Chuck Berry, dead or alive? Quick! Don’t cheat!

He’s quite alive, of course, and still touring at the age of 81! If anyone qualifies for the “elder statesman of rock” title, it is certainly Mr. Chuck Berry. Hell, the guy practically invented rock and roll when he combined hillbilly music with r&b.

It’s difficult to listen to Chuck’s music and hear it with fresh ears, though. His riffs and rhythms have become such a standard part of rock music that his songs sound like musical cliches when in reality they are rock in its purest form. Plus, songs like “Maybelline”, “School Days”, “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven” are in so many commercials and movies that we tend to tune them out when we run across them. I must admit, before doing some extra research for this post, I wasn’t much of a fan. Sure, I respected the guy for his place in musical history, but he seemed like a bit of a two-dimensional 50’s rock duck-walking characture than a real person.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, however, I’ve come to a new understanding and appreciation of the man. Through youtube, especially, Chuck’s personality really comes across. Take the following performance, for example. While this was filmed during his 60’s post-jail resurgence, I’m guessing, you can still see that he’s quite the showman. Starting at about the two-minute mark, Chuck does the duck-walk and then the splits all while some go-go chicks do a proto-Thriller dance around him. He wasn’t content to just stand in one spot and do a run through. We expect our rock heroes to behave like this now, but at the time it was totally revolutionary.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=R0YUA3yTUss]

Another facet that I never really picked up on was the sophistication of Chuck’s lyrics. Instead of the typical “I love you girl, do you love me?” lyrics that were common at the time (and still are!), Chuck expressed something more. He had a knack for storytelling, rarely singing from the first-person point of view. Check out the lyrics to “You Never Can Tell” from 1959, made popular again in the 90’s through Pulp Fiction.

You Never Can Tell

It was a teenage wedding,
and the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre
did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur
and madame have rung the chapel bell,
“C’est la vie”, say the old folks,
it goes to show you never can tell

They furnished off an apartment
with a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed
with TV dinners and ginger ale,
But when Pierre found work,
the little money comin’ worked out well
“C’est la vie”, say the old folks,
it goes to show you never can tell

They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records,
all rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down,
the rapid tempo of the music fell
“C’est la vie”, say the old folks,
it goes to show you never can tell

They bought a souped-up jitney,
’twas a cherry red ‘53,
They drove it down New Orleans
to celebrate their anniversary
It was there that Pierre was married
to the lovely mademoiselle
“C’est la vie”, say the old folks,
it goes to show you never can tell.

Chuck Berry wasn’t content to just sing about girls and cars, either. His song, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”, recorded in 1956, is likely one of the first pop songs to address race issues.

Brown Eyed Handsome Man

Arrested on charges of unemployment,
he was sitting in the witness stand
The judge’s wife called up the district attorney
Said you free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man

Flying across the desert in a TWA,
I saw a woman walking across the sand
She been a walkin’ thirty miles en route to Bombay
To get a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man

Way back in history three thousand years
In fact ever since the world began
There’s been a whole lot of good women sheddin’ tears
For a brown eyed handsome man
It’s a lot of trouble was brown eyed handsome man

Beautiful daughter couldn’t make up her mind
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her darlin’ go out and find yourself
A brown eyed handsome man
Just like your daddy, he’s a brown eyed handsome man

Milo Venus was a beautiful lass
She had the world in the palm of her hand
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
To get brown eyed handsome man
She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man

Two, three count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stand
Rounding third he was headed for home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
That won the game; it was a brown eyed handsome man

We know that Bob Dylan, like most of the 60’s artists, was inspired by Chuck Berry as a teen. Is it possible, then, that Chuck’s song “Too Much Monkey Business” was the basis for “Subterranean Homesick Blues”? Have a listen….

Chuck Berry – Too Much Monkey Business

Here’s Chuck performing a hopped up version of “Too Much Monkey Business” at the Toronto Music Festival in 1969. Note the fantastic guitar solo starting one minute into the song, followed by a quick mention of Vietnam. Be sure to turn your volume up….

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=HsK1OPt_tTI]

Gotta love the hippies’ reactions. Speaking of hippies and reactions, here is a bizarre bit featuring Chuck Berry playing with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Elephant’s Memory on the Mike Douglas show in 1972. Check out Chuck’s eyes when Yoko starts singing.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=yWGerBpYPK4]

Think that was weird? How about this one. It’s Chuck performing what would become his final number one hit, “My Ding-A-Ling”, in 1972. I really don’t have words for this one.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zf1S9xrNgy8]

Well, then. That’s enough of that, thank you. Before this post turned into a Chuckfest I had intended to do a review of his first album, After School Session. Let’s get back to that.

While After School Session was technically his debut on LP, it was actually a collection of singles and b-sides recorded between 1955 and 1957. The intent wasn’t to provide a cohesive piece of music so much as it was to showcase all of the different styles Chuck was capable of performing. Not a bad starting point if you’re looking to go beyond a simple greatest hits collection.

Chuck Berry – Havana Moon

Chuck Berry – Together We Will Always Be

As I mentioned earlier, Chuck continues to tour even at the age of 81 and he doesn’t seem to be near stopping anytime soon. While his methods of performing live might be questionable (he uses local backing bands for each show and doesn’t rehearse with them), it would still be a treat to catch a legend like Chuck in person.

Here’s Chuck performing “School Day” last year in Sweden. The guy still rocks, and apparently borrowed an amp from Blue Cheer for the show.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=kB4tXScbVmo]

And now for the dates….

WED 3/12 – BlueBerry Hill’s Duck Room – Saint Louis, MO
FRI 3/15 – Lowensaal – Nuremberg, Germany
SAT 3/16 – Olympia – Paris, France
SUN 3/17 – Heineken Music Hall – Amsterdam, Holland
MON 3/18 – Event Center – Honemems, Austria
TUE 3/19 – Gasometer – Vienna, Austria
WED 3/20 – B1 Maximum – Moscow, Russia
MON 3/24 – Grill Venue – Letterkenny, Ireland
TUE 3/25 – Theatre De Beaulieu – Lausanne, Switzerland
FRI 3/28 – Plaza De Santa Ana – Las Palmas, Spain
FRI 7/18 – Bestival – Dorset, England

“If you were going to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry”. – John Lennon