Chuck Berry Biography

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Chuck Berry
Classic Rock | 3 CD Set
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Chuck Berry is one of the few important stars of early rock 'n roll and rockabilly, even though he did not record until he was thirty years old. Born in 1926 in San Jose, California, he grew up in St. Louis amid a lot of musical influences. Singing in church as a youngster, he was to become an international star through most of his adult life. He learned to play guitar in his teens and later worked in bar bands while holding down a day job. He even studied to be a cosmetologist, a job he actually held for several months. Berry also got in trouble with the law, serving a three-year sentence as a youth in a reformatory for armed robbery. His legal troubles did not end there as he was convicted in 1961 of violating the Mann Act (bringing an underage girl across state lines for immoral purposes) and in 1979 of income tax evasion. However, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was a consummate writer of songs that went on to become rock anthems in the '50s, works like "Maybellene," "School Days," "Rock and Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode," all big hits between 1955-58. He had his first No. 1, however, in 1972 with "My Ding-A-Ling." In 1951, Berry brought a tape recorder to help him, worked his ideas into songs, and the following year joined a trio that performed R&B, some hick country and standards in the Cosmopolitan Club in St. Louis. In 1955, he was heard by blues star Muddy Waters, who helped introduce him to the Chess brothers of the Chess label. His demo of "Ida Mae" became "Maybellene" and Berry was off and running. It also was symbolic of the negative practice of the '50s that had people in promotion and disc jockeys being named as co-publishers in order to get in on royalties. "Maybellene" had two others listed as writers, including notorious DJ/promoter Alan Freed. (This reportedly was not resolved until 1986). The hits continued and as Berry's writing, playing and vocal style evolved, so did his popularity among the youth of the '50s and later musicians, too, as many of his songs were covered by others, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Beach Boys took his "Sweet Little Sixteen" and turned it into "Surfin' U.S.A." Between 1955-60, he had seventeen R&B Top 20 hits, was in movies and enjoyed great success. During his prison time after 1961, he wrote several songs that would become hits, like "No Particular Place To Go" and "You Never Can Tell," but as the '60s waned, other styles of rock were taking over the airwaves and concert halls. Berry is still active on the nostalgia circuit but has achieved something of a negative reputation among promoters and musicians. He tours as a solo act with local backup bands and is said to deny rehearsing while keeping musicians in the dark about the songs they are to play. And he wants to be paid in cash up front and is said to not do encores until a price has been negotiated. After his 1979 prison term, he embarked on a grueling world tour on the revival circuit but little in the way of new music and recordings has surfaced. He was named earlier to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, a place Chuck Berry deserves to be.

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