The 10 Greatest Chuck Berry Songs Chuck Berry Never Wrote
Published May 10, 2005
In as far as great American songwriters go, I'd put C.B. up there with Hoagy Carmichael, Woody Guthrie, Harold Arlen, Gershwin, Hank Williams, Willie Dixon, Iggy Pop and a half a handful of others (JC Fogerty included) that are a mean hand at turning a phrase. Aussie swamp blues/noise rockers "The Scientists" also do a great cover of this that retains the Chuck B. riffs while oozing along over a wall of fuzzed out guitars and feedback.
4) AC/DC - "Rocker"
Speaking of Aussies, these guys were never known for their complexity & their musical virtuousity.So, it only makes sense that the Berry influence would make itself heard in their music. Angus mangles, mauls and overhauls a handful of C.B riffs here in one of my favorite AC/DC tunes. When I saw these these guys in concert years ago they dedicated this one to Chuckie B. So I've gotta give them credit for having good taste and keeping Chuck's name alive even if it was for a crowd of 20,000+ stoned out headbangers.
5) Rolling Stones - "Star Star" (AKA "Starfucker")
One of the few high points on the otherwise dismal "Goat's Head Soup" LP. To be brief and to the point (it had to happen sooner or later) without Chuck Berry we probably wouldn't have The Stones. The Stones have covered at least an albums worth of Berry songs, still pull out unrecorded Berry tunes live (last time I saw them they did "Sweet Little 16") and have worked his riffs into so many of their "originals" that I just could not imagine one without the other. If you are in the for some Berry and don't have any of discs or LP's, then the Stones are the next best thing. Some even argue better and I personally will admit to digging their version of "Little Queenie" over Chucks but not as much as I like the Jerry Lee Lewis version of the aforementioned. When Jerry sings "...and she's too cute to be a minute over 17" it brings new depth to the word "Lewd" but in a good way, of course.
6) Ray Sharpe - "Monkeys Uncle"
Digging into my 45's, I pulled this one out. It's the B-side of the often covered R & B classic "Linda Lu" on Jamie Records. Although, for some reason the other copy of this 45 I have has "Red Sails In The Sunset" on the B side. My guess is that they threw "Red Sails..." on the flip to make DJ's focus on the A side of the 45. Mr. Ray Sharpe was an R & B rocker from Fort Worth,TX. who was mining a similar sound and approach to music as was Chuck. He was black cat that had a very pronounced fondness for C & W/ Hillbilly music and he worked it into his music alongside of Blues,R & B and Rock n Roll. If I didn't know better I'd swear Chuck had written this one. Ray is still around and pops up every once in awhile at shows such as the "Ponderosa Stomp" down in New Orleans and at summer blues fests across the country. He puts on a great show to this day and as he's getting along in years,should you ever get a chance to catch his act, then by all means do.
- 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.