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These days, rock ‘n’ roll seems like a musical rebellion of the ancient past, coming to us in the form of black and white archival footage and old LPs that your grandparents hid from your great-grandparents’ ears. But for lovers of rock, there’s still a way to get in touch with the music that gave birth to virtually all the pop music we have today. Chuck Berry still lives, and Chuck Berry still rocks. Grab some Chuck Berry tickets, and you could be rocking with him (no one’s promising he’ll still duck-walk, though). While Elvis Presley is remembered as the King, even he is indebted to Chuck Berry; he’s often cited as one of the most influential figures in rock and roll history. If not for Berry’s guitar playing, there wouldn’t have been the rock of the ‘60s—The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Beach Boys. In turn, the artists that came afterward—everyone from The Velvet Underground to David Bowie to Radiohead—wouldn’t have sounded the same. They might not even have existed. Berry was born in 1926 in St. Louis, MO, and was recognized as being creatively talented from an early age. He had a knack for music and poetic lyrics—and for causing a stir. His first on stage performance was at a high school function, where he played “Confessin’ the Blues.” While the blues was liked by the students, it wasn’t considered appropriate by the faculty. He learned to play by listening to songs on the radio and playing along, and by 1952 was performing in a club. Berry found that black audiences were open to a variety of styles and genres, and he enjoyed exploring many different kinds of music. The one that grabbed him the most, however, is white hillybilly music. Berry idolized Nat King Cole and Muddy Waters. On one occasion in 1954, he had the chance to meet Waters, and impressed him so much that the bluesman encouraged him to seek a record deal from the Chess label. He did so, and headed to the studio to record a song called “Ida Red.” After the session, the name of the song was changed—to “Maybellene.” This first song broke the barriers, giving birth to the sound that would become known as rock ‘n’ roll. Elvis, still a growing star at the time, added the song to his repertoire. Besides being the first big rock song, it was important because of its cross-over appeal, uniting groups of people who listened to very different kinds of music before that. Berry’s guitar solos, rhythm changes and the guitar intros that he added to his music all became distinctive marks of a brand new kind of music. All it took was for DJs like Alan Freed to get hold of his music. After that, rock began to flood the airwaves—much to the chagrin of parents worried by the raucous new sound that their children were embracing. Don’t miss out on seeing this elder statesman of rock perform live! This article was written by Andrew Good and sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells Chuck Berry tickets as well as sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world.
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