From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Fri Oct 18, 2002 1:13 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Chuck Berry CHUCK BERRY (By Shaun Mather) Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry, 18 October, 1926, St. Louis, Missouri Chuck Berry is one of the most influential artists in rock history thanks to a decade with Chess Records which saw him collate life-poetry with hot licks and a rocking rhythm that is still being copied to this day. His songs have been covered and borrowed by virtually everyone, probably because his songs guarantee a good time and are hard to cock up. Musically he was reared on sounds from Muddy Waters to Nat King Cole, but his lyrics captured the wit and social commentary of Louis Jordan. His life story is well known, as is his rise to fame after being advised by Waters to audition for Chess Records. They chose the slow blues of Wee Wee Hours as his first single but it was the flip, Maybelline that caused a sensation and orbited Chuck to stardom. It's probably more rockabilly in style than any of his follow-ups and is full of drive and humour. Singles, albums and film roles all added to the legend; Roll Over Beethoven, Thirty Days, Too Much Monkey Business, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, You Can't Catch Me, School Day, Carol, Back in the U.S.A., Little Queenie, Memphis, Tennessee, Johnny B. Goode, Rock and Roll Music. He got caught with his pants down and ended up the wrong side of the law but after time in the slammer he returned with full force; Nadine, No Particular Place to Go, You Never Can Tell and that one about his dinger. Whilst his prime-time stage antics were legendary, his live shows haven't always been good in recent years. I saw him about 6 times in the '90s and was always left disappointed, then in the London Arena 2 years ago, with Jerry Lee and Little Richard he was brilliant and renewed my faith in the man. Recommendations (by Dik): More info: http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/index.html Official website: http://www.chuckberry.com Further reading: - Chuck Berry, The Autobiography. New Yorrk : Harmony, 1987. (Revised paperback edition published in 2001 by Faber & Faber, Boston.) - Fred Rothwell, Long distance informatioon : Chuck Berry's recorded legacy. York, England : Music Mentor Books, 2001. - Bruce Pegg, Brown-eyed handsome man : tthe life and hard times of Chuck Berry. New York : Routledge, 2002. Out next week in the US, UK publication later. The most comprehensive CD overview is "The Chess Years" (Charly CD Red Box 2). 9 CD-set with 220 tracks, released in 1991, now deleted. Also on Charly is the 4 CD-set "Poet of Rock 'n' Roll". (Probably also deleted.) Still available are: The Chess Box (MCA, 3 CD-set, 1988), and: Anthology (MCA, 2 CD's, 2000).