Jan 26-29, 2006
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rock ‘n’ roll’s king to play Paramount
Older, more troubled Chuck Berry to perform duck walk and greatest hits on Saturday
By Austin Powell
Daily Texan Staff
Long before his Mustang Ford, his Ding-a-Ling, or Johnny could “go, go, go,” Chuck Berry took a trip from his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to inner city Chicago with his newly-bought Volkswagen. It was there, by an act of fate, that Berry came face to face with his idol Muddy Waters. While others present scurried around Waters, seeking hugs and autographs, Berry asked the godfather of the blues how to go about making records.
Chuck Berry still remembers Waters’ response — “Yeah, see Leonard Chess. Yeah, Chess Records over on 47th and Cottage.”
Less than a month later, Berry, the self-described “Brown-Eyed Hand-some Man,” almost single-handedly ushered in the creation of rock ‘n’ roll with the recording of his first break through single “Maybelline” at Chess Records.
In a mere two minutes and eighteen seconds of time, Berry revealed himself to be rock ‘n’ roll’s first triple threat.
As a guitar player, Berry was exceptional. He combined the popular styles of T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, and Elmore James into electric and danceable rhythms that captured both the down-home blues of Muddy Waters and the hillbilly sound that mainstream audiences were craving.
As a songwriter, Berry is often credited as rock music’s first real poet. His tongue-tied lyricism and vivid descriptions of the teen experience connected him more closely to a listening audience than ever before in history. With songs like “Rock and Roll Music,” and “Reelin’ and Rockin’,” Berry wrote the blueprint for what rock music was all about.
As a performer, Chuck Berry is more than legendary. His duck walk and scoot revolutionized the way music was presented. If he wasn’t marching in place while singing, or craning his neck from the left to the right, his eyes were bolting back and forth, displaying the sentiments of his lyrics through mere facial gestures.
While Berry’s music and style was quickly adopted and covered by his contemporaries (Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bill Haley and His Comets to name a few), his most profound impact was on the music from the bands responsible for the British invasion.
John Lennon once said, “If you were going to give rock ‘n’ roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’”
The Beatles, along with The Rolling Stones, first made names for themselves as both live performers and musicians through their renditions and revisions of Berry classics like “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Memphis, Tennessee.” In fact, some critics have even remarked that early Stones performances appeared to have borrowed one of Chuck Berry’s set lists.
Though his effect on music is immeasurable, Chuck Berry’s presence has faded over the years. His troubled personal life, most notably his two stints in jail and his childhood years in a reformatory school, has become more of a focus for historians and critics than his actual career.
Perhaps that’s because Berry was the first man who seemed to “sell his soul for rock and roll.” In his autobiography, Berry writes, “Whatever would sell was what I thought I should concentrate on.”
For fame, female conquests and Cadillacs, Berry found himself trapped in the public eye as an aged and troubled man, a one-trick pony that could only sing of high school dances and shallow romances.
Whether it was the re-recording of his greatest hits for Mercury Records in the late 60s or endless worldwide touring, Berry went where the money was. After years without a new product to offer and a string of bad performances caused by his desire to be booked as a solo performer with house bands, that money has finally stopped.
Last November, Berry made national headlines once more after filing a lawsuit against three major karaoke music distributors for their use of his popular music without obtaining licenses or paying royalties.
Still, a 79-year-old Chuck Berry is performing this Saturday night at the Paramount Theatre. Though his vigor, performance and popularity will undoubtedly pale in comparison to the golden years when he forever changed rock music, this may be the last opportunity to witness a legend. For even if he has fallen, or been dethroned, Chuck Berry remains a king, “Hail. Hail.” his rock ‘n’ roll.