Black History Month Music: Chuck Berry

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While waiting for my video appointment to start at the top of the hour, I thought I could at least start this! It’s another day of celebrating the music from the great black artists for Black History Month. Here’s one of the singularly most important figures of music. Chuck Berry All of Chuck’s children are out there, playing his licks (Bob Seger, “Rock and Roll Never Forgets”) Daddy. While there’s kings and queens of rock, there’s only one father of rock and roll, and that’s Chuck Berry. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said. It’s odd that Berry isn’t in the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame, but that shows his influence was more on rock and roll. You might find this interesting: he is in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. That goes to show you how widespread his influence was. (Side joke: Buck Owens once took out an ad that said he would “record no song that is not a country song.” Two years after that, he had a hit with a cover of “Johnny B. Goode.” ) There’s one thing for certain: those guitar licks and that duck walk completely changed music. Chuck Berry Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry, October 18, 1926, St. Louis, Missouri Died March 18, 2017, Wentzville, Missouri (cardiac arrest) (age 90) HALLS OF FAME: Rock and Roll, 1986 (inaugural class); Nashville Songwriters (1982) Since tomorrow is the anniversary of “the Day the Music Died,” here’s Chuck’s original version of “Brown Eyed Handsome Man,” which Buddy Holly later covered: