Rolling Stone ranked Chuck Berry, one of rock and roll’s first guitarists and songwriters, fifth on its list of greatest artists of all time. His legendary peer John Lennon captured his influence perfectly: “If you had to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.”
A Disharmonious Beginning
Chuck Berry was born on October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, into a large African American family led by a Baptist deacon. Music captivated him from a young age, and he gave his first concert in 1941 while still in school. But three years later he ended up in serious trouble: he and some friends were arrested for robbing several stores in Kansas and stealing a car, and they received a ten-year prison sentence (his mother, who was a school principal, had failed to keep a close eye on her wayward son).
Even behind bars, the young musician didn’t give up music; he formed a vocal quartet. He was released early at age 21.
After marrying and welcoming a daughter, he worked as a factory laborer and even as a cosmetologist. Eventually he bought his first modest three-bedroom house—small, but made of brick.
Everything in Its Time
In the early 1950s, Chuck began performing with various bands in local clubs, initially playing country blues. His debut single, “Maybellene,” topped the American charts, selling a then-unprecedented million copies. Soon after, he recorded major hits that would define his career: “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Rock And Roll Music,” and “Johnny B. Goode.” But once again, their creator found himself behind bars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKCt8ssC7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKCt8ssC7c
In December 1959, Chuck was arrested again, this time over his involvement with a minor. He faced a potential five-year sentence for having sex with a club coat check girl who was engaged in prostitution. After appealing, his sentence was reduced to a year and a half and a $5,000 fine (according to other reports, he was released after three years).
Before his prison term began, the musician managed to record another hit, “Come On,” and when he was released in 1963 he was surprised by how popular he’d become. While he was incarcerated, his music reached new audiences thanks to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones—the young bands leading the so-called “British Invasion” in the U.S. Berry only needed to record a few fresh hits (including “Nadine”) and then collect the rewards on the road.
The Price of Fame
Prison changed how Berry dealt with people; it made him exact about his shows. He refused to start a performance without payment and would cut a song off mid-verse if the paid time ran out. Rumor had it that he would check his watch, stop singing in the middle of a song, unplug his guitar, and walk off stage.
Chuck Berry, 1958
In 1979, a third criminal case accused him of tax evasion. The court gave him four months in prison and a thousand hours of community service.
In 1990 several women accused Berry, who owned a club, of secretly installing surveillance cameras in the women’s restroom. The case never went to trial; Berry reportedly settled, paying the plaintiffs $1.2 million. By then, the musician was wealthy enough that some people might have tried to take advantage of him.
The Author Will Forgive
At the height of his powers, Chuck Berry often didn’t bring his own band: he arranged for local musicians to back him at each venue. He would arrive alone and, an hour before the concert, recruit whoever was available to perform with him—sharing the stage with a famous artist was a professional honor. Sheet music and rehearsals were unnecessary. After all, who doesn’t know his timeless compositions?
Chuck Berry at a concert, 2013
During shows, the playful musician in his captain’s cap might mix up the lyrics and, to the audience’s amusement, joke, “The author will forgive!” And in the end, what difference did it make where he wrote the songs?
Over his long career, Chuck Berry wrote 51 songs. One of them was chosen three decades later as the main theme for Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film Pulp Fiction (1994). The unforgettable dance between Uma Thurman and John Travolta in the movie uses Berry’s 1964 hit “You Never Can Tell.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Q3ADnJKp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Q3ADnJKp
