Oct 8th in Pop History
On this evening, October 8th, in:
• 1987 - Chuck Berry was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His film biopic Hail, Hail Rock & Roll premiered on the same night
Today our spotlight turns to one of the most gifted and successful superstars of the 1950s; perhaps the most captivating performer of all time, Chuck Berry! Again, as usual, we’ll attach a few videos of him in action so you can see for yourself. But first, a little background about the man often referred to as the “Father of Rock and Roll.” John Lennon once said, "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."
Chuck Berry, Charles Edward Anderson Berry (Oct. 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter, and one of the primary pioneers of the movement of rock and roll music. Berry developed and innovated the 1950s rhythm and blues sound, and his style of that sound evolved into mainstream popular rock and roll.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in honoring Chuck Berry, said “While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis even in his first single, Maybellene.” His signature songs, with their storytelling, really defined his version of early rock and roll, such as Roll Over Beethoven (1956), Rock and Roll Music (1957), and Johnny B. Goode (1958).
His lyrics aimed to appeal to the early teen market by using graphic and humorous descriptions of teen dances, fast cars, high school life, and consumer culture. His unique showmanship would become a major influence on subsequent rock music. As a songwriter, according to critic Jon Pareles, Berry invented rock as "a music of teenage wishes fulfilled and good times (even with cops in pursuit)." Berry’s contribution to early rock and roll included at least two things, his own legendary guitar riffs and accompanying showmanship, and his style of songwriting as storytelling.
Chuck Berry was born into a middle-class African-American family in St. Louis. He had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star, with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand.
Chuck Berry was ranked seventh on Time magazine's list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time. He is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine's Greatest of All Time lists. In September 2003, the magazine ranked him number 6 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Berry’s compilation album The Great Twenty-Eight was ranked 21st in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In June 2008, his song Johnny B. Goode was ranked first in the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
Best of Chuck Berry on Spotify (Link Below)
Here is a video of Chuck Berry, from 1958 with a live performance of Johnny B. Goode:
This one is a live performance of C’est la vie also from 1972: (This 1964 hit song was used in the film Pulp Fiction):
This performance is a duet with John Lennon. First they do the song Memphis, and then they do Johnny B. Goode:
And continuing on October 8th…
• 1955 - The Four Aces' Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing hits # 1
• 1985 - Bruno Mars (Peter Gene Hernandez) was born on this day in Honolulu. Mars has sold over 130 million records worldwide making him one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has released seven number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since his career launched in 2010, attaining his first five faster than any male artist since Elvis
Also, on this day in…
• 1987 - The three members of ZZ Top made advance bookings for seats on the first passenger flight to the Moon. The boys are still waiting for confirmation of the trip
• 1999 - Debbie Rowe filed for a divorce from Michael Jackson citing irreconcilable differences. The two were married on Nov. 14, 1996. It was reported that Rowe was six months pregnant at the time of the wedding
