Was Chuck Berry the strangest man in the history of rock?

Of all the figures who built rock and roll back in the 1950s, Chuck Berry was arguably the most influential and certainly the strangest. In a new biography, which could never have been written when he was alive, R.J. Smith tells a story which is still hard to believe. His conversation with David Hepworth includes:
* how the nerd Charles Berry discovered the key to impressing women
* How a reckless streak a mile wide saw him put away as a teenager
* How a comic turn developed into the greatest act in rock and roll
* How he never listened to what his daddy told him about white women
* How his record company’s landlord ended up co-writing “Maybelline”
* His Mann Act conviction and imprisonment
* His rebirth in Britain with the help of the Beatles and Stones
* Why he needed a copy of the FT every day
* Why he never said thank-you
* The part played in his life by Lanchester Poly
* His last and most tawdry court case
* What was going on in his head all that time
Chuck Berry: An American Life by R.J. Smith is out now.
amzn.to/3IE7K7q
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[@jimduey8218]

Went to a festival at Berry Park in '72, and it rained most of the weekend. Friday night, Bo Diddley played in the park's clubhouse. The next night Chuck Berry played. Two of the greatest nights of music in my life. They were so entertaining and fun, even to a bunch of hippies.

[@wasteofspace20]

What was Berry Park like? I was too young to ever see it! Was it a real amusement park? Awesome experience, I commend you for having good taste even then!

[@rjlohr]

My name is Robert Lohr, pianist for Chuck Berry from 1996 until he retired in 2014. Last week a friend told me that I'm mentioned/quoted several times in this unauthorized Chuck Berry biography. I read most of the book and found it entertaining...that is until Mr. Smith claimed in a footnote that he had interviewed me in April 2018. Please be advised that to the best of my knowledge/recollection I have never met nor spoken to Mr. Smith nor did he ever interview me via any medium. I remember his name specifically because a friend had contacted me on his behalf to ask whether I wanted to speak to Mr. Smith in connection with a book he's writing on Chuck. Told the friend I don't give interviews about Chuck & respectfully declined. Bottom line: I never spoke to Mr. Smith re: Chuck Berry in April 2018 or on any other date.

[@francisraw9756]

'No Particular Place to go'. Best Chuck Berry song. Without doubt. The best cover version of a Berry song for me is Roll over Beethoven by The Beatles. George sings and you won't hear better rhythm guitar.

[@bpar73]

Fantastic interview. Was fortunate to see Chuck Berry in 1997 at a free festival in Norfolk, Va. Before he played Promised Land he said, "I wrote a song about you guys". As a big Grateful Dead fan, it was up there as far as concert moments.

[@NevadaBoss]

One of the best rock bios I have ever read...fair, balanced and very well written. A must read for anyone who cares or knows anything about history of rock...

[@NewFalconerRecords]

Really lovely exchange between the two of you. Enjoyed this immensely. Chuck Berry is untouchable as an early rock n' roll writer. The poet laureate of rock. And then there was the guitar playing, the immaculate diction, the showmanship, and he always looked so great -- the man had it all. But he was complex. And strange. And creepy. But hey, that's artists for you. They're difficult. Might have to grab a copy of this book!

[@lendowsey]

one of the best gigs I've ever been to late 70s in Oxford England one hour then as they say he left the building .now. 71 and play music every day 😉.

[@shodanart]

Nearly all Chuck Berry’s songs except “My ding-a-ling,” I still listen to today. My all-time favorites in order are based on his vocal lyrical timing: Nadine is a masterpiece and I remember Maybelline and Johnny B. Goode the year they came out blew my mind as a young kid in Texas, finally hearing authentic black music that rocked like no other. Also, Memphis Tennessee, Brown-eyed Handsome Man, Route 66, Carol, Reelin’ & Rockin’ later, Too much monkey business, but there are too many besides these to even list. I prefer his original recordings best, that is, I find that on his live recorded songs he seemed to clown around too much for me, more than the precision of his record hits.

[@BrainDamageComedy]

live 1969 he is excellent

[@michaeldunne3379]

His autobiography is great for about a hundred pages, beautifully told, as good as Dylan’s Chronicles, but descends into a series of lists. On his early development as a musician it’s fascinating.

[@BackToTheBlues]

I felt as I read it that some lines had the touch of the excellent lyricist he was - they flow, and have rhythm.

[@christopherpatefield6150]

What an excellent interview. I saw Chuck on his 1964 tour and afterwards talked about him (by chance) with Carl Perkins and King Size Taylor. It is fair to say that they did not share my enthusiasm for him, why I have no idea He was one of the greats no doubt.

[@igolfjtweetler4097]

Read his autobiography in the late 80s, some curious things he says in it but Hail Hail.Rock n.Roll is one of my favourite rock films . Can remember getting the vhs out the rental shop several times back in the day.

[@normanby100]

Strangest man in rock? Too much competition for that title.

[@user-kd4tz5xo9b]

Thanks, got to read the book & Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll🎶🎸🎶

[@davidlamb7524]

Best Chuck Berry songs ? That's very difficult but my favourites are Nadine , Too Much Monkey Business and No Money Down. Just fantastic both lyrically and rhythmically.

[@Thomasgene]

Thank you and Planning to buy the Book, Question The Jacket seems to be different here in the States?

[@johnreilly9748]

Memphis! All his tunes are gems!

[@joepalooka2145]

You said it, and that's an understatement.

