time greatest shows I've seen list.
After that I saw him three or four more times over the years, every one just the most dreadful trainwreck imaginable. Each time it was painful and truly embarrassing to see him barely even trying, which I think was the much more normal type of performance he'd give.
I've seen quite a few bad performances over the years, but when I'm asked what is the worst professional performance I've ever seen, without hesitation I say Chuck Berry in Reno in the mid-'90s. My friends and I wanted to walk out but I just couldn't turn my back on Chuck Berry, so I suffered through that entire wretched, drunken performance. I vowed to never seen him again, and I never did.
But none of that changed my attitude about the singular, Mt. Rushmore greatness of Chuck Berry, and I did get to see him once as the true superstar he was, and for that I'll be eternally grateful.
I was able to snap off three photos at that SJ show before they confiscated my camera (but didn't take the film) and this is the one that came out well. It's always been one of my favorites. Thanks for smilin' Chuck...
Goodbye to a genius.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Chuck511
Really nice Lance. The rock &
Really nice Lance. The rock & roll world has lost another true legend!
RIP Chuck & thanks for so many great memories
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Greasyheart
Chuck is now and forever,
Chuck is now and forever, Rock N Roll. My hero and the archetype for every single rock guitarist who ever strapped on an ax. I think tonight we will fire up Hail, Hail Rock N Roll in his honor. For me, the greatest rock n roll song ever written is Johnny B Goode.
Love
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
>>>fire up Hail, Hail Rock N
>>>fire up Hail, Hail Rock N Roll in his honor.
Is that the documentary where Chuck Berry is bossing around Eric Clapton and Keith Richards?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Far out.
Far out.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
The King.
The King.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jazfish
RIP You and your third arm
RIP You and your third arm/guitar.
You a bad Ass Mother Fucker.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cb
If you tried to give rock n
If you tried to give rock n roll another name
you might call it "Chuck Berry" - John Lennon
RIP Chuck
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Roarshock
Makes me feel sad and old.
Makes me feel sad and old.
Rest in peace Chuck Berry.
Hail! Hail! Rock-n-Roll!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alias
Thank you Chuck Berry for....
Thank you Chuck Berry for.....................everything.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Roy Batty
What Warren said!
What Warren said!
RIP Chuck Berry- “What can I say? His influence is among the greatest in musical history which is noted worldwide. Sadly enough, more elsewhere than in his own back yard of America. Chuck Berry is one of the architects of one of the greatest gifts to mankind- Rock and Roll.
As a guitar player Chuck brought us something “new and different” that is now so much a part of the fabric of Rock and Roll that we often forget where it came from and how original it was at the time. I remember Dickey Betts telling me, a long time ago, how people my age and younger didn't really get the impact of Chuck Berry and that, if you were a guitar player from his generation, Chuck Berry had the same impact on you that Jimi Hendrix had on guitar players of my generation. To quote Bob Seger, “All Chuck’s children are out there playing his licks.”
As a songwriter he stands alone. He contributed more to the Rock and Roll songbook than anyone. Imagine being covered by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, the Band, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Kinks, Count Basie, the Byrds, Eric Clapton, Cream, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Peter Tosh, Elton John, Santana, Conway Twitty, the Sex Pistols, James Taylor, Humble Pie, Johnny Winter, Wilson Pickett, Simon and Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, the Animals, Tom Petty, David Bowie, the MC 5, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, AC/DC….well you get the point. Chuck Berry wrote songs that you could visualize. He brought lyrical stories to life in music. He gave the “feeling" a voice. The world of music has lost one of its' great composers.
“Roll over Beethoven-tell Tchaikovsky the news”.- WH
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 2 Room Shack
RIP. legend
RIP.
legend
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Roy Batty
My friends band backed CB at
My friends band backed CB at a Snowbird gig in the 90's? he calls it one of the high and low points of his career, as CB played horribly out of tune.
I'm disappointed I never saw him live.
RIP CHUCK BERRY
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
A Mench and a munchkin such
A Mench and a munchkin such a mischievous grin and pure joy when he's playing dancing about sweat flowing his electric body alive standing alone at the top of the mountain you have James Brown for soul and Chuck Berry for rock 'n' roll
A true cornerstone in fact the originator the genesis of the living breathing spirit. We are blessed to call rock 'n' roll
And rebel and be energized and find joy under its magic spell
One fond memory seen the king at the foothill college gym in the early 70s he swept by the local union hall through together for bandmembers and probably practiced for half an hour
what came out with purifier enjoy
like the heathen said it's kind a hard to describe but you know it when you're blessed with that moment
Long live rock
all hail rock 'n' roll
goddamnit this shit gets hard sometimes but it's only hard and sad because it was so good it was and always will be
amen
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
And revel and rebel
And revel
and rebel
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
RIP
RIP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Orinda Bound
Oh no the king is dead? All
Oh no the king is dead? All Hail Hail the mighty king of rock & roll. Thank you, Chuck, for the music...Rock&Roll in Peace....
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Saw him in 1971 - amazing!
Saw him in 1971 - amazing!
Saw him again w/ the GD in 95 - he still had some of that mojo.
RIP Chuck.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Roy Batty
Oh my heck, I totally forgot
Oh my heck, I totally forgot about Portland '95.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
I accosted him once on an
I accosted him once on an airplane. RIP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: CT
Back of my musty old lot shirt from Portland, '95
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 2 Room Shack
i saw him when i was like 8
i saw him when i was like 8 at magic mtn. duck walk...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: The Mayor
We opened our show tonight
We opened our show tonight with Johnny B. Goode...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
I feel as though I disparaged
Looking at my earlier post I feel as though I disparaged him more than I meant to.
Chuck Berry was the king. No matter how half-hearted many of his shows may have been, no matter what disclaimers people use to say that Johnny Johnson "wrote the music" or T-Bone Walker was the true guitar influence, or whatever, Chuck Berry could be GREAT live, NO ONE rocked like Chuck Berry and NO ONE could big-league Chuck Berry.
He was a uniquely brilliant, elemental rock star.
Such a cornerstone. Such a rare talent. Such a huge passing.
I've been watching this show from '72. Very good CB, and a very good representation of how great he was.
HAIL HAIL ROCK 'N ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6Jk3uE1rU
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: smiley
great player.
great player.
legendary perv.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Vann Kliburn
Oh man ...rest in peace to a
Oh man ...rest in peace to a TRUE rock legend and songwriter.
What a great life........for the most part
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ales
chuck berry played an early
chuck berry played an early gathering of the vibes festival.
it was pouring. berry drove up to the stage, popped the trunk & grabbed his guitar.
he gave the best performance of the festival. chuck berry the ultimate r&r hero.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Vann Kliburn
Alright folks..
Alright folks..
here's the one it's all about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNQCCKJdidk
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sun so hot, clouds so low
A cornerstone of the amazing
A cornerstone of the amazing world of rock and roll.
What would our lives have been without the influence of rock and roll?
RIP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ausonius
Doing it great in 1958
Doing it great in 1958
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ROwVrF0Ceg
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: makaha
rip chuck berry
rip chuck berry
promised land in paris 1965
https://youtu.be/aCT-xMbxb8w
c'est la vie 1972
https://youtu.be/uLdgtXVlSdk
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
An interesting profile of
An interesting profile of Berry from 1987:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Philzone Refugee
The King is gone. Long live
The King is gone. Long live the King!
Some thoughts from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, and others on Chuck's passing:
http://www.lfpress.com/2017/03/18/musicians-famous-fans-react-to-chuck-b...
Chuck was the Rosetta Stone of Rock & Roll. His synthesis of Rhythm & Blues with Hillbilly Honky-Tonk was revolutionary, and his clever lyricism was fuel for a new era of thinking that challenged old staid social, sexual, and racial mores.
I feel fortunate to have seen Chuck perform three times.
The first was at those 2 Portland Meadows shows in 1995, where his playing far eclipsed my hero, Jerry Garcia's. Chuck was still doing the duck-walk at those shows, and helped lighten the mood that watching a funereal Jerry was bringing.
The last time I saw Chuck play was at the Long Beach Blues Festival, on Labor Day Weekend, 2001. It was just a few days before 9/11 and the changes to our lives that event incurred. In retrospect, I always think of it as the last event of a more innocent and carefree time. Chuck was doing a much more modified Duck Walk by then, but was still playing sharply, and enjoying himself and the presence of his daughter, who joined him on stage. Koko Taylor played a memorable set at that festival, too. just out of the hospital and singing from a wheelchair, but Chuck was the star of the show. They brought Bo Diddley out on stage for a jam at the end of Chuck's set, and Chuck cut Bo to pieces. A great Rock & Roll memory.
Hail hail Rock & Roll!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
That was great in Back to the
That was great in Back to the Future when they tried to make it look like Chuck learned Johnny b Goode from a white boy.
RIP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: dj_easy_wind
My friend Kevin Papa got this
My friend Kevin Papa got this great photo of the King Of Rock & Roll:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Philzone Refugee
Pretty decent new Keith
Pretty decent new Keith Richards' interview here discussing Chuck and his impact:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-chuck-berry-keith-ri...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Bluelight
Thanks.
Thanks.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
The movie chuck berry, hail
The movie chuck berry, hail hail rock and roll might be one of Keef's greatest moments, he was doing god's work right there, gave chuck the band he deserved for that moment in time and now for all of eternity to witness
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: DaBreeze
Chuck Buried
Chuck Buried