Chuck Berry 1926-2017 (OT)

Photo by Donal F. Holway/The New York Times

The album era has recently ended in music, something that deserves more discussion than it has gotten. It lasted roughly a half century, from the introduction of the LP record by Columbia in 1948 to the early 2000s, when CD sales began to tank decisively and downloads started to dominate.

Early in that era, the single was king, and to the single we have largely returned—the huge majority of people now purchase single cuts of music and make their own playlists, something not dissimilar to the 45s and jukeboxes of an earlier era.

Chuck Berry was a singles artist, an innovative entertainer and an influential pioneer of guitar rock and roll. His songs have a rollicking energy that can still get listeners' blood up. Everyone has their own favorite; personally I love "You Never Can Tell" (sometimes called "C'est La Vie"; Berry himself sometimes called it "Teenage Wedding"). It's not on "The Great Twenty-Eight," the best compilation of Berry's singles, released in 1982 by Chess Records.

It's always fun to revisit the Rubber-Legged One, and somehow his music makes it impossible to stay sad. Farewell, Mr. Berry. Wherever you go from here, B. Goode.

Mike

UPDATE: As originally published this post contained a number of errors. Guess I am not back on my best form yet. Thanks to those who provided corrections!

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

c.d.embrey: "I worked on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1977(?). Chuck Berry was our featured act one show. The singer who was on before him had problems and went way over his scheduled time. Mr Berry told the stage manager he was going for a drive. When it was his time to preform, the audience was told that he would be late. No one left, and everyone enjoyed a great Chuck Berry performance when he returned.

"One of the highlights of that season was Robert Gordon featuring Link Wray. It had been almost 20 years since Rumble, and the audience was blown away. Chuck Berry and Link Wray were two of the best guitar players of the early years. Glad I was there."

Mark Kinsman: "As a young teenager, I saw Chuck perform as an opening act for the Rolling Stones in the late '60s. The fondest memory of that concert was watching Kieth and Mick clap and sway behind the amps watching Chuck perform. Clearly two fans watching a hero do what he did best."

Comments

[Edd Fuller]

Ummm...Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas.

[Peter Wright]

My favourite would be 'Around and around', and the Rolling Stones version is better. In my youth I listed to the Stones sing this so often, I can still play it in my head without needing any player whatsoever. But Chuck was the pioneer.

[James]

Hi Mike,
I still play Chuck Berry CD's in the car. Chuck, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran are the three Guitarists that inspired me to play in the early 60's.
I still listen to them all in the car but not so much on vinyl anymore.
I don't play the guitar much now either.
Maybe I will get it out, tune it up, and run thru "Still Got The Blues" one more time.

[John Shriver]

The LP era started with Columbia's introduction of the LP, not RCA's. RCA was pushing 45rpm records as "miniaturized 78s."

[William]

About a decade ago I caught one of Chuck Berry's monthly performances at Blueberry Hill, St. Louis MO. The gig was in the Duck Room which is a rather small venue. People took turns standing next to the stage. There were no security present. I was surprised to meet people from all over the globe.

Considering he was an octogenarian, Chuck gave an amazing performance. Occasionally he seemed a bit bored and mechanical though. He would start each song with his classic style and switch to riffs using dissonant chords.

Then his daughter (who came directly from the airport to Blueberry Hill) surprised him by walking on stage. Chuck's face lit up like a light bulb. He introduced the audience to "dariln' Ingrid". She performed and they sang duets. Chuck was re-energized. He even did a couple of Duck Walks. Bad-boy Chuck emerged. Chuck selected about ten women from the audience to dance with him on stage. Of course Chuck made inappropriate remarks. The crowd (and the women) loved it.

Chuck Berry was not a very nice person. Scandalous tales of his escapades abounded in St. Louis. Berry was one of those rare original artists. Berry was influenced and inspired by T-Bone Walker. However he was was not a derivative artist.

Hail, Hail Rock 'N' Roll

[John Mongomery]

Not meaning to create controversy, but Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatas_(Beethoven)

[Yoram Nevo]

Isn't it 32 ? The Beethoven sonatas

[cfw]

I saw C.B. play at a high school gymnasium graduation in the 1960s in St. Louis. I think he was trying to make a "comeback" at the time, or maybe he just knew somebody there and was doing a favor. I went to see him with my cousin who heard he was going to play. There was no raised stage, he played at floor level, without a crowd "buffer." Been a fan ever since. I believe he made St. Louis his home for a time, and thereafter often played around town.

[Jeff]

Your fave was perfect for the dance scene in Pulp Fiction.

[John Barrow]

Except Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas. Despite this, I'm a fan of your site and your photography writing.

[Jim A.]

Just to confuse the issue....artists are now releasing 20+ "track-lists" to monopolize the charts in the era of streaming.

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/03/18/519566098/drake-unveils-more-life-calls-the-project-a-playlist-not-an-album

[Rob Griffin]

I loved Chuck Berry's music. I think besides being an iconic guitarist, the lyrics to his songs are great social commentary on American life in the fifties and early sixties. He really was Rock N' Roll!

[MikeR]

Album. A book with blank pages.

I'm old enough (75) to remember when 78's were the common thing, and an album was either a collection of singles, or for concert music, the various movements arranged in a sequential "stack", so that one could place 4-5-6 records on the spindle, let them play through, then turn over the stack and play through to the end.

45's were a big innovation, but just the outer dimensions of the album was reduced.

The Beatles "Sgt Pepper" was, I believe, one of the first instances of non-concert -popular- music conceived as a unified oeuvre.

My favorite of the ":concept" albums, well, several favorites, are all by Pink Floyd.

[brad]

Hi Mike;
I saw Chuck open for Hendrix at the Fillmore in the 60's. I have seen little as impressive as those two (together) since.

[Jim R]

What Peter Wright said +infinity.

The Stones live version of Around and Around from Toronto is worth the price of that double album (Love you Live) for that one song!

[Funny, in the early '70s I collected all the original early Decca UK Stones albums (plus 12x5 on London). But I forgot about that cut. I never listen to those albums. I should pull it out and see how it sounds. --Mike]

[Brian Chambers]

Well apparently more people are streaming not actually purchasing those songs. https://www.thurrott.com/music-videos/65576/streaming-now-popular-form-music-consumption-u-s We switched to a spotify subscription for the family and it is fantastic. No more having to decide if its worth buying just listen and download. So not only has the album era ended maybe the era of owning music has too???

[hugh crawford]

Vinyl album sales are going up. My son's next album is going to be an LP or maybe a double LP. His last one was released on cassette (!)* and downloads only, no CDs.

*I don't understand either, but cassettes seem to sell to the same people who ride bicycles with no brakes.

[Alan Carmody]

The album era has recently ended in music

Those evil albums! It was a scandal how they used to stop the music from playing!!

Sorry, Mike I couldn't resist.

As for Chuck Berry, I'm still in shock. He was foundational. I just thought he would go on forever.

Rest in peace.

[Geoffrey Heard]

Didn’t you love that scene in Back to the Future (no. 2?) when the McFly kid if playing at the school dance and trying to liven up the band with a bit of contemporary R&R. He does an imitation of Church Berry and one of the band members jumps on the phone and dials: "Hey, Chuck, you’ve gotta hear this!" and he holds up the phone. A fitting tribute to Chuck Berry. And in addition, one of those lovely time travel "chicken and egg" twists.

True, Chuck Berry was not necessarily the first name you would think of if you were trying to summon up someone to come into the bosom of your family, but by God he could rock!

Cheers, Geoff

[Chris]

I always rate the documentary Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll as one of the best of its kind. Chuck is revealed as the ornery fellow he was, and Keith Richards, his biggest fan, the best Chuck Berry wannabe guitarist, who it could be argued surpassed the original. There is no question though that Chuck provided so many songs for bands, great and small, to cover that without him, musical life would be much poorer.

[Frank]

Though I come from the vinyl age I have embraced digital music those last years. But unlike the youngsters I still enjoy complete albums. I can't get my head around playlists and such.

An album was thought as such by the artist and even if there's one or two gems on it, the rest has a right to be there too.

But unfortunately I think the music industry will also take up the single track mentality in the future...

[Frank]

Reply to Geoff's post: "Didn’t you love that scene in Back to the Future (no. 2?) when the McFly kid if playing at the school dance and trying to liven up the band with a bit of contemporary R&R. He does an imitation of Church Berry and one of the band members jumps on the phone and dials: "Hey, Chuck, you’ve gotta hear this!" and he holds up the phone."

Hope you noticed the band's name in that movie: MARVIN Berry and the Starlighters, supposedly Chuck's brother!

[Paul De Zan]

It goes back and forth. Decades ago Pete Townshend, who I think most people would consider an album-oriented guy, what with his rock operas and such, told any number of interviewers that had little interest in albums and was a big fan of singles. Ehh...most artists still think in terms of album structure, including all of the current big sellers.

I tend to think of the current vinyl revival as more of a scam than anything else, but at least it brings back the concept of a "side" to a new generation. People will argue the point, but I think the end of the side was a huge, huge loss that came with the CD.