Chuck Berry was born October 18, 1926. Happy number 76!
Among several possible names, Chuck Berry most deserves the title of being the architect of rock and roll. More than anything, this means he wrote some classic songs which became the models for how others did it. The basic guitar moves and structure of a thousand others can be traced right back to Uncle Chuck.
Chuck Berry didn't play the hottest, fanciest guitar around, but he's the model others used to learn their trade. Jimi Hendrix was playing Chuck Berry songs, not the other way around. Much less for other fancy boy guitar players. Some conservatory jackleg from the accounting firm of Emerson, Lake and Palmer could probably play circles around Berry technically, but did any of them play a lick that anybody now remembers? Chuck Berry didn't play as many notes, but his notes by gummy MEANT something.
Uncle Chuck also taught the Stones how to be dirty old men. He was already thirtysomething when he wrote the original definitive groupie anthem "Sweet Little Sixteen." The Stones were just being slightly more explicit with, say, the "Stray Cat Blues."
Moreover, he created real poetry in his lyrics long before Dylan. His use of language was years ahead of his peers. He didn't have fakey French symbolist name dropping tricks that Dylan was prone too, though. He just had a real eye for lyrical detail, and subtle and unforgettable ways of putting things, such as the baby daughter with "hurry home drops on her cheeks".
One thing not noted so much about Berry's songs has been the distinctly adult nature of many of them. Rock and roll supposedly was created as music for the kids, but Chuck was singing about harsh marital disagreements ["30 Days"] and the heartache of divorce and custody problems ["Memphis"].
Article comments
1 - Scott Chaffin
Nailed it, Al. Excellent essay on The Master.