« Back to Artists

Chuck Berry

"The Father of Rock & Roll" was one of the most innovative and entertaining performers of popular music in the 1950's and 1960's. Tunes like "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene" and "Memphis" are Rock & Roll classics, covered by many other artists. With a driving rhythm and unique singing style, Chuck Berry's music had broad appeal, bridging the gap between traditional R&B and the popular Rock & Roll style that he did so much to define.

Chuck Berry was born in 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri, sang in the local Baptist choir, and learned to play on a four-string tenor guitar. While working in a series of day jobs in the early 1950s, Chuck Berry began to play professionally in clubs in St. Louis in the popular hillbilly idiom - unusual for a black man but a real crowd-pleaser. Berry copied the diction of white singers, deliberately bridging the gap between black and white.

In 1955, with an introduction from his idol Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry made his first recording for Chess records. "Maybellene", with Johnnie Johnson on piano and the legendary blues player Willie Dixon on bass, made it to the top of the R&B charts.

Following on this success, Chuck Berry began touring and recording intensively. His high energy act with his signature "duck walk" had huge appeal: Chuck Berry always did what it took to put on a great show for the audience. In the late 1950s he released many hits including "Roll Over Beethoven","Rock 'n' Roll Music" and "Sweet Little Sixteen".

In December 1959 Chuck Berry was arrested on a morals charge, and despite appeals was jailed until the end of 1963. After his release, Berry resumed his career, releasing hits such as "Nadine", "No Particular Place To Go" and "You Never Can Tell", but in the late 1960s his career went into decline, although he continued to appear in Rock Revival shows ("The Legendary Chuck Berry"), in movies and on the stage for many years.

Chuck Berry made a huge contribution to Rock & Roll, and in 1986 was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Videos from YouTube ...