News Archive
New pictures
added
Monday,
28. July 2003 - 07:40
Pictures of the following show were added to the Picture Gallery:
Source: Julien Benz
Chuck Berry
Japan Tour 2003
Thursday,
24. July 2003 - 10:47
05.08.03
- Tokyo, Japan - Akasaka
Blitz
06.08.03 - Tokyo, Japan - Akasaka
Blitz
07.08.03 - Tokyo, Japan - Akasaka
Blitz
08.08.03 - Osaka, Japan - Hatch Hall
09.08.03 - Fukuoka, Japan - Zepp
Ticket
details:
www.hipjpn.co.jp
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry:
Creator of Rock and Roll
Friday,
18. July 2003 - 12:28
Chuck Berry: Creator of Rock and Roll
Raised to the beat of Baptist
hymns, Chuck Berry ignited the rock and roll
revolution with "Maybellene," his first hit.
As a child, he was steeped in gospel music
and Baptist hymns. As a young man, he
absorbed the down-home blues of Muddy Waters, the smooth love songs of Nat King
Cole,
the phrasing of guitarists of T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian and Elmore
James
and the fascinating rhythms of boogie, swing, soul and "hillbilly"
music.
Chuck Berry drew on all of these influences
to create his special brand of the hard-driving,
youth-focused music called rock 'n' roll. Other black innovators, notably Little
Richard
and Bo Diddley, contributed to the advent of rock. But Berry's first hit, "Maybellene,"
released in 1955 on the Chess label, was the lightning bolt that ignited the
rock and
roll revolution. As John Lennon put it: "If you tried to give rock 'n' roll
another
name, you might call it Chuck Berry."
Fiercely energetic, Berry
wrote and recorded a series of hits between 1955 and 1962
that formed the bedrock of the rock 'n' roll repertoire. These included
"Roll Over
Beethoven," "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," Rock and Roll Music,"
"Johnny B. Goode," "Sweet
Little Sixteen," and more.
Berry's fast-moving career was derailed in
1962 by his troubles with the law. But the
76-year-old rock 'n' roll icon has never stopped writing, recording, or
performing.
These days, he doesn't "go on
tour," says Dick Alen, Berry's long-time friend and agent.
"He goes out when the dates are right for him. He's well off; he has taken
care of his
own money. He doesn't need to work."
Berry still performs at Blueberry Hill, a
club in St. Louis, and he has "special" dates
scheduled into 2004, Alen adds.
One recent special date found Berry
performing in Washington, D.C., with Aretha Franklin,
Lee Ann Womack, Richard Chamberlain and the National Symphony Orchestra in the
annual
July 4 concert on the west lawn of the United States Capitol.
Wearing a shining red-sequined shirt, the
still tall and trim "poet laureate of rock"
had the crowd rockin' and rollin' with him the moment he pranced on stage. His
act was
short—only two numbers. But he executed his famous "duck walk,"
crouching down and
"motorvatin'" across the stage on one leg while playing piercing,
rapid-fire riffs
on his electric guitar.
Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born
October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri, and
grew up in a close-knit, church-going family. His mother, who played piano, and
his
father, a carpenter, often sang Baptist hymns at home. "Long before I could
walk,
I was patting my foot to those Baptist beats," Berry writes in his
autobiography,
published in 1987 by Harmony Books. "Sometimes I wonder if that was the
roots of my
rockin' rhythm."
Self-taught, Berry was playing a six-string
Spanish guitar in high school shows and
backyard parties by his early teens. But he was precocious, and at age 17 he had
his
first run-in with the law when he and two friends stole a car on a weekend romp.
For
this, Berry spent three years in a Missouri reformatory.
Released, he went "straight,"
working as a janitor, carpenter, and hair dresser. But
Berry, a born showman, was also a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and comedian,
and he
was soon fronting a trio with the great boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson
and the
wonderful drummer Ebby Hardy playing behind him. The trio played weekend gigs
in
St. Louis bars for several years.
Berry's big break came in 1955 when he went
to the Palladium club in Chicago to hear
his idol, Muddy Waters. The old blues man advised the young guitarist to take
his
material to Chess Records. A week later Berry presented owner Leonard Chess with
a
tape of four new songs: "Thirty Days," "You Can't Catch Me,"
"Wee Wee Hours," and a
jumping country tune called "Ida May," that Berry wrote as a black
man's satire of
hillbilly music.
Chess released "Ida May," renamed
"Maybellene," and created the first Chuck Berry
blockbuster. Berry's career was on the fast track until 1962, when he was
imprisoned
for violating the Mann Act for driving an underage white girl across state lines.
The often-sensational press coverage of his trial, which was marked by racism,
left
Berry, in his words, "averse to ever giving interviews."
He used his 20 months in federal prison to
earn his high school diploma and to write
five more rock standards: "No Particular Place to Go,"
"Nadine," "Tulane," "You Can
Never Tell," and "Promised Land."
Meanwhile, Berry was becoming the "sung
hero" of the rock world. The Beatles recorded
"Roll Over Beethoven," taking it to the top of the charts and giving
Berry highly
deserved credit. The Rolling Stones drew heavily from his catalog. And the Beach
Boys
rewrote "Sweet Little Sixteen" as "Surfin' U.S.A." to win
their first million seller.
Berry was soon back in full swing—touring,
recording, making movies, and television
appearances. In 1972, he scored a number one hit with his impish rendition of
the
ribald song "My Ding-A-Ling," recorded live at an arts festival in
Coventry, England.
In 1979, Berry was imprisoned for a third
time for income tax evasion. He used his
four months in California's Lompoc Prison Camp to complete his autobiography.
Alen paints this flamboyant old rocker as
"a very private person who goes to clubs,
but doesn't drink, doesn't hang out with the bands, and doesn't go back stage to
have
his picture taken."
While he admits to many affairs, Berry has
been married since 1948 to Themetta "Toddy"
Suggs. They have three daughters, a son and a dozen grandchildren.
Alen says Berry is working on a new album
in his studios at Berry Park, the estate in
Wentzville, Missouri, outside St. Louis, that he has owned since 1957. Once an
amusement
park, complete with nightclub, Berry Park is used today, says Alen, only for
picnics,
private parties and other special events.
Through all of his triumphs and troubles,
Berry has remained philosophical. A long
original poem on the last pages of his autobiography ends with this quatrain:
"Some days are like hours of music
Some songs are like stories you'd tell
Some views that came down from the hippies
are now classics, like rock is as well."
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday,
16. July 2003 - 09:15
CHUCK
BERRY
14.08.03 - ST. LOUIS, MO - BLUEBERRY
HILL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 25,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.metrotix.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Fats Domino
scheduled to perform two shows in Bay St. Louis, MS
Saturday,
12. July 2003 - 14:09
The "Fat Man" hardly performs
shows outside of his hometown New Orleans, LA these days.
In August, there will be two exceptional performances in Bay St. Louis, MS:
29.08.03 - Bay St. Louis, MS - Casino
Magic
30.08.03 - Bay St. Louis, MS - Casino Magic
Internet
Onsale Info
Onsale to General Public:
Thu, 07/17/03, 10:00am
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry
France Tour 2003: Pictures added
Tuesday,
08. July 2003 - 19:43
Heiko Baumann sent us his pictures of the
show in Amneville.
Visit the Picture Gallery and enjoy!
Sources: Heiko Baumann
Chuck Berry
France Tour 2003: Pictures added
Sunday,
06. July 2003 - 10:51
I am back home from Chuck Berry's France
Tour 2003. There are
pictures, set lists and more to come. Today we start with some pictures,
taken in Divonne. Those pictures were just added to the Picture Gallery.
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry,
Little Richard in
Trenton, NJ
Sunday,
06. July 2003 - 10:51
CHUCK
BERRY, LITTLE RICHARD
13.09.03 - TRENTON, NJ - SOVEREIGN
BANK ARENA
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: 75,00 $
2nd category: 55,00 $
3rd category: 45,00 $
4th category: 35,00 $
Category details:
1st to 4th: Reserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry,
James Brown, Robert Cray Band, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Marcia
Ball, The Holmes Brothers in
Bridgeport, CT
Sunday,
06. July 2003 - 10:51
CHUCK
BERRY, JAMES BROWN, ROBERT CRAY BAND, WALTER "WOLFMAN" WASHINGTON,
MARCIA BALL, THE HOLMES BROTHERS
30.08.03 - BRIDGEPORT, CT -
BRIDGEPORT BLUES FESTIVAL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 50,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Standing
Tickets available through
www.terrapinpresents.net
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry,
Little Richard in
Atlanta, GA
Sunday,
06. July 2003 - 10:51
CHUCK
BERRY, LITTLE RICHARD
20.08.03 - ATLANTA, GA - CHASTAIN
PARK AMPHITHEATRE
TICKETS
Prices:
1st category: SOLD OUT
2nd category: SOLD OUT
3rd category: 46,87 $
4th category: SOLD OUT
5th category: SOLD OUT
6th category: 30,82 $
7th category: 24,40 $
Category details:
1st to 6th: Reserved Seating
7th: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
St. Louis, MO
Sunday,
06. July 2003 - 10:51
CHUCK
BERRY
16.07.03 - ST. LOUIS, MO - BLUEBERRY
HILL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 25,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.metrotix.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl