Recommendations of the Editorial team
Like many guitarists of my generation, I discovered Chuck Berry through the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. At that time I was blown away when I heard these hardcore rock’n’roll numbers such as “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Around and Around”.
On the record covers, I read the name “Chuck Berry” under the song titles. And luckily – like many guys from my generation – had a friend with an older brother who owned the original records: “If you like the Stones, then listen to this!” I heard “Chuck Berry is on top” and really freaked out. This tingling in the stomach, this excitement, goosebumps on the neck – Berry gave me more than any other.
Chuck Berry – “Roll Over Beethoven”:
The Stones came right afterwards because they were one of the few bands that could play Berry’s things and really sounded as if they knew what it was all about. They had the right combination of technology and this puncture: “Let’s go there!” They had done their homework, but they also got the feeling, the rhythm that was so important in Chuck Berry’s music.
It is not so much about what he played – rather about what he didn’t play. His music is very economical. His lead guitar drove the rhythm, it was not above. The economy of his licks and leads – that drove the song forward. And he always built his solos so that a nice little statement steered the song somewhere else, so that you were ready for the next stanza.
As a copywriter, Chuck Berry is the Hemingway des Rock’n’roll
As a copywriter, Chuck Berry is the Hemingway des Rock’n’roll. He comes directly to the point. He tells a story in short sentences. In your head, an overall picture of what happens, and very quickly, is created by well -chosen words. Berry was also pretty clever: he knew that if he wanted to crack the mainstream, he had to like the white teenager. He succeeded. These songs are all about teenagers. I guess he knew that he had also been successful in the R&B charts with more idiosyncratic things, but just wanted to get out of it and create the great success.
He also celebrated the rock’n’roll – the lifestyle like the music – in songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “School Days”. How someone blades a guitar like a bell. If you put the words “rock’n’roll” into a lyrics, you always have to be careful, but he made it perfect. “Johnny B. Goode” is definitely one of the most covered songs. Bar bands, garage rock bands – everyone plays him. And that many play him badly. The song is incredibly fun, but you can also easily ruin it. But in my case too, that was probably the first Chuck Berry song that I learned. He hits you simply at all levels: text, melody, pace, reef.
“Johnny B. Goode”:
It’s funny – my son Roman came back from guitar lessons today, and when I asked: “Which song did you learn today?” He said: “We learn, Johnny B. Good ‘”. The entire Chuck Berry appeal is in it. If you are a young guitarist today, you will be faced with all these masters: Eric Clapton, Eddie van Halen, Jimmy Page. But to let your guitar sound to Chuck Berry, you can do it in no time.
The other is: Chuck Berry was a showman. Played the guitar behind the head and between the legs, walked in his duck, the Duckwalk …, but when you close your eyes, you hear that your game did not suffer from it. With him it all looked so easy and natural.
“Chuck Berry is on top” I still listen to myself today. Apart from one or two pieces such as “Blues for Hawaiian’s”, the whole thing just rocks animal. That’s why I love the plate – and for the same reason, for example, the plates from AC/DC. They just don’t stop. That was also one of his qualities: he stayed in this groove.
When bands do their homework, you have to hear Chuck Berry
He could have made a few songs “Johnny B. Goode” and then turned to something else. But he stayed with this groove and made it his own. I also have a few compilations, and I listen to his direct influence on myself. How he phrased or this double-time stop when you pull two strings at the same time and this typical rock’n’roll sound is created.
As for the general public, Berry is something like an artifact from a gray past. His songs will always be covered. When bands do their homework, they have to hear Chuck Berry. If you want to play rock’n’roll, then you have to start here.