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Chuck Berry Biography
CHUCK BERRY BIOGRAPHY
With the simple song lyrics: "Riding along in my automobile, my baby beside me at the wheel," Chuck Berry encapsulated the dreams of teenage America in the 50s. Sadly, the same can't be said of his 1972 novelty hit, My Ding-A-Ling in which Chuck implored us to "play with my ding-a-ling." Oh dear. But Berry's influence on rock was incalculable. The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys all cite him as a major influence. John Lennon once said: "If you tried to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." Despite his influence, Berry's own career was erratic, permeated by brushes with the law, poor professional decisions and an insistence on being paid for gigs in sackfuls of cash before he went on stage!
Charles Edward Berry was born on 18 October, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. Berry's parents sang in the Baptist choir but Chuck's formative years were anything but devout. He learned the guitar while still at school but at the age of 18 he was sent to reform school for three years after being convicted of attempted armed robbery. Upon his release he worked in menial jobs while perfecting his songwriting. Berry soon became a local attraction as part of a blues trio but during a trip to Chicago, Berry was lucky enough to meet up with the legendary bluesman Muddy Waters who put him in touch with Chess Records. By the summer of 1955, his first Chess recording, Maybellene (an adaptation of an old country standard), was riding high in the US charts, helped by DJ Alan Freed who played the record on national radio. Berry's rock and roll template was established - as well as inventing his infamous duck walk on stage, Berry injected wit and humour into his lyrics, presenting rock and roll as teenage rebellion. Musically he was influenced by the guitar strut of T Bone Walker. The musical blueprint would serve him well right until the end of the 50s with further hits including the magnificent rock and roll classics Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen, Too Much Monkey Business and Johnny B. Goode. Berry's status as an anti-establishment rock and roll star was assured. Encouraged by Alan Freed he appeared in several rock films including Rock, Rock, Rock, Mr Rock 'n' Roll and Go Johnny Go in 1959.
But in 1959 Berry was convicted on an immorality charge after employing a 14-year-old Apache Indian as a hat check girl at his nightclub. Unbeknown to Berry, the girl had worked as a prostitute and Berry was found guilty of bringing an under-age child across the Texas-Missouri border. He was sentenced to jail for five years although the judge's racist remarks led to a retrial and Berry's sentence was reduced to three years. But even this enforced musical silence did little to dent Berry's influence. By the time of his prison release in 1964 his music was more popular than ever. A new generation of British artists including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones acknowledged his influence and were covering his early material in their live acts. Roll Over Beethoven and Rock and Roll Music were covered on early Beatles albums while The Stones often ended their live act with Bye Bye Johnny and Come On - their first single release. Inspired by the re-appraisal of his work, Berry released several classics upon his release from prison. Hits included Nadine, the hymn to girls and cars - No Particular Place To Go and the teenage complaint anthem, It Wasn't Me. Berry soon toured Britain for the first time and proved a massive success.
By 1966 flower power was just around the corner and Berry signed to Mercury Records in an ill-advised move. Commercially, the move proved fruitless. The five Mercury albums he released, including Golden Hits, St Louis to Frisco and 1967's Live At the Filimore, are acknowledged by critics as his poorest work.
He returned to Chess records in 1970 and released the album Back Home which featured the minor hits, Tulane and Have Mercy Judge, two songs about drug busts which proved his lyrical skill was still intact. But it was a live recording which gave him a surprise UK No.1. He came to Britain to record London Sessions with an array of sixties guitar superstars. During the sessions he recorded the novelty track, My Ding-A-Ling which went to the top of the UK charts in 1972. The track's rather lame double entendre lyric enraged moral watchdog Mary Whitehouse who called for the song to be banned, which, naturally propelled it to No.1.
In June 1979 Berry was again imprisoned, for 100 days, this time for tax evasion. He had a habit of storing the sackfuls of cash he'd be paid for his gigs in cupboards at his home!
Throughout the 80's Berry worked sporadically. In 1987 he starred in the autobiographical concert film Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll. Keith Richards, part of his backing band for the movie, was also the musical director although he was driven to distraction by Berry's eccentric behaviour during the film. Berry subsequently retired from recording, choosing to live in his own amusement park in Wentzville, Missouri. In 1989 more controversy followed when it was claimed Berry had installed a video camera in a ladies toilet in his local nightclub. Oh dear. And in June 1990, Berry's house was raided by the drugs squad who seized marijuana, guns and er, homemade porn. He was handed a 6 month suspended sentence. He continues to play live sporadically - although now aged 79 the duck walk is presumably aided by a Zimmer frame, and his pension payment is made in a brown paper bag before he goes on stage...
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