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Chuck Berry dead


LarryUK

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Sad news, truly the king of rock and roll for me. I great guitar player, the master of the double stop.

 

I saw him at the Speak Easy in London,early seventies,he was not exactly communicative with the audience just played and left but great show all the same.

 

I think he is the last of the guitar playing rockers to go,it leaves Jerry lee Lewis so perhaps piano players live longer than guitarists!

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Mr. Berry and Mr. Presley are the two most important people in early Rock. Everyone after owes them a debt.

 

Chuck gave is the first R&R sweetheart, "Sweet Little Sixteen", the first R&R guitar hero "Johnny B Goode" and so much more.

 

Thanks for the music Chuck. Too bad I never got to play with you. That would have been great fun.

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He was a great player and song writer.....not such a great human being.

 

I've heard this elsewhere...but have no idea what people are referring to. Either way, it is best to remember the good, the legacy, the music.

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1489941834[/url]' post='1842848']

I agree we all make mistakes and I made more than most.

 

I did not know him personally, the first LP I ever bought was Berry on Top. I still have it.

While in high school in 1944 he and some friends robbed a store at gun point using a non functioning weapon, the get away car broke down and he flagged down a passing car, took it at gun point, spent a few years in reform school. He had been married to the same woman since 1948, a year after his release. In the early 50s he started playing with the Johnnie Johnson's Trio and started honing his writing and playing style which was influenced by T-Bone Walker.

The rest is pretty much history as the cliche goes, at the pinnacle of his success he was charged and convicted on a trumped up charge of transporting a juvenile across state lines for the purpose of intercource which he was fined 5k and sentenced to five years, on appeal it was dismissed due to racists remarks made by the judge and the prosecutor.

IMO it was a small town cop and judge trying to take down what they saw as a uppity n----.

Nothing more than a lynching one of the shameful occurrences common to the era.That his marriage survived all of this is a testament to him and his wife. After the trial he changed, his performances were more mechanical, there was less banter between him and the audience. He was more cautious, he had learned the lesson from the white jury and judge, "You can sell your music to us, but you can't be one of us"

Berry is Still on Top!

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I've heard this elsewhere...but have no idea what people are referring to. Either way, it is best to remember the good, the legacy, the music.

We all have our demons, don't we? I agree Izzy, let's remember the good stuff.

 

From today's LA Times (front page, no less):

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-chuck-berry-snap-20170318-story.html

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