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Post by snakehips on Mar 18, 2017 22:32:22 GMT
Hi there !
Was really sad to hear earlier this week, the passing of James Cotton, but now news of 90yrs old Chuck Berry. Sad times really.
Loved Berry's songs BUT the best are when there is a piano being ripped apart - usually by Johnny Johnson, but occasionally by Lafayette Leake or Otis Spann.
Check out "Almost Grown" - although the lyrics, the delivery and singing of the lyrics are great, and the guitar parts are excellent too, AND the backing vocals are also great (including Etta James AND a young Marvin Gaye !), the REAL star of this track is the piano player, by a LONG shot !!!
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Post by izzydunne on Mar 18, 2017 22:55:49 GMT
One of the greats and there are few left. Chess records is the true birthplace of Rock and Roll and not Sun Records. As Muddy said: "Blues had a baby and named it rock and roll."
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Post by oldpicker on Mar 18, 2017 23:06:48 GMT
What a sad loss, but he's left us some great music.
And the greatest - my vote goes to the opening bars of 'Johnny B Goode'!
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Post by snakehips on Mar 18, 2017 23:15:50 GMT
Fantastic piano solo on that track too. I'm just saying !!!!!!
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 18, 2017 23:21:50 GMT
I am deeply saddened to hear that the great Chuck Berry has died. What can be said about one of the greatest musicians and writers of the 20th century that hasn't already been said while he was alive. The word 'Legend' gets brandished around too much these days, but in the case of Chuck Berry, we are talking about a true LEGEND. In 2004 my brother David Messer brought Chuck Berry over to the UK to do one night at the Royal Festival Hall and a few tour dates around the country. I went to the RFH show and spent time with Chuck in the dressing room after a show in Oxford. He was a charming man with a great sense of humour and a lot of fun to be with. He was no trouble at all. All those stories about the money and his attitude to performing were only true when he didn't like or trust the people he was working with. My brother, David, had no problems at all. He and Chuck enjoyed a great working relationship. Chuck and his girlfriend had a rental car and drove themselves to all the shows. Most days David would arrive at the theatre to find Chuck had arrived early and was ready to get started on the soundcheck! In the dressing room in Oxford, Chuck showed me his guitar and proudly told me that it was tax deductible! He also enjoyed the brotherly banter between me and David and kind of joined with it, showing off about how fit he was and comparing his biceps to mine. No contest.... mine are like knots in cotton. He was proud of his physique and for a 78 year old man he was in great shape. When it was time to pack up and leave, I asked Chuck what he would be doing when he got home to the US; he held my hand, looked me in the eyes and said "I got a deuce of gigs and then no particular place to go" .... I replied that nobody else could form such a sentence and get away with it. To which he replied...."I just write the way I talk" We also talked about music and guitars. Chuck told me about his passion for playing lap steel and that his main influences, the people that really helped create the Chuck Berry sound, were Jimmy Reed, Nat King Cole, T Bone Walker and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I have always treasured the memories of that night in Oxford. As well as being a lot of fun to be with, Chuck Berry also demonstrated at both shows I saw that he was one of the greatest writers, singers, guitarists and performers of all time. I also saw Chuck Berry a few times in the 70s, most notably at Capital Radio Jazz Festival, first his own show and then on stage with Muddy Waters. Chuck Berry R.I.P. You will be greatly missed and will certainly never be forgotten. Now we all have to get used to being on this planet without you. (I met Johnnie Johnson when he was touring with John Campbell in the 90s. Johnnie was a lovely guy) Shine On Michael
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2017 23:55:22 GMT
Imagine if there was no Chuck Berry, there would be no Beatles, no Stones, no Beach Boys,.. extrapolate... he was the bridge between blues and rock. Rest In Peace.
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Post by bonzo on Mar 19, 2017 0:05:05 GMT
An end to a part of my life, I loved his music from the first time I heard him as a teenager. I was lucky to have met him and spend time with him several times, and as Michael has said he was a good story teller and always had a twinkle in his eye. Chuck and Bo, between the two of them kept me dancing! RIP Chuck Berry, there really will never be another like you.
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Post by creolian on Mar 19, 2017 1:06:12 GMT
Imagine no Chuck Berry > ...no Beatles, no Stones, no Beach Boys,.. extrapolate... Rest In Peace. I'm not particularly religious but I do believe the spirits that have inspired us transcend the limits of physical life. Hence, Rock and Roll will never die ! A great muscian and a great showman, never forgotten, RIP Chuck Berry
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Post by leeophonic on Mar 19, 2017 6:31:10 GMT
Sad news but has prompted me to dig out some of Chucks records and celebrate the man an his music.
I also thought about all of those cars he kept buying, didn,t he buy a new Cadillac or Lincoln every year and just put it under a sheet for a rainy day???
Hail Hail Rock & Roll.
Lee
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Post by AlanB on Mar 19, 2017 6:49:15 GMT
When I left London for Southampton in 1989 I had to "prune" my 45/EP/LPs. Below is all that's left of the Chuck Berry.
I think I'll spend some playing them. Oddball collection even if I say so myself. Rock on up there Chuck
45s
Come On/Go, Go Pye International 7N 25209 It Wasn't Me/My Own Business Chess (UK) CRS 8022 It Wasn't Me/Welcome Back Chess (US) 1943 Johnny B Goode/Around & Around Chess (US) 1691 Johnny B Goode/Run Rudolph Run Pye International 7N 25209 Let It Rock/Memphis Tennessee Pye International 7N 25228 Little Marie/Go Bobby Soxer Go Pye International 7N 25271 My Ding A Ling/Johnny B Goode Chess (US) CH 2131 No Particular Place To Go/It Wasn’t Me Chess (UK) CRS 8089 No Particular Place To Go/Liverpool Drive Pye International 7N 25242 Promised Land/The Things I Used To Do Pye International 7N 25285 Sweet Little Sixteen/Reelin' & Rockin' Chess (US) 1683 You Can't Catch Me/Havana Moon Chess (US) 1645 You Never Can Tell/Brenda Lee Pye International 7N 25257
EPs
Best Of Pye International (EP) NEP 44018 Blue Mood Pye International (EP) NEP 44033 Chuck & Bo Pye International (EP) NEP 44009 Chuck & Bo Big Daddies Chess (EP UK) 6145 012
LPs
Chuck Berry Pye International NPL 28024 Latest and Greatest Pye International NPL 28031 Golden Decade 3 Chess (US Double) 2CH 60028 Greatest Hits Marble Arch MAL 660 Chess Masters Chess (UK Double) CXMP 2011
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Mar 19, 2017 8:08:06 GMT
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news, Chuck's on his way!
RIP Chuck, what a legacy.
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Post by pascal on Mar 19, 2017 10:43:56 GMT
Bon voyage Chuck! Rock lost his best inventor and poet, back to the Blues.
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Post by mississippiblue on Mar 19, 2017 15:01:45 GMT
.....and the sadness continues. Thank you for the music and the memories. Rest In Eternal Peace Mr. Chuck Berry.
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Post by gouranga on Mar 19, 2017 17:50:17 GMT
R.I.P Chuck. Thanks for all you gave us.. One of a kind.
With great respect.
Gouranga
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