![]() ![]() One thing that struck me about the early Chuck Berry recordings was how conservative they were. Many of them remained unreleased for years. It was the B-side of "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes The Bell)," so there were plenty of copies sold.Ĭhess was apparently in awe of Berry's guitar playing, so much so that they recorded loads of instrumentals, possibly with the aim of using them as B-sides. ![]() And it's breathtaking, nor is it particularly obscure. WARD: "Deep Feeling" is, as far as I know, the only recording we have of Chuck Berry playing a Hawaiian steel guitar, instead of his trademark Gibson ES-350T. (SOUNDBITE OF CHUCK BERRY SONG, "DEEP FEELING") As competitive as he was, he probably realized immediately that not only was this guy good, but he didn't represent a threat to Muddy's command of Chicago blues, which isn't to say that Chuck wasn't a demon when it came to slide guitar playing. He recorded for a Chicago blues label Chess, to which he had been brought by none other than Muddy Waters - hardly someone you'd go to if you were looking for the white-teenage market.īut one thing Muddy Waters understood was guitar playing. ![]() The closer you look at Chuck Berry, the odder he seems. He was two and a half years into a career as one of the top, popular musicians in the United States and had already written a body of songs, which defined the teenage American experience, "You Can't Touch Me," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Too Much Monkey Business," "School Day," "Rock And Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Reelin' And Rockin'."ĭespite his age and experience, his songs resonated with people half his age and sold significantly better to white audiences. They were played on Januby a 33-year-old black man, who was a licensed cosmetician as well as a convicted car thief. Goode, His Complete '50s Chess Recordings." Let's listen back.ĬHUCK BERRY: (Singing) Deep down in Louisiana, close to New Orleans.ĮD WARD, BYLINE: Say the words rock 'n' roll, and the notes we just heard seem to play in a lot of heads automatically. What made him so important was the subject of a profile by rock historian Ed Ward, which we broadcast in 2008, after Berry's entire recorded output from the 1950s was released in the four-disc set, "Chuck Berry: Johnny B. When Chuck Berry died Saturday at the age of 90, we lost a musician who was central to the whole meaning of rock 'n' roll. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |