The music of Little Richard and Chuck Berry was oddly similar, but while Little Richard screamed and used his falsetto as his calling card, Berry’s signature was his guitar mastery and his showmanship. Chuck Berry was a great guitarist, ranking as high as seventh on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, but his shows featured much more than his musical skill. Berry incorporated dance moves that looked simple if done alone, but doing them while holding and playing a guitar made the steps and his show spectacular.
Berry’s duck walk and his leg-extended hop should make playing the guitar more difficult, but Berry did both effortlessly, and they were necessary features of his shows.
Chuck Berry’s music influenced scores of guitarists and other musicians, and Berry was a member of the first class of inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; a fitting legacy to one of the architects of what the world came to know as Rock & Roll music.
I read a fascinating book on the blues, called Delta Blues by Ted Gioia. Before that I never had an interest in it, of course I can't deny my liking Rock N' Roll (who doesn't like rock n' roll). Although it is solely about the blues, in particular Southern Mississippi/Louisiana blues, it does offer hints to what music grow into from the blues: rock n roll, country, folk, just about every kinda of American/Canadian music. The only reason I picked it up was strictly research for my book "Hummingbird" which has recently been published. Needless to say, I've come to love the blues and it's rich history.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite rock n' roll song is Great Balls of Fire.
As an undergrad, I took a class on the history of Rock and Roll, and the debate that I referenced was the essence of the class. It was interesting to see all of the components that formed the music that became Rock and Roll.
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