RIP Chuck Berry, 1926-2017

In 2014 - Paul McCartney wrote this tribute to Chuck:


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From the independent.co.uk, September 11, 2014:

Sir Paul McCartney has described how the songs of veteran rock’n’roller Chuck Berry “hit us like a bolt of lightning” in a personal tribute to the legendary guitarist.

The former Beatles songwriter has dubbed the 87-year-old as “one of greatest poets America has ever produced” in an introduction to the first release of the guitarist’s complete studio recordings.

“When we first heard them they summed up the freedom of youth with a wit and wisdom unlike anyone else’s writing at the time,” says Sir Paul of Berry.

“We, the Beatles were hugely influenced by his music. Songs like “Sweet Little Sixteen”, “Rock and Roll Music”, “Maybellene” and “Memphis Tennessee” are but a few of the great classics that came flowing from his pen,” adds Sir Paul.

“His guitar playing formed the basis for the styles of so many of us and his request to Beethoven to ‘roll over’ lead a revolution in music that continues to this day.”

 

Chuck wrote Brown Eyed Handsome Man about baseball hero, Giant, Willie Mays.

McCartney performed the song as a tribute to Berry:

• 
  Paul McCartney - Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
  totallyfuzzy.net2:44

Paul wrote this in 2014:


Sir Paul McCartney has described how the songs of veteran rock’n’roller Chuck Berry “hit us like a bolt of lightning” in a personal tribute to the legendary guitarist.

The former Beatles songwriter has dubbed the 87-year-old as “one of greatest poets America has ever produced” in an introduction to the first release of the guitarist’s complete studio recordings.

“When we first heard them they summed up the freedom of youth with a wit and wisdom unlike anyone else’s writing at the time,” says Sir Paul of Berry.

“We, the Beatles were hugely influenced by his music. Songs like “Sweet Little Sixteen”, “Rock and Roll Music”, “Maybellene” and “Memphis Tennessee” are but a few of the great classics that came flowing from his pen,” adds Sir Paul.

“His guitar playing formed the basis for the styles of so many of us and his request to Beethoven to ‘roll over’ lead a revolution in music that continues to this day.”

 

One of their very first hits I believe!

 

Dear Earth People:
Please send more Chuck Berry!

 

I just came across elsewhere a picture of Chuck and the late Leonard Cohen together, with the following quote :

"All of us are footnotes to the words of Chuck Berry" Leonard Cohen

 

In 2015 BOB DYLAN said this in an interview with AARP:

When I first heard Chuck Berry, I didn’t consider that he was black. I thought he was a white hillbilly. Little did I know, he was a great poet, too. “Flying across the desert in a TWA, I saw a woman walking ’cross the sand. She been walking 30 miles en route to Bombay to meet a brown-eyed handsome man.” I didn’t think about poetry at that time — those words just flew by. Only later did I realize how hard it is to write those kind of lyrics.

Chuck Berry could have been anything in the music business. He stopped where he was, but he could have been a jazz singer, a ballad singer, a guitar virtuoso. He could have been a lot of things. But there’s a spiritual aspect to him, too. In 50 or 100 years he might even be thought of as a religious icon. There’s only one him, and what he does physically is even hard to do. If you see him in person, you know he goes out of tune a lot. But who wouldn’t? He has to constantly be playing eighth notes on his guitar and sing at the same time, plus play fills and sing. People think that singing and playing is easy. It’s not. It’s easy to strum along with yourself, as you are singing a song and that’s OK, but if you actually want to really play, where it’s important, that’s a hard thing and not too many people are good at it.

 

Great quote from Leonard.

BUT you know Chuck was probably wondering who the heck is this guy in the fedora hat ...

 

Yeah, in the USA, "Roll Over Beethoven" by The Electric Light Orchestra almost made it to American Top 40 at #42 on July 28th, 1973, ELO's concert closer ever since.

 

Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers):
@benchten
rock & roll music is a lot of things. one of em is a giant hand reaching across the great,…

 

Newspaper ad from 1973:

 

And he's duckwalking a stairway to heaven...

 

My favorite part of the "Million Dollar Quartet" is when Elvis, Carl, and Jerry Lee mess around with "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man". They do it a couple of times. You tell how much they all loved Chuck's lyrical style.

 

its B in german notation
the cartoonist is austruan

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you Chuck for writing the famous lines & riffs of rock'n'roll ! RIP

 

The world could have been a much different place without Chuck Berry, his influence knows no bounds.

 

Everyone who ever played or loved Rock and Roll is indebted to this man. Truly a giant and a founding father of the genre. Thank you and God rest your soul, Chuck.

 

Huge influence.
Everyone.
Have a listen to "The Little Girl From Central"
then play the Beach Boys "Surfin USA" or "Surfin Safari".
You hear where Brian got it from....

 

We are lucky that so much film footage exists of Chuck Berry. Its always fun to watch. Probably my favorite song of his. Its cool the way the rhythm of the phrase "no particular place to go", that "chuckity, chuckity, chuckity, chuck" is the hook. The rhythm is the hook. And at the same time the melody is the hook. When you have those two basic musical blocks held together with the infectious groove its irresistable. The subject matter is really timeless also. Everyone who has that moment in which they are at the perfect age, has a great by their side and not care in the world as they cruise can relate. Ultimate fun and innocent song that makes a person smile.

 

"Well I looked at my watch and to my surprise, I was dancing with a woman that was twice my size." (at 2:36)

Chuck Berry- "Reelin' And Rockin'"

Maybe the best Rock & Roll lyric ever.

 

Very glad I got to see him perform in the 60s when he was still in his prime. One of the defining moments for me.

 

Yeah, Okay.

When I think of Chuck Berry, I think of the Lincoln Memorial, the importance of the person and what he did, regarding Rock'n'Roll.

 

A rare candid of Chuck, unaware of the camera. This has been hanging on my wall since my late friend, Peter Zitz, took it in 1986. Sorry about the glare.

 

I would really hope not. Can't imagine where anyone would be coming from with this kind of statement.