chuck berry begin playing professionally in 1952 and by 1953 he was working the “cosmopolitan club” in st.louis. chuck added country riff’s to his guitar work and had his own brand of rock a billy or rock a berry. chuck berry was probably playing rock a billy long before “elvis’. berry liked country, blues, calypso, and ballads and included them in his shows. long before he became a ” musical icon” he was experimenting with different sounds and styles of music. he played guitar wrote songs sang and produced the kind of music that and his audience’s liked. chuck berry paid close attention to what his audience warmed up to and he gave them what they wanted to hear. he was a born showman and worked his talents to his best ability. he might have liked ” johnny be goode” but if you wanted to hear “maybellene” that’s what he played. chuck berry was and is a crowd pleaser and his shows are based on what you want not what he wants. this type of interest in people is what leads to “famous” entertainers. he formed his own group in 1953 called the ‘chuck berry trio’. berry and his piano player “johnnie” johnson put on shows at the “cosmopolitan club” that are remembered as legendary to this very day. few people have had the talents on piano as did ” johnnie” johnson. you can hear a lot of “johnnie” johnson’s style in jerry lee lewis. johnnie johnson is the piano in most of chuck berry’s recordings on chess records, the exception would be “lafayette leaks” another piano great who worked on some of berry’s recordings. since country music was popular with white folk many white folks begin to attend chuck’s performance’s at the “cosmo” club. the “cosmo” was almost all black when berry first began to perform there, however when word got around st. louis about the this very talented black performer who played country music like you’ve never heard before the audience became 40% white. so much for “charlie pride” being the first kid on the block. everyone got along enjoyed a good evening of great music. and this was 1953 when everything was supposed to segregated. well don’t believe everything you hear. many times music brings people together in peace and harmony when nothing else can. in 1955 on a road show to chicago chuck met muddy waters his idol. he told muddy he was interested in getting on a record label and could he help him? waters told him to go see “leonard chess” down at 47th and cottage st. chuck did that very thing and leonard chess was so impressed he signed him to his “chess ” label. chuck had written a country song called “ida may”. the title was changed to “maybellene” “chess records” had a “rock a billy” hit on it’s hands and chuck was on his way to becoming an “american icon” and one of the most famous rock entertainers the ’50s produced. carl perkins said when he first heard ” maybellene” he said now there’s a man who likes “country” music. the only difference between “maybellene” and “blue suede shoes” is a white man is singing “blue suede shoes’ and a black man is is singing ” maybellene”. “maybellene” is just a tick faster than ” shoes” the style and beat are about the same and both have a toe tapping rhythm to them. one is rock a billy the other one is rock a berry. life is just one big ole bowl of cherries or berries when you add the right ingredients to them. no “elvis” didn’t invent rock ‘n’ roll or rock a billy and he and sam phillips didn’t have rock a billy all to them selves. other good artists were adding their own licks to the vast “enterprise” called rock ‘n’ roll. “maybellene” went to # 4 on the pop charts, # 1 on the r&b charts and never charted on the “country charts”. well if that’s hard for you to understand you probably still believe in the “tooth fairy”. ole chuck was rock a billy “ok” rock a berry. his records charted every time he put a song out, “school days”, rock ‘n” roll music, almost grown, sweet little sixteen, back in the usa, and many other hits. he didn’t have a #1 hit till 1972 when “my ding a ling”, went to all the way to #1. chuck berry is known as the ” eternal teenager”, unlike “dorian gray” who never grew ole his “portrait” did. chuck berry’s recordings never get ole they get better and better as time goes by. i disagree with everything that the rock n roll hall of shame stands for, with few exceptions they did a good thing when inducted chuck berry in 1986. johnny be goode was chosen to go aboard ” voyager” 1 as top rank listening music. not a bad honor for the “ageless teenager”. hail, hail, rock ‘n’ roll, chuck berry and rock a berry’s billy’s. put him in the rock a billy hall of fame, “bob” without “maybellene” rock a billy wouldn’t be near as good.

~ Widmarc Clark