The Father of Rock-n-Roll, Chuck Berry, will perform live at the historic State Theatre in Easton on Saturday, November 5th. Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham and his new band The Associates will open the show at 8 PM.
Tickets at $60 & $55 can be purchased at the State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, by calling 1-800-999-STATE, 610-252-3132 online at
www.statetheatre.org. The show is sponsored by
lehighvalleylive.com and WAEB AM 790.
If any one individual can be credited as the premier figure of rock and roll, it's
Chuck Berry. His music, lyrics, and free spirit made an indelible impression on millions of young people, including the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
He is a bigger star today than at any time in his career. "The London
Chuck Berry Sessions" album, one side of which was cut 'live" in concert, received RIAA "gold" certification as did the "My Ding-A-Ling" single from the LP. BERRY has topped the bill in many of the Richard Nadar Rock & Roll Revival concerts and was featured in "Let The Good Times Roll," a documentary film of the 1950's and the rock revival. On BERRY's latest album, "Bio," he's backed by the Elephant's Memory.
Between recording and touring, he doesn't have much time to enjoy BERRY PARK, the country club and amusement park he built in Wentzville, Missouri, complete with guitar shaped swimming pool, a recording studio, and darkroom and videotape equipment, all for his various hobbies.
CHARLES EDWARD BERRY was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1931. His parents sang in the Antioch Baptist church choir and his three Sisters played piano. He was picking out boogie woogie rhythms on the piano when he was seven, and he became interested in the guitar when a classmate backed him in a high school review. CHUCK bought a second hand Spanish six string and some introduction books for $4.40 while still in high school. He made his earliest appearances as a singer/guitarist at church affairs and house parties.
CHUCK formed his first group in 1952 and played clubs around St. Louis on weekends. He occasionally worked as a carpenter with his father and two brothers, who were all construction engineers. CHUCK studied cosmetology and was considering becoming a hairdresser or a photographer until he met Muddy Waters in May 1955 during a vacation visit to Chicago.
Muddy suggested that CHUCK see Leonard Chess at Chess Records. CHUCK recorded his trio in a St. Louis living room and returned to Chicago two weeks later with four songs on tape. During his third Chicago visit, CHUCK and his group recorded for Chess. His first release, "Maybellene" became a hit within a few weeks.
Between 1955 and 1958, the weekly music trade papers always carried a
Chuck Berry Record on the Hot Hundred, often both sides appeared and sometimes two different records were on the Charts at the same time. His very first personal appearance tour was "101 Nights in 101 Days." He starred in such Allan Freed rock movies as "Rock, Rock, Rock" and "Go Johnny Go" and his Newport Jazz Festival Performance in 1958 was filmed for the classic documentary "Jazz on A Summer Day."
Chuck Berry's greatest hits include "Roll over Beethoven" and "Rock And Roll Music," both of which the Beatles later recorded; "Round And Round," "Carol" and "You Can't Catch Me," which appeared in early Rolling Stones albums; "Memphis," which later became a hit again for Johnny Rivers and Lonny
Mack; "Johnny B. Goode," "Sweet Little Sixteen," "School Days," "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," "Nadine," "Almost Grown," "Too Much Monkey Business," "No Particular Place To Go," "Back In The USA," "Reelin' And Rockin'," "Thirty Days" and several more. Except for a few years with
Mercury Records, CHUCK has always been on Chess.
There's much more that could be said about
Chuck Berry -- about his flamboyant showmanship and charismatic personality --- but all you have to do is listen to his music and you'll understand what makes him great. To quote a few appropriate words from the Master, "Hail, Hail, Rock n' Roll! Deliver me from the days of old, Long live Rock 'n' Roll! The Feeling is there body and soul."
