Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up in St. Louis exposed Berry to a wide variety of music during the twenties and thirties. He lived near Kansas City, which was one of the major cities of the big band era and also a crossroads of many southern blues and country artists who had moved north in search of jobs. By the time he was 16, Berry had already taught himself to play the guitar, piano, and saxophone. At age 18, Berry was arrested for auto theft and placed in a reform school for three years. During this time, Berry listened to many different types of music and honed his talents. Three years later, he got out of school, formed a blues combo, and began playing in various clubs around the mid-west. He soon met blues legend Muddy Waters, who was impressed with Berry's playing and encouraged him to travel to Chess Records in Chicago.
When Berry first arrived at Chess records, he wanted to be a blues artist, but Leonard Chess (President of Chess Records) thought that Berry's more upbeat rock and roll songs were better, especially a mid-tempo song called "Ida May". Berry sped up the song's tempo, changed some of the lyrics, and renamed it "Maybelline". "Maybelline" was released in 1955 and was an immediate success, reaching number one on the R&B charts and number five on the Pop charts. In the next four years, Berry would have eight more top 40 hits including "Johnny B. Goode," "Roll Over Beethoven," and "Rock and Roll Music." Unfortunately, in 1959 at the height of his career, he was arrested for taking a minor across state lines (she told him she was 21, but was actually only 14) and was arrested again. He would spend close to three years in jail.
When he was released in 1963, the music scene had changed greatly. Other rock greats of the 1950's such as Buddy Holly, Richie Vallens, and Eddie Cochran had all been killed, and teen sensations such as Fabian and Frankie Avalon dominated the music scene with "soft rock". It was also the beginning of the British Invasion, and American audiences were turning to musicians from England. Regardless of the obstacles, Berry still managed to have a number of hits in the 1960's including "No Particular Place to Go" and "You Never Can Tell". In 1972, Berry had his only number one hit with the live recording of "My Ding-a-Ling". Since then, he has appeared in several movies, including "Hail Hail Rock and Roll", continued to tour, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The first major impact that Berry had society deals with his race. Berry was one of the first black artists who was accepted by white audiences. In the 1950's, most black musicians had their songs re-recorded by white artists, who then released them as singles. Berry on the other hand wrote, played, and sang his own songs and enjoyed the same amount of success as white artists. A lot of this was attributed to his talent. Berry was an incredibly innovative musician who drew from many different styles of music. Berry's influences included such diverse artists as Charlie Christian (guitarist for Benny Goodman), T-Bone Walker (blues artist), Nat King Cole, and Hank Williams. He included all of the different styles of these influences into his music, making it totally original. He also used different musical techniques such as vibrato on his guitar, approximate rhymes in the lyrics, and the call and response structure in his songs. All of this helped Berry become a distinct and successful musician.
Berry's most important contributions to popular culture, however, are derived from his songs. Many of the rock and roll musicians of the day were still writing songs aimed at adult audiences or love songs that had no particular audience. Berry, on the other hand, specifically targeted teenage audiences by writing and singing about specific teenage experiences in his music. His song "School Days" chronicled a typical school day experience from "Up in the morning and out to school" to day's end at the local gathering place. In "Little Sweet Sixteen" Berry sings about a young teenage girl who has just become aware of her sexuality and how all the boys at school want to "dance" with her. Berry was one of the first musicians to actually discuss such teen issues in song, and was seen as an inspiration by thousands of teens who identified with his music.
What made these songs even more powerful was that they were written in a narrative form and actually had characters in them. Therefore, instead of listening to a song that was abstract in its subject matter, teen audiences could listen to songs about characters who were going through the same experiences that they were, relating themselves to these characters. Berry provided a voice for millions of teens all around the country through these songs and made teenagers everywhere feel as if they were not alone. Also important was the fact that, at the time these songs were written, Berry was in his thirties and had already been through many of the same experiences that he wrote about in his songs. This helped give many teens hope that they would be able to make it through their teen years like Berry had.
Chuck Berry was also one of the first artists to write songs specifically about rock and roll and how it made you feel. Songs like "Rock and Roll Music" and "Roll Over Beethoven" told of how rock and roll was a legitimate form of music that was not going to go away, so older audiences had better learn to deal with it. To help soften this message (and other messages in his songs), Berry often used wit and humor, making them easier to swallow. He was one of the first musicians to take on subjects that reflected the changing times and challenged society's belief that "Father Knows Best" was a true representation of American life. By providing an alternative voice, Berry helped break down the silent walls of an ultra-Conservative society, making way for a stronger community in the teenage and younger generations. This would help pave the way for future free speech, questioning of authority, and the protest mentality of the 1960's.
Chuck Berry was one of the first musicians to speak directly to the people and he served as a voice to a specific segment of society. Though much of his music was light-hearted, his messages often dealt with serious issues that many teens of the time were going through. He not only made some of the best rock and roll songs ever, but also changed the course of popular culture by showing that it was okay to speak directly to the audience, talk about social issues in songs, and make teenagers feel as if they were people too.
David Pernell dap4744@uncwil.edu