by Robert Wilkinson
Anyone who's ever picked up a guitar and played any of the basic licks of rock and roll owe everything to Mister Chuck Berry. In fact, John Lennon once said, "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." Today we celebrate the birthday of this master of Rock and Roll with a lot of videos!
Last year I found a few, some of which were pulled from you tube, so I went hunting again. Some of these are classic performances from the 50s, but the Master of his craft has never slowed down at all, and is still "rocking in St. Louie, way down to New Orleans...."
As I wrote last year
Born in St. Louis, Chuck Berry amalgamed the blues with country and western and turned the world upside down in 1955 with his first hit, "Maybelline." This was followed by some of the most famous songs in the history of rock and roll: "Roll Over Beethoven," "Johnny B. Goode," "Rock and Roll Music," "Oh Carol," "School Days," "Little Queenie," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," "Nadine," and a slew of others covered by everyone who followed, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, and many, many more. He created the poetry of rock and roll, as well as just about every classic lick that beginning guitarists learn to master, and starred in two of the early movies featuring rock and roll artists.
A very Happy Birthday to you, Mister Chuck Berry. You are the Master who helped birth rock and roll and gave us its classic tunes and gee-tar licks. May you live to be 100 years old, so that you truly know rock and roll will never die. Your legacy will live forever!! And now, a few of the classics!
With some of these that follow, hit pause for a minute to let them buffer for awhile or they'll stop. The black and white shows are from the 1950s.
One of the greatest! A fantastic performance of Johnny B Goode complete with classic moves with cut-in comments by Keith Richards and Johnny Rivers.
Another version of Johnny B. Goode on Hullabaloo, complete with go-go dancers doing high steps!Here are two gems! The first is Chuck doing Johnny B Goode in 1995 with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, duck walk and all! The second is Chuck doing Johnny B Goode with John Lennon.
From the same show, Chuck and John Lennon doing "Memphis."
Some classic b/w performances from the 50s!
Oh Baby Doll from 1957.
Here's a great live 1 minute performance in 1964 of Sweet Little Sixteen, complete with major screaming by the audience!
Another b/w performance of Sweet Little Sixteen.
Sweet Little Sixteen - London 1972
Here's the awesome performance from "Let It Rock" of one of Chucks greatest songs, Brown Eyed Handsome Man performed by Chuck and Robert Cray with Keith Richards and an all star backing band! From the same concert, School Days.
© Copyright 2009 Robert Wilkinson
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