Many call Chuck Berry the "father" of American rock and roll. He taught such cult groups as: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.
Once John Lennon said the following about the singer: "If you ever want to call rock and roll differently, then give him the name Chuck Berry." Chuck, indeed, was one of the most influential performers of this genre.
Childhood and youth of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry was born on October 18, 1926 in the small and independent town of St. Louis. The boy did not grow up in the richest family. And even then, few could boast of a luxurious life. Chuck had several brothers and sisters.
Religion was very respected in Chuck's family. The head of the family, Henry William Berry, was a pious man. My father was a contractor and a deacon at a nearby Baptist church. The mother of the future star, Marta, worked at a local school.
Parents tried to instill in their children the right moral values. Mom, as best she could, worked with her children. They grew up curious and smart.
The Berry family lived in the northern area of St. Louis. This area can not be called the most favorable place for life. In the northern region of St. Louis, chaos was happening at night - Chuck often heard gunshots.
People lived according to the law of the jungle - every man was for himself. Theft and crime reigned here. The police tried to restore order, but in the end it did not become calmer and quieter.
Chuck Berry's acquaintance with music began while still at school. The black boy gave his first performance on the Hawaiian four-string ukulele. Mom could not get enough of the young talent.
No matter how hard the parents tried to protect their children from the impact of the street, they still could not save Chuck from trouble. When Berry Jr. turned 18, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He became a member of the robbery of three stores. In addition, Chuck and the rest of the gang were arrested for stealing a vehicle.
Berry in prison
Once in prison, Berry had the opportunity to rethink his behavior. In prison, he continued to study music.
In addition, there he assembled his own team of four people. Four years later, Chuck was released early for exemplary behavior.
The time that Chuck Berry spent in prison influenced his philosophy of life. Soon he got a job at a local car factory.
Also, in some sources there was information that before trying himself as a musician, Chuck worked as a hairdresser, beautician and salesman.
He earned money, but did not forget about his favorite thing - music. Soon, an electric guitar fell into the hands of a black musician. His first performances took place in the nightclubs of his hometown of St. Louis.
The creative path of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry formed the Johnnie Johnson Trio in 1953. This event led to the fact that the black musician began to collaborate with the famous pianist Johnny Johnson.
Soon the performances of the musicians could be seen at the Cosmopolitan club.
The guys managed to captivate the audience from the first chords - Berry mastered the virtuoso playing the electric guitar, but besides this, he also read poems of his own composition.
In the early 1950s, Chuck Berry first experienced the "taste of popularity". The young musician, who began to receive good money for his performances, was already seriously thinking about quitting his main job and "plunging" into the wonderful world of music.
Soon everything led to the fact that Berry began to study music. On the advice of Muddy Waters, Chuck met a prominent figure in the music industry, Leonard Chess, who was impressed by Chuck's performance.
Thanks to these people, Chuck Berry managed to record the first professional single Maybellene in 1955. The song took 1-position in all kinds of music charts in America.
But, besides this, the record was released with a circulation of 1 million copies. In the fall of 1955, the composition took the 5th position in the Billboard Hot XNUMX charts.
Year of peak popularity
It was 1955 that opened the way for Chuck Berry to popularity and world fame. The musician began to delight fans with new musical compositions.
Almost every resident of the USA knew the new tracks by heart. Soon the popularity of the black musician was outside his native country.
The most popular songs of that time were: Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Rock and Roll Music, Sweet Little Sixteen, Johnny B. Goode. Berry's track Roll Over Beethoven was performed by the legendary band The Beatles at the beginning of their creative career.
Chuck Berry is not only a cult musician, but also a poet. Chuck's poetry is by no means "empty". The poems contain a deep philosophical meaning and Berry's personal biography - experienced emotions, personal losses and fears.
To understand that Chuck Berry is not a “dummy”, it is enough to analyze a few of his songs. For example, the composition Johnny B. Goode described the life of a modest village boy Johnny B. Goode.
Behind him, the boy had no education and no money. Yes, there! He could not read and write.
But when the guitar fell into his hands, he became popular. Some agree that this is the prototype of Chuck Berry himself. But we note that Chuck cannot be called an illiterate person, since he studied in college.
The musical composition Sweet Little Sixteen deserves considerable attention. In it, Chuck Berry tried to tell the audience about the amazing story of a teenage girl who dreamed of becoming a groupie.
Music Direction Chuck Berry
The musician noted that he, like no one else, understands the state of adolescents. With his songs, he tried to direct the youth on the right path.
During his creative career, Chuck Berry recorded over 20 albums and released 51 singles. The black musician's concerts were attended by hundreds of people. He was idolized, admired, looked up to him.
According to rumors, one performance by a popular musician cost the organizers $2. After the performance, Chuck silently took the money, put it in a guitar case and left in a taxi.
Soon Chuck Berry disappeared from sight, but his songs continued to sound. The musician's tracks were covered by such popular bands as: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks.
Interestingly, some solo singers and bands have been too loose with songs written by Chuck Berry. For example, The Beach Boys used the track Sweet Little Sixteen without crediting the true author.
John Lennon was so great. He became the author of the composition Come Together, which, according to music critics, was like a carbon copy with one of the compositions of Chuck's repertoire.
But the creative biography of Chuck Berry was not without spots. The musician was also repeatedly accused of plagiarism. In the early 2000s, Johnny Johnson stated that Chuck enjoyed hits that belonged to him.
We are talking about the tracks: Roll Over Beathoven and Sweet Little Sixteen. Soon Johnny filed a lawsuit against Berry. But the judges dismissed the lawsuit.
Chuck Berry's personal life
In 1948, Chuck proposed to Temette Suggs. Interestingly, in the late 1940s, the man was not popular. The girl married an ordinary guy who promised to make her happy.
A few years after the couple legalized the relationship, a daughter was born in the family - Darlene Ingrid Berry.
With the gaining popularity, young fans increasingly stayed around Chuck Berry. He cannot be called an exemplary family man. Changes happened. And they happened often.
In 1959, a scandal erupted due to the fact that Chuck Berry had sexual intercourse with an underage girl.
Many believed that the young seductress deliberately committed an act to undermine the reputation of the musician. As a result, Chuck went to jail for the second time. This time he spent 20 months in prison.
According to guitarist Carl Perkins, who often toured with Berry, after the release from prison, the musician seemed to have been replaced - he avoided communication, was cold and as distant as possible from friends and colleagues on the stage.
Close friends always said that he had a difficult character. But fans remember Chuck as always smiling and positive artist.
In the early 1960s, Chuck Berry was again seen in a high-profile case - he violated the Mann Law. This law stated that emigrant courtesans were not allowed to hide.
Chuck had a cloakroom attendant at one of Chuck's nightclubs who sold herself in her spare time. This served as the fact that Berry paid a fine (5 thousand dollars), and also went to jail for 5 years. Three years later, he was released early.
However, this is not all adventure. In 1990, packets of drugs were found in the singer's house, as well as several employees.
They worked at Berry's personal club and accused the 64-year-old artist of voyeurism. According to official sources, Chuck paid the women over $1 million to keep the case from going to trial.
Death of Chuck Berry
In 2017, the musician was going to release the album Chuck. He announced this while celebrating his 90th birthday. However, in March of the same 2017, Chuck Berry died at his home in Missouri.