[@Fog99horn]

If I remember rightly, My Ding-a-Ling used to get played on the kids' radio show 'Junior Choice' in the 70s. Seems rather surprising!

[@mikedradio]

First show out of prison he played the Walled Lake Casino in Michigan. Dick Kernen (the dj at the time) explained the story that there was hundreds of kids who paid $1 for a ticket to see him. He didn’t go on stage until he counted every single dollar behind the dj booth. People waited for a long time and supposedly the floor felt like it was going to drop (second floor) because everyone was stomping so hard waiting for him

[@KevKavanagh]

The paid in cash thing was just an occupational necessity for a lot of these early artists, as they were often ripped off. I had the pleasure once of paying Bo Diddley his performance fee and watching him place the cash in the string compartment of his guitar case.

[@krisscanlon4051]

I mean the strangest is a bit of stretch...there were so many other oddballs...like Screaming Lord Sutch! Kinky Friedman! Wildman Fischer! GG Allin! St.Louis is somewhere tween Midwest Southern town...BBQ town. Honestly any pop rock artist or any kind of music radio star was bonkers...all of em!

[@howardhales6325]

Lou Reed. Frank Zappa. Captain Beefheart.

[@marktrickett5081]

@@howardhales6325 robert fripp

[@mielazul3600]

I think Jimmy Page should be in the conversation, although he expertly deflects attention from his weirdness by his gentlemanly somewhat aristocratic demeanor.

[@cleanersvenus]

Dave definitely said Word In Your Rear at the beginning of this video.

[@mr.bloodvessel260]

Thank god he never did a cover version of Old Brown Shoe!

[@BrainDamageComedy]

angus youngs/ acdc's favourite guitarist - their inspiration

[@helmutsecke3529]

Mr Berry's self-loathing was legion.

[@levitation25]

With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock, My Ding-a-Ling, Chaise Longue ... all great sexual innuendo songs 😂

[@joepalooka2145]

I don't think Chuck Berry was any stranger than Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis or a whole bunch of other famous rock and rollers up to the present day, but definitely Chuck's bizarre sexual predelictions with the cameras hidden in women's bathrooms certainly raises a lot of eyebrows. Why? is the question. Only a psychiatrist could answer this. Regardless of his dark side, to this day he is still the King Of Rock and Roll -- NOT Elvis Presley-- and the greatest original songwriting genius and performer of them all. His influence was enormous and remains so to this day. It ain't rock and roll unless it has those classic guitar double stops and the rhythms that Chuck turned the world on to.

[@lolajoker]

Elvis was called The King of Rock and Roll by a news paper columnist in 1956 because he had sold the most records and broke television ratings for his TV appearances and because he was the most popular and most well k own rock and roll artist. Elvis hated the title and would admonish anyone whole called him that by either saying only Chist is king or that Fats Domino is the king. It's ironic that some people are so insistent that certain artists (Berry or Little Richard) and certain artists fought over the title (Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard) yet the one who was called The King didn't want or like the title.

[@timmeekings6899]

Some say he was nice and some say he was a nasty piece of work. Personally, I wouldn't know as I never met him and I suppose like most stuff, it depends what you watch or read. I did hear he taught himself to play guitar, which, if true is impressive!

[@davidlamb7524]

Chuck pronounces St.Louis as "St Louie" in 'Route 66'. No 's'.

[@andrewashdown3541]

Promised Land for the lyric, No Particular Place to Go for the riff

[@apollomemories7399]

You Never Can Tell...

[@thatsmrfuckwit]

No Particular Place for the pure chaos of the solo, Too Much Monkey Business for inventing rap......

[@Toracube]

The only time I ever saw Chuck he was walking around Soho with intent…

[@louistracy6964]

In London?

[@Toracube]

@@louistracy6964 yep, years ago. I worked at tower records, Piccadilly.

[@louistracy6964]

@@Toracube Okay, because SoHo in NY. I worked in Berwick St Market for a few years early 90s... always a little thrill to see legends mingling with the throng. Chuck would have been a good one.

[@jejmoss11]

So interesting. Chuck Berry doesn’t fit easily into anything.

[@louistracy6964]

If you call it Frisco, you're an outsider. Nobody calls it San Fran. Two old guys chatting, I get it.

[@dennishickey7194]

"...there lived a colored boy named Johnny B. Good" wasn't the only time his lyrics were changed. "Brown-eyed handsome man" was originally "Brown -skinned handsome man" To " crossover"to a white audience concessions had to be made at the time.

[@indigohammer5732]

I remember his Autobiography which seemed a moanfest twinned with a catalogue of receipts for things he had purchased. Strange Cat for sure.......And this was before the Sex Tape c/p charges.

[@tomlewis5542]

Had an original when I was 16...Just too young to understand it .

[@guinnesstrail6799]

A rock star + teenage girls / initial fun x fetish = trouble

[@dabass438]

No, but he is the Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll!

[@christophersteer505]

Two strange men , talking about a brilliant not so strange man, " for shure" RS London Boy.

[@glengamble526]

Regarding 21:00 Chuck, in his defence, was ripped off by suits in offices in the music industry for decades. For him to want what he felt he was owed isn’t surprising.

[@louistracy6964]

Naa. If you grew up in Jim Crow, it wasn't a wonderful life.

[@BevisFriend2010]

Big-Diction Energy?

[@BrainDamageComedy]

that girls was not 14 - closer to 40. lying cos she got fired for being a prat.