Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Chuck Berry and guests
MCA Records
Released 1987
Chuck Berry was born in St. Louis in 1926 and grew up in the Ville, a north St. Louis middle-class neighborhood. His father was a contractor and deacon at the Baptist church and his mother was a public school principal. Berry’s comfortable upbringing allowed him to pursue music. His first public performance was at his high school. However, while still in high school, he was arrested for armed robbery and landed in a reformatory school. He joined a quartet that was allowed to perform outside the facility. Upon release at age 21, Berry married and took various jobs to support his family. He soon achieved the same middle-class life that he had enjoyed as a child. He also began playing with local bands to earn extra income. During this period, Berry honed his stage show by borrowing heavily from T-Bone Walker. Berry played his guitar behind his head, between his legs, and introduced his famous “duck walk” while playing his guitar. In 1953 he joined a trio with pianist Johnnie Johnson that began a significant collaboration that would produce music that changed music forever. In 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago where Muddy Waters introduced him to Leonard Chess at Chess Records. Berry recorded his first major hit, “Maybellene.” Berry introduces the song on Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll as “the song that put me on I-70,” the interstate that runs east-west through St. Louis and leads to major cities such as Denver, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Baltimore. Berry was at the height of his popularity when he was arrested in 1959 for having sex with a 14-year-old and transporting her across state lines. After several appeals, he eventually served one and a half years in prison but was allowed to continue to record and perform. Upon release from prison in 1963, Berry discovered that British bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had kept his music alive by recording his songs. The Rolling Stones’ first single in the UK was a cover of Berry’s “Come On.” Berry released three hit singles and several albums while being a top concert draw. However, he also developed a reputation for being difficult which may have been the result of being ripped off by promoters making him suspicious and demanding. He always required that he be paid up-front and in cash before hitting the stage with a back-up band of local musicians that were paid by the promoter. Berry’s last hit single was a live version of “My Ding-a-Ling.” While the song was his first and only number-one hit, it wasn’t worthy of the greatness that preceded it. In 1986, two concerts performed at the famous Fox Theatre in St. Louis became the centerpiece of a documentary film. Keith Richards served as musical director and produced the soundtrack album. Richards put together an amazing band, including reuniting Berry with Johnson. The band also included Steve Jordan on drums who later would join the Stones after the death of the irreplaceable Charlie Watts. Stones sidemen Bobby Keys (saxophone) and Chuck Leavell (keyboards) along with Joey Spampinato who had played bass on Richard’s Talk Is Cheap album rounded out the band. Several guest musicians make appearances – Robert Cray, Linda Ronstadt, Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon, and Etta James. Richards talked about making the film in his autobiography Life, “Chuck Berry was a big disappointment. And he pushed me hard – you can see it in the film. It’s very difficult for me to allow myself to be bullied, and that is what Chuck was doing to me and to everybody else.” Yet Richards always recognized Berry’s influence. In Life, he said, “As I said when I inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’ve stolen every lick he ever played.” Berry continued to record and tour while living outside of St. Louis. He played regularly at his Blueberry Hill restaurant and bar. His legal troubles continued. He was sued by Johnson who claimed he had co-written many of Berry’s songs, but the case was thrown out because too much time had passed. He was charged with assaulting a woman in a hotel in New York and paid a fine to a lesser charge. He was sued by several women after a video camera was discovered in the bathroom of his restaurant and the settlement cost him over $1 million. Berry claimed he was trying to catch an employee whom he suspected of stealing. His home was raided and police found marijuana and sex tapes with women, one of whom appeared to be a minor. He served a suspended jail sentence on the marijuana charge. In March 2017, Berry was found dead in his home from cardiac arrest. Berry’s legacy in rock music is undisputed. He is universally credited with inventing rock music. Bob Dylan called Berry “the Shakespeare of rock and roll.” Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984 and Kennedy Center Honors in 2000. Berry’s signature song “Johnny B. Goode” has been sent into interstellar space on Voyagers 1 and 2. Somewhere in the cosmos, aliens are jamming to Chuck Berry.