News Archive
Chuck Berry in
Amneville, France
Wednesday,
30. April 2003 - 12:32
CHUCK
BERRY
04.07.03 - AMNEVILLE, FRANCE -
GALAXIE
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 48,00 EUR
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketnet.fr
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
Semblancay, France
Wednesday,
30. April 2003 - 12:32
Chuck Berry's show in Semblancay on July 4th 2003 has been cancelled!!
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Some more (yet
unconfirmed) European Tour stops
Sunday,
27. April 2003 - 17:56
There are further dates in the works for
Chuck Berry's European Tour 2003.
Beside the confirmed shows in France, he might play:
25.07.03
- Hamburg, Germany - To Be Announced
26.07.03 - Berlin, Germany - To Be Announced
01.08.03 - London, England - Ocean Music Club (To Be Announced)
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Picture
Gallery updated
Saturday,
26. April 2003 - 16:56
One picture of the following show has been added:
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
Semblancay, France
Friday,
25. April 2003 - 16:53
CHUCK
BERRY
04.07.03 - SEMBLANCAY, FRANCE - PARC
DU CHATEAU
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 48,77 EUR
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketnet.fr
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
New Fats
Domino DVD, VHS, CD released
Thursday,
24. April 2003 - 14:01
Fats
Domino plays only a handful of shows these days. Most of them in his hometown,
New Orleans, LA.
This DVD captures the excitement of one of his more recent shows, filmed in
2001
at the Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans.
This performance is also available on the following
formats: VHS, Audio CD
Available through www.amazon.com
Product Details (DVD)
Editorial Reviews (DVD)
Amazon.com
The hits come fast and furious in this 2001 performance by
Antoine "Fats" Domino at
the Jazz and Heritage Festival in his hometown of New Orleans. Well, maybe not that
fast; Fats's style was never what you'd call exactly frenetic, and he was well
into
his seventies at the time of this show. But there are a whole lot of
hits--"I'm Walkin',"
"Blueberry Hill," "Walking to New Orleans," "My Blue
Heaven," etc.--and they're just
as irresistible as ever, with Domino and band (including a full horn section)
in
top form as they deliver their brew of R&B, rock & roll, and country
music with
its distinctively rollicking New Orleans vibe. Aside from the 60-minute
concert,
the DVD features interviews with Fats, Allen Toussaint (himself a legendary New
Orleans
musician and producer), author/music journalist Mikal Gilmore, and others, plus
a minute
or two of Domino and Toussaint jamming at the piano. --Sam Graham
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Picture
Gallery updated
Thursday,
24. April 2003 - 10:51
Pictures of the following shows have been added:
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Concert
Reviews updated
Monday,
21. April 2003 - 10:27
The following review is now available at this website:
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Picture
Gallery updated
Monday,
21. April 2003 - 10:27
Pictures of Chuck Berry's second appearance
at B.B. King's Blues Club
in New York, NY last year have been added:
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry,
Little Richard in
Trenton, NJ
Saturday,
19. April 2003 - 16:25
CHUCK
BERRY, LITTLE RICHARD
13.09.03 - TRENTON, NJ - SOVEREIGN
BANK ARENA
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 75,00 $
2nd category: 55,00 $
3rd category: 45,00 $
4th category: 35,00 $
Category details:
1st to 4th: Reserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry,
Common, Lauren Hart, Town Hall, Antigone Rising, K Floor, Marva in Philadelphia,
PA
Thursday,
17. April 2003 - 11:54
CHUCK
BERRY, COMMON, LAUREN HART, TOWN HALL, ANTIGONE RISING, K FLOOR, MARVA
24.05.03 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - JAM ON
THE RIVER
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 15,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Standing
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Jerry Lee
Lewis' new album
Thursday,
17. April 2003 - 10:54
The recording was done at Philips Recording
Studio, (All recorded within the week of
February 13, 2003) 639 Madison Avenue, with Jerry Lee Lewis on piano and organ
on the
songs marked with an asterisk.
Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' new recording
which isn't available but will be once the final
mixing and mastering is done.
1. Old Glory (a song written by Jerry Lee Lewis* (an American
Patriotic Song)
2. I Saw Her Standing There (former hit song of the Beatles)
3. Pink Cadillac (written by Bruce Springsteen as well as sang by
Bruce Springsteen)
4. Travelin' Band (a scorcher) written and played by John Fogarty of
Creedence Clearwater
5. I've Got a Few Years On You Baby (writer, Willie Nelson)
6. The Pilgrim (Kris Kristofferson Song)
7. Get Back To Rock N' Roll (Old Led Zepplin Hit)
8. Evening Gown (done with a Mick Jagger overdub in it) for a motion
picture
9. Keep Your Hand To Yourself (written and performed by The Georgia
Satellites)
10. That's What Makes An Irish Heart Sing (written by Van Morrison)
11. BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER, YOU'RE GONNA BE IN LOVE* (piano and organ by
Jerry Lee Lewis)
12. That Kind of Fool
13. The Last Cheater's Waltz
Great news finally we have. Soon, new shows will be added...
Source: David Juan
Chuck Berry in
Mashantucket, CT
Thursday,
17. April 2003 - 10:03
CHUCK
BERRY
23.05.03 - MASHANTUCKET, CT -
FOXWOODS CASINO
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 33,00 $
2nd category: 27,50 $
Category details:
1st to 2nd: Reserved Seating
Tickets available through
800-200-2882 (Box Office)
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry, Arlo
Guthrie, Steve Kimock Band,
Little Feat, Reid Genauer & The Assembly Of Dust
in Croton-On-Hudson, NY
Wednesday,
16. April 2003 - 10:18
CHUCK
BERRY, ARLO GUTHRIE, STEVE KIMOCK BAND, LITTLE FEAT, REID GENAUER & THE
ASSEMBLY OF DUST
31.05.03 - CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY -
SUMMIT ON THE HUDSON
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 50,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Standing
Tickets available through
www.terrapinpresents.net
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday,
16. April 2003 - 10:18
CHUCK
BERRY
14.05.03 - ST. LOUIS, MO - BLUEBERRY
HILL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 25,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.metrotix.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
New pictures added
Monday,
14. April 2003 - 16:21
10 pictures of the following show were added to the Picture Gallery:
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Sweet Tunes, Fast Beats
and a Hard Edge
Monday,
14. April 2003 - 16:21
February 23, 2003, Sunday
NATIONAL DESK
Still lean and handsome at 76 and probably
the most influential rock musician
ever, at least this side of Elvis, Mr. Berry remains as suspicious, defiant
and
guarded offstage as he is mesmerizing on. In a life overshadowed by three prison
terms, his own inner demons and the humiliations of racism, he now carefully
avoids any public hint of the anger and resentment that seem to lurk just
beneath the surface.
His eyes narrow as he speaks. ''Had I been
pushed like Colonel Parker pushed
Elvis, had I been a white boy like Elvis, sure, it would have been different,''
said
Mr. Berry, a onetime autoworker who was the first to fuse the blues, country
music
and rhythm-and-blues with a creativity and wit that spoke directly to
American
teenagers. A result was vivid songs with complex riffs on his electric guitar
that have influenced virtually every rock musician since the 1960's.
''But look,'' he said. ''The last 10 years
have been the best. I've had more awards,
more praise. My highest dollars have come in. I'm satisfied.''
Satisfaction has often proved elusive to
Mr. Berry. The high point of his career,
from the mid-50's through the 60's, was distinguished by about 40 songs, many
of them early rock 'n' roll classics.
He became famous with ''Maybellene'' in
1955. It was followed by ''Roll Over
Beethoven,'' ''Brown Eyed Handsome Man,'' ''Johnny B. Goode,'' ''School
Days,''
''Nadine'' and ''Rock and Roll Music.''
Although Little Richard and Fats Domino may
have been the earliest black stars
to sell rock to white audiences, Mr. Berry was the first to break down racial
barriers, not only with his electric guitar but also with wordplay and imagery.
As Paul Friedlander writes in his book ''Rock and Roll: A Social History,''
Mr. Berry ''created the most literate, stylistically innovative and original
music
of the era.'' If the formulaic lyrics of early rockers were narrowly focused
on
boy meets girl, Mr. Berry's songs went beyond this to appeal to the concerns
of
white adolescents dealing with issues like parents, dancing, cars, lust and new
tastes in music, along with teenage romance.
His influence is so sprawling that the list
of rock greats who owe him a large debt
includes virtually everyone in the pantheon. John Lennon once said, ''If you
tried
to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.''
Identifying Mr. Berry as ''the greatest of
the rock 'n' rollers,'' the rock critic
Robert Christgau wrote, ''By adding blues tone to some fast country runs,
and
yoking them to a rhythm-and-blues beat and some unembarrassed electrification,
he created an instrumental style with biracial appeal.''
He also forged the style for rock 'n' roll
guitar that's still current. ''For him,
the guitar was more than an accompanying prop hanging off his shoulders,''
Joe
Stuessy and Scott Lipscomb write in ''Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic
Development.'' In Mr. Berry's hands, they observed, the guitar ''was a frontline
instrument, often on a par with the lead vocal. The statement-and-answer
technique
in which the guitar mimics the just-completed vocal line is related to the
two-bar
or four-bar 'tradeoffs' found in jazz. It is as if Berry and his guitar are
doing a duet.''
Turning Country Into Rock
When Mr. Berry recorded ''Maybellene'' for
the Chicago-based Chess Records,
he was inspired, he said, by a country-western song, ''Ida Red.'' Leonard Chess,
one of the owners, told him he didn't like the title.
As Johnnie Johnson, the piano player and
Mr. Berry's longtime collaborator,
recalled, Mr. Chess suggested ''Maybellene'' after noticing a Maybelline
cosmetics box on a window sill beside a secretary's desk.
In ''Maybellene,'' Mr. Berry's approach to
the mass audience of suburban white
teenagers was as ebullient as a fast-car fantasy:
As I was motivatin' over the hill
I saw Maybellene in a Coupe DeVille
A Cadillac arollin' on the open road
Nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford.
With the help of a disc jockey, Alan Freed,
the record became one of the first
by a black artist to outsell its white cover versions.
It also gave Mr. Berry his st taste of
music-industry bitterness. Initially he
was listed as the writer. Once the song hit the charts, two other names were
added:
those of Mr. Freed, who often played songs in exchange for credit, and of Russ
Fratto,
the landlord of the Chess Company offices in Chicago. Mr. Berry's successful
battle to reclaim the rights lasted three decades, a victory that came only
after hundreds of thousands of dollars had been divided three ways.
Asked if he felt robbed, Mr. Berry said
tightly: ''It's been years ago, man,
and so many good things have happened to me. The feeling of being ripped off
--
I found out about that later.'' But within moments, when asked about his
biggest disappointment, Mr. Berry said: ''When I discovered that I didn't
get the entire credit for something that I created when I should have --
that's a disappointment. That was the biggest disappointment. And it was more
than one incident that happened.''
There were other issues, sexual and racial,
that intertwined and in some ways
dominated his life. He once accused the St. Louis police of singling him out
in
the 1950's and 60's because he owned a nightclub with an interracial clientele.
His odd autobiography, ''Chuck Berry,'' (Harmony Books, 1987), is packed with
sexual escapades, although he's been married since 1948 to Themetta Berry,
called
Toddy. His book also includes scary incidents with the police or with white men
who
saw him driving or dancing with white women.
But the most devastating episode in Mr.
Berry's life was his trial and conviction
in 1961 for violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of women
or
girls across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. Mr. Berry was
convicted
of charges involving Janice Norine Escalanti, a 14-year-old hat-check girl. (She
complained to the police after Mr. Berry fired her from her job at his St.
Louis
club, Club Bandstand.)
Mr. Berry's 20-month imprisonment left him
broken and outraged. He said he felt
hounded by the police because of his association with white women. He was
actually
tried more than once: the first conviction was thrown out because of the judge's
incendiary racial comments, including his constant use of the word ''nigra.''
In
the trials, which took place before white male juries, the prosecution depicted
Mr. Berry as a sexual predator, and the outcomes seem, to some degree, racially
motivated.
In the recently published biography ''Brown
Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard
Times of Chuck Berry,'' (Routledge), Bruce Pegg writes: ''The issue in the
trials
was one of Janice Escalanti's age. But as with everything in Berry's life
there's
always an ambiguity -- that he is as much a victim as perpetrator.'' By the
time
Mr. Berry left federal prison, he was, by some accounts, a different man.
''Never saw a man so changed,'' Carl
Perkins, the songwriter, singer and guitarist,
once told Michael Lydon, a journalist, as he recalled a 1964 tour of Britain
with
Mr. Berry. ''He had been an easygoing guy before, the kinda guy who'd jam in
dressing
rooms, sit and swap licks and jokes. In England he was cold, real distant and
bitter.
It wasn't just jail. It was those years of one-nighters; grinding it out like
that
can kill a man. But I figure it was mostly jail.''
The changes, reflected in his often
difficult personality and his precise and
demanding requirements on the road, have often exasperated his admirers.
Contempt for Followers
Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones'
guitarist, said in 1986 at Mr. Berry's
induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, ''I lifted every
lick he ever played.'' But Mr. Berry's treatment of Mr. Richards, who idolizes
him, offers a glimpse into Mr. Berry's sometimes harsh and incomprehensible
ways. By some accounts, Mr. Berry views Mr. Richards's superstardom as more
of an affront than a tribute.
Mr. Berry once kicked Mr. Richards off a
stage in Hollywood for playing too
loudly and once punched him backstage after he tapped him on the shoulder.
Mr. Berry also threw a lighted match down Mr. Richards's shirt at the Los
Angeles airport.
Mr. Berry says he doesn't recall those
incidents, although Mr. Richards has
spoken of them. Mr. Berry has had a similarly tense and competitive relationship
with his younger contemporary Jerry Lee Lewis. (Mr. Lewis and his father once
used a racial slur to describe Mr. Berry, who had to be restrained from hitting
them.) Once, Mr. Berry heard Mr. Lewis declare himself the ''king of rock 'n'
roll''
and promptly punched him in the nose.
Asked about his relationship with Mr.
Lewis, Mr. Berry said, ''He's an artist that
I played with a number of times.'' He was asked if he liked him. ''I don't know
what
you mean by like,'' Mr. Berry replied coolly.
Backstage at Blueberry Hill, dressed 70's
style in a sequined aqua shirt and tight
flared black pants as he waited to go on, Mr. Berry professed to have little
interest in the idolatrous praise given him by rock 'n' roll stars like Mr.
Richards,
Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton.
''People said I was king, but I was never
king, and I say I'm the prime
minister,'' Mr. Berry said, reflecting his view that he never achieved
the megastardom he deserved. ''Praise doesn't mean anything to me. I don't
judge myself.''
Unlike many other early rock 'n' rollers,
including Bo Diddley, Mr. Berry was not
reared in poverty. Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on Oct. 18, 1926, he grew
up
in his family's three-room brick cottage at 2250 Goode Avenue, ''a nicely kept
area
in the best of the three colored sections of St. Louis,'' he recalled later.
The neighborhood, known as the Ville, was a thriving black community north
and west of downtown St. Louis. Mr. Berry's parents, Henry and Martha, came
from polyglot roots: African, Chihuahua Indian and European. His father
worked in a flour mill and later as a repairman in apartment buildings.
Mr. Berry's deeply religious parents sang
in the Antioch Baptist Church, and even
before learning to walk, their son began pounding on the family's piano
and
listening to the Victrola. The Berrys were musical: another son later played the
trumpet, and a daughter sang with Marian Anderson.
Mr. Berry's life was remarkably cloistered.
He recalls not seeing a white person
until he was about 3, when he encountered some firemen at a blaze. ''I thought
they were so frightened that their faces were whitened from fear of going near
the big fire,'' Mr. Berry said. ''Daddy told me they were white people,
and
their skin was always white that way, day or night.''
Judging by his candid autobiography, which
he wrote without the help of a ghostwriter,
Mr. Berry was stirred by two forces in his early years (and his late years, too):
sex and music. ''My 12th was my most Christian and most boring year of my
life,''
Mr. Berry writes. ''Try as I did, day after day, to cling to righteousness,
I was washed down in suds of sinful surroundings.''
His earliest influences were boogie-woogie,
blues and swing. He spent hours listening
to the bluesmen Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson, Arthur Crudup and Muddy Waters,
and
later to Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Buddy Johnson, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn
Miller,
Harry James and Nat King Cole.
''Nat Cole's diction, his speech and his
delivery was something that I can't get
from a lot of rappers today,'' Mr. Berry said backstage. ''And a lot of that
country-western -- can't hear what they're saying.''
A Bold Early Step
A significant moment in his early life was
a musical performance in 1941
at Sumner High School, which had a middle-class black student body. In a
daring move, Mr. Berry refused to sing a tired classic like ''Danny Boy'' or
''I Dream of Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair,'' turning instead to the
popular and bold ''Confessin' the Blues.''
''It wasn't a raunchy song, but it wasn't
'I Dream of Jeanie' either,''
Mr. Berry recalled. He began singing quietly:
Baby, I stand before you
With my heart in my hand
I want you to read it, Momma,
hoping you will understand.
Mr. Berry said, ''He was giving her a love
letter.'' He laughed. ''I sang
my heart out. I just felt so good. Where did I get the courage?'' The students
went wild. But more significant, Mr. Berry was enthralled by the guitar
accompaniment of another student, Tommy Stevens, who had played at nightclubs.
''It was then that my determination to play
guitar and accompany myself while
singing became an amendment to my religion,'' he said.
He borrowed a four-string tenor guitar and
learned to play it, partly through
a book, ''Nick Manoloff's Guitar Book of Chords,'' and partly with the help
of
neighbors. He began working at parties.
Mr. Berry said he soon discovered that the
harmony of many popular songs was
derived from the chords of George Gershwin's ''I Got Rhythm'' and were known
as songs with rhythm changes. They ranged from ''At Last'' and ''Heart and
Soul'' to ''Blue Moon.'' Others are based on blues chords. Only a few, like
''Silent Night,'' ''Deep Purple'' and ''Stardust,'' have their own specific
progressions.
In 1944, still in high school at 17 and
feeling restless, Mr. Berry decided to
drive to California in a 1937 Oldsmobile with two friends. This led to one
of
the first wild and disruptive incidents in his life.
He had the remains of a pistol he said he
had found in a used-car lot. It was
useless, he recalled, but resembled a .22-caliber weapon. The three teenagers
began a Missouri robbery spree in a bakery, a barber shop and a clothing store
in Kansas City. They also stole a vehicle near Columbia, Mo., after their car
broke down. Eventually seized by a highway policeman, they were held for a month
in the Boone County jail before standing trial and being sentenced to 10 years'
imprisonment.
Mr. Pegg writes: ''As Berry tells the tale,
their crime spree was nothing more
than adolescent high jinks; like much of what was to happen later in his
life,
however, the incident was not without ambiguities. Berry's actions were clearly
dangerous and antisocial; at the same time, his legal advice (such as it
was),
trial and sentencing were infused with the racism one would expect of a rural
Missouri court in the 1940's.'' The judge, although acknowledging that Mr.
Berry
had never been convicted of a felony, unhesitatingly gave him the maximum
sentence.
Mr. Berry served three years at the Algoa
Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men,
near Jefferson City. He organized a singing quartet and band there, was a
boxer (his nickname was Wild Man) and, as he depicts it, had a chaste but
sexually charged relationship with the assistant superintendent's wife.
He was released at 21.
Seven months later, Mr. Berry met Themetta
Suggs, who was working in a dry
cleaner's, and married her after a five-month courtship. He began working
two jobs; one at Fisher Body Motors and the other at a plant making
105-millimeter
shells. Then he trained as a beautician, following two of his sisters.
By late 1950 or early 1951, Mr. Stevens,
his former classmate, invited him
to join his three-piece combo as a guitarist. With him playing and singing
the blues, the band began to make its name. This was largely because Mr.
Stevens
left Mr. Berry free to sing what he wanted, including ''hillbilly music.''
In December 1952, Mr. Johnson, the piano
player, asked Mr. Berry to join his trio
for a New Year's Eve gig at the Cosmopolitan Club, an upscale, predominantly
black
club in East St. Louis, Ill. By Easter, the trio was packing the nightclub every
weekend.
Mr. Johnson once said that Mr. Berry's
dancing and guitar playing -- his focus
on pleasing the crowd -- was a prime factor in his success. ''When Chuck started
with me, he didn't know but 12 songs all the way through and couldn't play the
guitar that well,'' Mr. Johnson told his biographer, Travis Fitzpatrick. ''I've
seen Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Rolling Stones. Ain't none of them can
hold a crowd like Chuck. That's his talent. Chuck Berry is an entertainer.''
At the Cosmopolitan, Mr. Berry worked up a
repertory of boogies and blues but also
played around with the lyrics of old country songs. ''Some of the clubgoers
started
whispering, 'Who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?' '' Mr. Berry recalls
in
his autobiography. ''After that, they laughed at me a few times, they began
requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed trying to dance to it.''
Mr. Berry's calculated showmanship began
luring larger white audiences to the
club. He also began singing the songs of Nat King Cole and Muddy Waters. ''Listening
to Nat Cole prompted me to sing sentimental songs with distinct diction,''
he
said at Blueberry Hill. ''The songs of Muddy Waters impelled me to deliver the
down-home blues in the language they came from. When I played hillbilly songs,
I stressed my diction so that it was harder and whiter. All in all, it was my
intention to hold both the black and the white clientele by voicing the
different
kinds of songs in their customary tongues.''
His confidence and onstage magnetism
propelled him to glide around the stage in
what became his trademark duck walk. According to Mr. Berry, its origins were
in
his childhood, when one day his rubber ball fell beneath a kitchen table where
his mother and some church choir members were sitting. Joking, he stooped with
his
knees fully bent, keeping his head and back straight, and began scooting to
reach
the ball. The grown-ups laughed. From then on, his mother asked him to repeat
the
maneuver. Years later in New York, he did it again. A journalist
christened it the ''duck walk.''
A Fateful Meeting
By 1955, Mr. Berry had taken over Mr.
Johnson's band and was eager for a recording
career. On a visit to Chicago, he visited the Palladium, a South Side club,
where
Muddy Waters was performing. ''He was the inspiration, my idol,'' he said. A
friend
introduced them, and Mr. Berry asked Mr. Waters whom to see about making a
record.
''Leonard Chess,'' Waters responded.
After a brief conversation in the offices
of Chess Records, home to many black
artists in the early days of rock 'n' roll, Mr. Chess asked Mr. Berry for a tape.
He was back in a week with what turned into ''Maybellene.'' The song, which
hinted at a marriage between country music and rock 'n' roll, was released
that July 30.
''With its opening guitar run -- a rapid
mixture of notes and chords -- the
song had a relentless energy, a similar feel to Bo Diddley's first single
('Bo Diddley') but with a different style and a lighter sound,'' Nadine Cohodas
writes in ''Spinning Blues Into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary
Chess Records.'' Ms. Cohodas adds, ''And then there were Berry's unconventional
lyrics, unusual words, perhaps, but creating an unmistakable mood.'' Beyond
this, critics noted that Mr. Berry played a twangy ''chop-chop-chop,'' using
a staccato beat.
The beat was derived from Bill Haley and
the Comets. ''Berry's clear enunciation
probably enabled the record to 'pass for white' '' writes Charlie Gillett
in
''The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll.''
In September, ''Maybellene'' reached No. 1
on Billboard's R & B chart and had
crossed over into the pop chart. By the end of the year, the song had sold
a
million copies and Mr. Berry had been named Most Promising R & B Artist
in
Billboard's annual disc jockey poll. Almost overnight, he had become one
of
the country's most popular artists.
In the same breath, Mr. Berry recently
praised and criticized Leonard Chess
and his brother. ''They were great,'' he said. ''They weren't honest but
they were very helpful in my career. They gave me the first chance. That's
a beauty. To rob somebody or to not give somebody what belongs to them
is not honest. So they're both, you know. But they were good to me and cool.''
A line of hits followed, including ''School
Days,'' ''Sweet Little Sixteen''
and ''Johnny B. Goode.'' Like Elvis Presley's records, they were rooted in
white teenage culture, black R & B and country and western music.
''I wrote songs white people could buy,
because that's nine pennies out of
every dime,'' Mr. Berry once said. Recently he emphasized: ''I made records
for people who would buy them. No color, no ethnic, no political -- I don't
want that, never did.''
Still, some of his most famous music, like
''Brown Eyed Handsome Man,'' carries
subversive overtones. In that song Mr. Berry mocks racial and sexual taboos
by explaining how the Venus de Milo had ''lost both her arms in a wrestling
match/to get a brown eyed handsome man.''
There were limits to a black performer's
success in Mr. Berry's golden era.
Asked whether it was humiliating to tour the segregated South, he answered
obliquely: ''You're looking at it like a white person would. Would it humiliate
you if you went to a country where it said no person with black hair or dark
brown eyes would be allowed? You pass it by. You know about it. It's not
anything new to you.''
The experience that derailed him was his
Mann Act conviction. In Juarez,
Mexico, Mr. Berry had met Ms. Escalanti, who accompanied him to El Paso,
Tucson, Phoenix, Kansas City and St. Louis. When he dismissed her from his
club, he bought her a bus ticket home. She phoned the police in Yuma,
Ariz.,
where she perhaps hoped to stay, and they alerted the St. Louis police,
who arrested Mr. Berry.
However tough his prison experience, Mr.
Berry was determined to resume his
career. He used his term to complete his high school education and write songs.
Two of them were released in 1964: ''Nadine,'' a loosely reshaped version
of
''Maybellene,'' and ''You Never Can Tell,'' about a teenage wedding. Meanwhile,
the Beatles and the Stones both took his music to almost unimaginable heights
of popularity.
This didn't necessarily please him. Bill
Wyman, the Stones' former bass
player, recalled that Mr. Jagger and Mr. Watts were once in a hotel elevator
in London when the door opened to reveal Mr. Berry, who was on a successful
tour. Mr. Berry ''stepped in, saw the two Stones, turned his back and,
when the doors opened again, walked out without saying a word,'' he said.
By the late 60's, Mr. Berry's career began
to slow, losing ground to breakthrough
improvisers like Mr. Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Jimi Hendrix, who all paid
tribute to him while venturing away from his formulas. But in 1972 he
unexpectedly
struck gold with a silly and risqué song, ''My Ding-A-Ling,'' which was
recorded
before 35,000 students in Coventry, England.
As on other occasions in Mr. Berry's life,
this career surge was soon undercut
by personal troubles. The Internal Revenue Service did a five-year investigation
of him, and by 1979, the government had indicted him for evading about
$109,000
in taxes and for filing false returns for income earned in 1973. Mr. Berry
accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to 120 days in federal prison
and
four years' probation, which included a requirement that he perform 1,000
hours of community service. A United Press International report of the
sentencing
said Mr. Berry had twice burst into tears.
From the White House to Jail
The sentencing took place three days after
Mr. Berry had been honored at the
White House by President Jimmy Carter in a celebration of the Black Music
Association. During a speech there, Mr. Berry said that when he heard
President Carter mention his name, ''a very warm feeling for my country came
over me.''
''Believe me, I think I'm a different
person,'' he continued, alluding to his
troubles. And then with a smile he added, ''I'll try to entertain you.''
So
he picked up his guitar and did ''Roll Over Beethoven.''
Mr. Berry's life in the 1980's and 90's was
an erratic mix of concerts, honors
and scandal. In 1987 he was arrested by the police on assault charges at the
Gramercy Park Hotel in New York, where a woman said he had beaten her up.
Eventually Mr. Berry pleaded guilty to harassment, and was fined $250.
In 1990 several women sued him, claiming
that he had videotaped them in
the bathroom of a restaurant he owned in St. Louis. His biographer, Mr. Pegg,
estimated that it cost him $1.2 million as well as substantial legal fees
to reach a settlement. His lawyers said he had been the victim of a conspiracy
to profit from his wealth.
Backstage at Blueberry Hill, Mr. Berry
declined to talk about many of the
legal issues that have dogged him. But despite the turmoil and setbacks,
Mr. Pegg observed that there was ''a very private Chuck Berry, open and
warm to those he let into his world.'' But, he added, ''there was the
other side, too, very controlling, very aggressive.'' (Mr. Berry refused
to
speak to Mr. Pegg during the six years he worked on the biography.)
The other side of what Mr. Pegg describes
as a truly enigmatic personality
is revealed in stories that go well beyond Mr. Richards's travails. Mr.
Berry
performs about 50 shows a year, and his demands are unusual: he generally
earns about $30,000 to $35,000 for an arena show, but the money must be
placed in his bank account before the show. He used to receive cash --
and only cash -- before each performance.
He will give no encores unless he is paid
extra. A contract with each club
stipulates the exact times he will appear and depart. If a show is delayed,
he generally walks away. Met by a club representative at an airport, Mr.
Berry often barely nods, sometimes doesn't shake hands and walks to the
car provided for him. He demands a Lincoln Town Car that he drives
himself. If a promoter sends a stretch limousine with a driver,
Mr. Berry sends it back. One publicity agent recalled showing up
breathless at an airport just as Mr. Berry arrived. Mr. Berry responded
with rage that the agent wasn't already waiting for him.
He also demands a Fender Bassman amplifier,
and if one is not provided, he
demands a fine of $2,000 paid before the show.
Taylor Hackford, director of ''Chuck Berry,
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll,'' a 1987
documentary in which Mr. Richards, Mr. Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Mr.
Springsteen
and others celebrate Mr. Berry's 60th birthday, recalled ''maddening'' moments
making the film. Many artists arrived in St. Louis to pay tribute to Mr.
Berry,
but on the first morning of the shoot, Mr. Hackford recalled, his star did not
appear. That afternoon, Mr. Hackford said, a phone rang at a booth on the
street in front of the Fox Theater on Grand Avenue in midtown St. Louis,
where they were supposed to film. It was Mr. Berry asking for the film's
producer.
How Mr. Berry knew the phone number is
unclear, but his message was direct.
Although he was supposed to earn $500,000 from Universal Pictures for his
participation, he insisted on $2,500 in cash before he would appear on the
first day, Mr. Hackford said. Mr. Berry often asks for a cash payment
before a performance, but the production team was startled. This, after
all,
was a tribute to him. But the payment was made and rehearsals began.
Days later, as the concert started for the
documentary, Mr. Richards, who was
musical director, walked offstage in midsong, as Mr. Berry yelled at him again,
after having repeatedly hurled insults at him throughout the filming. One guest
star, Robbie Robertson, dropped out, and Bob Dylan canceled his appearance,
blaming illness.
Mr. Hackford said of Mr. Berry: ''He's a
really complex character, a man who
knows he's changed the face of American music but, at the same time, still
a
black man who was sent to jail for bringing a white girl across the border.''
(Although Ms. Escalanti is an American Indian, she is commonly believed to
be white.)
Mr. Hackford said part of the problem was
that Mr. Berry was not fully aware
of his gifts. ''As a songwriter, he's extraordinary, but I don't think he
gives himself much credit for that,'' he said. ''He sees himself as a
guitarist. His ego isn't in the right place.''
Mr. Berry once saw Nat King Cole walk
across a street in New York City, but was
too intimidated to approach him, Mr. Hackford said. ''He felt, 'I'm not worthy,
I can't shake his hand,' '' he said. ''Chuck Berry will die an incredibly
complicated man.''
Dick Alen, Mr. Berry's agent at William
Morris for 40 years, spoke of Mr. Berry's
inner strength.'' ''He keeps anger very much to himself,'' he said. ''We
sometimes travel together, but he doesn't open up personally.'' But, he added,
if someone understands Mr. Berry's rules, he is actually easy to get along with.
''He sets the guidelines and lives by them,'' he said.
Giving What's Asked, Never More
At performances, if Mr. Berry has a
contract that says he will appear for 60
minutes starting at 8 p.m., he will sometimes stand backstage gazing at his
watch,
waiting to go on at exactly 8, not later, not earlier.
Mr. Berry explained: ''A contract is an ask
game, and if it asks for an hour,
and I submit to an hour, then it's an hour. When I look at a contract, I
look
at the obligation -- where, when, how long, the compensation. If I agree
to
it, that's the way it is. I have an obligation. They have an obligation.''
''It wasn't difficult for me to follow a
contract,'' he said. ''It was difficult
for the shysters who cut the corners.''
The one place where Mr. Berry seems to
relax is Blueberry Hill, named after the
Fats Domino song. He began performing there monthly in 1996, after becoming
friendly over the previous decade with the owners, Joe Edwards and his wife,
Linda.
He always eats the same dinner before a
show: chicken wings and French fries,
washed down with plenty of orange juice. The performances, which involve nearly
an hour of singing his classics, often include his son Charles Jr. on drums,
and his daughter Ingrid Berry Clay on the harmonica. He hands over the
microphone to musician-friends in the audience and appears to have a good
time. By the end of a show, which often packs in 350 people, including Japanese,
British and French tourists, Mr. Berry can seem depleted, drenched in sweat.
Mr. Edwards added: ''I think his anger has
dissipated. I think he's more
confident and comfortable than he has been in years.''
Although Mr. Berry's wife apparently left
him for a period after the Mann Act
conviction, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1998 by renewing
their vows before their four children and their grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
Mr. Berry has not made a record in 22 years,
but says he is working on one now.
''Why haven't I done it?'' he said. ''Laziness. At this age I want free time.''
Does he consider himself an architect of
rock 'n' roll? ''I don't think that way,''
he said coolly. ''My music is simple stuff. Anybody can sit down, look at a set
of symbols and produce sounds the music represents.''
''A song is a song,'' he said. ''But there
are some songs, ah, some songs are the
greatest. The Beatles song 'Yesterday.' Listen to the lyrics.''
He began so sing softly:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Chuck Berry
He is one of rock'n' roll's most influential and enigmatic figures. A musician,
singer and composer, Mr. Berry has influenced the Beatles, the Rolling
Stones,
Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
BIOGRAPHY -- Born on Oct. 18, 1926, in a middle-class, segregated enclave
of St. Louis
and named Charles Edward Anderson Berry. He still lives in St. Louis and
performs
in clubs.
TOP RECORDINGS -- His first single, ''Maybellene,'' on Chess Records in
1955, reached
No. 5 on the pop charts and No. 1 on the R & B charts. Other hits include
''Roll Over
Beethoven'' and ''Brown Eyed Handsome Man'' in 1956, ''Rock and Roll Music'' in
1957,
''Johnny B. Goode'' in 1958 and ''Nadine'' in 1964. His albums include ''Chuck
Berry
Is on Top'' (Chess), made in 1959 and reissued in 1987; ''Chuck Berrys Greatest
Hits''
(1964); and the movie soundtrack ''Hail! Hail! Rock n Roll'' (1987).
The Music They Made
This series will periodically present profiles of the living pioneers and
innovators of rock 'n' roll, and the musicians outside their ranks who have
shaped its sound.
ON THE WEB
Samples of Chuck Berrys music and additional photographs are online: nytimes.com/arts
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
Columbia, MO
Friday,
04. April 2003 - 14:31
CHUCK
BERRY
25.04.03 - COLUMBIA, MO - BLUE NOTE
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 20,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
St. Louis, MO
Friday,
04. April 2003 - 14:31
CHUCK
BERRY
16.04.03 - ST. LOUIS, MO - BLUEBERRY
HILL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 25,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.metrotix.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry, Brandon Bennett in Hammond, LA
Friday,
04. April 2003 - 14:31
CHUCK
BERRY, BRANDON BENNETT
12.04.03 - HAMMOND, LA -
SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 25,00 $
2nd category: 20,00 $
Category details:
1st to 2nd: Reserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in Paris, France
Friday,
04. April 2003 - 14:31
CHUCK
BERRY
03.07.03 - PARIS, FRANCE - PALAIS DE
CONGRESS
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 89,00 EUR
2nd category: 80,00 EUR
3rd category: 74,00 EUR
4th category: 56,00 EUR
Category details:
1st to 4th: Reserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketnet.fr
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
Divonne, France
Friday,
04. April 2003 - 14:31
CHUCK
BERRY
05.07.03 - DIVONNE, FRANCE - CASINO
DE DIVONNE
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 100,00 CHF
2nd category: 85,00 CHF
3rd category: SOLD OUT
4th category: 54,00 CHF
Category details:
1st to 3rd: Reserved Seating
4th: Standing
Tickets available through
www.ticketcorner.ch
Source: Wolfgang Guhl