The 10 Greatest Chuck Berry Songs Chuck Berry Never Wrote
Published May 10, 2005
Richard Berry (no relation) was inspired to write "Louie" after repeated listenings to a Chuck B. tune called "Havana Moon." Set to a slinky calypso beat, "Havana Moon" tells the tale of a sailor sitting, waiting and drinking rum, hoping in vain for his lady love's ship to come in. Any similarity between the original "Louie, Louie" (which is also set to a calypso beat for those of you who have never heard the original tune) and "Havana Moon" is purely intentional. That out of the way, let's get moving.
Damn the torpedoes and pardon the typo's friends, here goes nothing:
1) The Blasters - "Marie, Marie"
Dave Alvin in an interview some years back, talked about basing the name of the title character here in this pumping Cajun tinged rocker on little Marie in the Chuck Berry tune "Memphis". When The Blasters wanted to release this as a single they were told by their label (Slash) that it wasn't commercially viable. Well, they were wrong. The U.K. rockabilly artist Shakin'Stevens covered it and went on to sell over 3 Million copies of the song worldwide. This song is a rocker for sure. Not only did Dave namecheck Marie out of "Memphis" but this also has a steady drive to it not unlike "Promised Land" or other early/ mid 60's rockers in the Berry oeuvre.
2)Dave Edmunds - "Get Out Of Denver"
This a Bob Seger song originally but this is the version that gets me rocking. It can be found neatly tucked away on the early Edmunds LP "Get It." Dave is not shy about his Berry influence and he's covered many great Berry tunes (Let It Rock, Promised Land, Dear Dad, et al.) to great effect. He leaves no Berry riff left unturned here as he pummels this one but good for a couple of minutes. The guitar licks are pure-dee Berry and the speed rapping narrative about getting chased and harrassed by state troopers while barreling down the highway just minding his own business work to keep this firmly in the tradition of C.B. Tunes such as "Maybelline," "No Money Down," "Jaguar & The Thuderbird."
3) Creedence Clearwater Revival - "It Came Out Of The Sky"
Another tune where the C.B. influence is stronger lyrically and stylistically as opposed to musically. It's not that chunka chunka rhythm and that simple but deadly backbeat that could kill at a hundred paces that bring the Chuckster to mind here. They are all there in copius amounts. Once again, it's the narrative and lyrics here that draw the strongest parallels to Berrys work. Chuck's lyrics had an intrinsic "everyman" approach that made them so damned accessible to his listeners and fans alike.
- The 10 Greatest Chuck Berry Songs Chuck Berry Never Wrote
- Published: May 10, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Blues, Music: Country and Americana, Music: Rock, Music: Roots Rock
- Writer: HW Saxton
- HW Saxton's BC Writer page
- HW Saxton's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
What, no Beach Boys?
Crooked Spine,Thanx fer reading this man
it's much appreciated. Honestly, I had
both "Surfin' U.S.A." & "Fun, Fun, Fun"
both down on the list but nixed 'em in
the final re-write of this."Surfin USA"
is a rewrite of "Sweet Little Sixteen"
of course and the whole concept of the
good looking babe in a hot rod driving
(pun intended)the boys crazy seems to
be at the least,inspired by Chuck Berry.
I had several more songs that were to be
included on the list here but since many
were by artists already noted I've filed
them for inclusion on a part two of the
above list.Have you got any suggestions?
Again, Thanks for reading this.
for
Much of Chuck Berry's '50's stuff has been overlooked. Songs like 'Wee Wee Hours'...'Blue Feeling'...'Havana Moon', or 'Rockin' at The Philharmonic' just to name a few. I played these years ago when I lived 'down under' and the usual response I got from someone who heard these tunes for the first time was..."who the hell is that?" Many of my friends were amazed that Chuck Berry put out such a fine body of work in this style. His blues was impecable, always haunted by the piano style of Johnnie Johnson. Chuck Berry was also much at home doing fine numbers like 'Rockin' At The Philharmonic' combining blues licks with a big band flavour! If you can hear the 50's originals of these, do so! The re-makes (if there are any of these songs) would NOT do them justice, I am sure. Forget what they call "commercially viable" today.
Pop these tunes on your turntable for an unforgetable experience.
Not to belabor the obvious, but don't forget the Beatles "Back in the USSR"
Went Bo Diddley collecting crazy last year and read your blog in the KL airport a few weeks ago. It helped me sort out the fact that I hadn't previously seen/heard the song "Hey Good Lookin" and so I now own another Bo Diddley collection cd and "Hey Good Lookin".
Thanks, Gerry
Dearest DSGA,
To the best of my knowledge Chuck is still alive
and kicking,playing the(very)occasional live gig.
He's a reclusive,cranky old guy.But after all he's
been through it's understandable and forgivable.
"...and keeping Chuck's name alive even if it was for a crowd of 20,000+ stoned out headbangers."
So what youre saying is that we metalheads dont have the taste for music? "Even if it was for a bunch of metalheads .." ... And why stoned out? Just cause you have long hair and you're drunk doesnt mean you dont appreciate good old music. I love rock'n'roll ... [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]
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"Go,Johnny,Go!!! Good post.Nice to know
that Chuck's not forgotten.You should've
mentioned that his song "Johnny B Goode"
was taken up into Outer Space in 1977 on
spaceship "Voyager" by astronauts from
N.A.S.A. It was one of the only "Rock N
Roll tunes included on the time capsule
playlist.If I remenber correctly,I think
the list was at least partially compiled
by Dr. Carl Sagan.