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Chuck Berry Textcitat:
I
saw her from the corner as she turned and doubledback, she started walkin` t`ward
a coffee coloured Cadillac.
I was push-in' thru the crowd tryin' to get where
she was at, And I was campaignshoutin' like a south-ern dip-lo-mat
(Nadine)
I
ain`t ne-ver been in Dutch, don`t browse a round too much
(Almost grown)
Los
Angeles, give me Norfolk Virginia, Tidewater 4-10-0-0, tell the folks back home
this is the Promised Land callin`and the poor boy`s on the line
(Promised
Land)
Ten
thous- and eyes were watch-in' them leave the floor
five thous- and tongues
were scream-in' " More! More!
N' a-bout fift-een hundred wait-in' out-side
the door
(Sweet little rock'n roller)
 | | You
know my tem-pra-ture`s risin`and the Juke box blow-in` a fuse. You know she wig-gles like a glow-worm, dance like a spin-nin`top (Roll over Beethoven) | |||
| She drew out all our money at the Southern Trust, and put our little boy a board a Greyhound bus (Bye bye Johnny) |  |  | |||
| I`v
got no kick a gainst mod-ern jazz unless they try to play it too darn fast and change the beauty of the mel-o-dy until they sound just like a sym-pho-ny (Rock & Roll Music) | She
could not leave her number, but I know who place to call ' cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall (Memphis Tennessee) | | Blond
hair, good look-in` try`n`to get me hooked, wants me to mar-ry, get a home, set-tle
down, write a book, arrgh………… (Too much monkey business) | ||
| The
Flash of Chuck Berry by Arlen Roth Guitar Player june 1984 Chuck
Berry is to me, the father of rock and roll guitar. It was he who took his blues
roots along with the true feeling of the 1950s and created a sound and style all
his own. | |||||
| The
Chuck Berry Style by Rick Vito Guitar Player june 1984 Probably more rock guitarists around the world have been influenced (either directly or through covers) by Chuck Berry's lead playing than by any other rock guitarists of the `50s. He incorporated white country music into his rhythm and blues, resulting in a "new" form That came to be know as rock and roll. Chuck was also a super showman who could (and still does) bring down the house with his duck-walking stage antics and humorous, sometimes risque lyrics. Chuck had a great sence of humor and was a master storyteller. He wrote about fast cars ("You can't catch me," "Maybellene") Beautiful and often mysterious women ("Nadine," Little queenie") High school situations ("Oh baby doll,""School day" Young men with big dreams ("Johnny be goode," "Almost grown") Rocking teenage girls ("Sweet little sixteen," "Sweet little rock'n roller") Marital difficulties ("Thirty days," "Memphis") And low-key commentary on his social awareness as a black in the `50s ("Brown eyed handsome man," "Too much monkey business") Other times, he wrote just to express the exhilaration of rocking out ("Around and around,""Roll over Beethoven,""Rock'n roll music") It seemed as if the man's imagination knew no bounds! | |||||
| Style Chuck's overall style has been described as "simple" or "easy to play. But I contend that the Chuck Berry style, while perhaps simple in some respects, requires more careful scrutiny if it is to be duplicated correctly. Most of the covers of Chuck's songs, through they may have been faithful to the basic melody line, have missed the point as far as the groove or rhythm of his early style is concerned (and most have also missed the boat regarding his melodic subtleties). The most common deviation from the original feel that I've heard over and over is the tendency to play his songs with a straight 4 / 4 rock beat. Don't forget that Chuck was laying down his own brand of rhythm and lead, full of subtle twists and accents, over a black Chicago blues beat - a style that most rock musicians have found quite challenging |
| Chuck's
rhythm If one were to analyze a Chuck Berry record, talking special notice of what each person in the band was playing, he would in many cases discover upright bass walking a major scale, the drums laying down an eight-note shuffle with the snare accenting the 2 and the 4, the piano doing a boogie woogie shuffle with the emphasis on the higher register, and Chuck often playing a rhythm that is a cross between a 4 / 4 time, eight-note, downstroke shuffle and a straight eight-note rock feel. On songs like "Carol""Little Queenie""Roll over Beethoven and "Johnny be goode," he changed the accents of the shuffle so that it mixed those two feels and made the groove jump and swing more. | |||||
| Lead
work His playing was deeply rooted in blues and `40s swing, and he has stated that his three main influences on guitar were electric jazz pioneer Charlie Christian, bluesman Muddy Waters, and Carl Hogan guitarist with Tympanie Five R&B act. Being the master of understated tricks, Berry sometimes whipped off a lick that was completely off the wall in it's approach. A few examples are the shorter intros to "School day," Chuck did something practically unheard of (then or now) when he started the song with a D augmented chord played at high speed. "Nadine" also has a fourth interval in the intro, played on the third and fourth strings (in the key on C) in a sweeping up and down motion that sounds almost Oriental. In many of Chuck's leads we hear him bending strings, a trick he probably picked up from bluesmen such as T-Bone Walker to emulate the sound of a slide, Berry would bend the G string up a whole-tone and end with that same note played on the B string, sometimes adding the root, played on the high E string simultaneously. On another early instrumental, "Guitar Boogie," Berry played 9th chords over the I IV V pattern with a shuffle beat, dropping each chord a half-step and raising it again. At the beginning of each verse, the band stopped on the I chord, Chuck played a little melody line, and then the band kicked back in on the IV. The little tidbits he came up with are examples of how clever and funny Chuck could be with his axe. There are very few artists who could sing, play, write, and perform as amazingly as Chuck. There is no better teacher to learn from, no better starting point or refresher course. Countless artists such as Beatles, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, and the Stones have experienced the thrill of a Chuck Berry song, and have let that energy expand their own musical ideas. | |||||
13
Question method covered by Ry Cooder
30 Days covered by Twitty Conway
30
Days covered by Winter Johnny
Almost grown covered by Bowie David
Almost
grown covered by Lovin`Spoonful
Almost grown covered by Parson Gram
Almost
grown Covered by Animals (live)
Around & around covered by Rolling Stones
Around
& around covered by Greatful Dead
Around & around covered by Animals
Around
& around covered by Swinging Blue Jeans
Around & around covered by
Led Zeppelin
Around & around covered by Springsteen Bruce (live)
Back
in the U.S.A covered by Ronstadt Linda
Back in the U.S.A covered by Rolling
Stones
Back in the U.S.A covered by MC 5
Back in the U.S.A covered by New
York Dolls
Back in the U.S.A covered by Richman Jonathan
Back in the U.S.A
covered by Springsteen Bruce (live)
Back to Memphis covered by The Band
Back
to Memphis covered by Youngblood Hart Alvin
Beatiful Delilah covered by Kinks
Beatiful
Delilah covered by Rolling Stones
Brown eyed handsome man covered by Lewis
Jerry Lee
Brown eyed handsome man covered by Presley Elvis (bootleg)
Brown
eyed handsome man covered by Rivers Johnny
Brown eyed handsome man covered
by Tucker Tanya
Brown eyed handsome man covered by Jennings Waylon
Brown
eyed handsome man covered by Holly Buddy
Brown eyed handsome man covered by
McCartney Paul
Bye bye Johnny covered by Rolling Stones
Bye bye Johnny covered
by Pink Faires
Bye bye Johnny covered by Status Quo
Bye bye Johnny covered
by Wayne Pat & the Beachcombers
Bye bye Johnny covered by Rivers Johnny
Bye
bye Johnny covered by Scorpions
Carol covered by Rolling Stones
Carol covered
by Beatles
Carol covered by Status Quo
Carol covered by Count Bishops
Carol
covered by Doors
Carol covered by Backbeat band
Carol covered by Nugent
Ted (bootleg)
Come on covered by Rolling Stones
Come on covered by Chocolate
Watchband
Come on covered by Jackson Joe
Come on covered by Goom Ian
Come
on covered by Groovie Ghoulies
Dear dad covered by Edmunds Dave
Dear dad
covered by Count Bishops
Downbound train covered by Nomads
Don't Ya Lie
To Me covered by Rolling Stones
Down the road a piece covered by Rolling Stones
Fourty
days covered by Parson Gram
Go go go covered by Led Zeppelin
Havana Moon
covered by Santana Carlos
I gotta find my baby covered by Animals (live)
I´m
talking about you covered by Yardbirds
I´m talking about you covered
by Nelson Rick
I´m talking about you covered by Hollies
I´m
talking about you covered by Rolling Stones
I´m talking about you covered
by Hot Tuna
I´m talking about you covered by Beatles
I'm a rocker
covered by Thorogood George
I`s my own business covered by Edmunds Dave
It
wasn't me covered by Thorogood George
Jaguar and the Thunderbird covered by
Petty Tom & Heartbreakers (bootleg)
Jaguar and the Thunderbird covered
by Ramones
Jo jo Gunne covered by Edmunds Dave
Johnny be goode covered by
Judas Priest
Johnny be goode covered by Mahogany Rush
Johnny be goode covered
by Raytown Kiwanis Orchestra
Johnny be goode covered by Presley Elvis
Johnny
be goode covered by Gyllene Tider
Johnny be goode covered by Greateful Dead
Johnny
be goode covered by Pish
Johnny be goode covered by Tosh Peter
Johnny be
goode covered by Sex Pistols
Johnny be goode covered by NOFX
Johnny be goode
covered by Living Color
Johnny be goode covered by Thorogood George
Johnny
be goode covered by McFly Marty
Johnny be goode covered by Haley Bill
Johnny
be goode covered by Loyde Lobby
Johnny be goode covered by Henderson Bugs
Johnny
be goode covered by Trashmen
Johnny be goode covered byOwens Buck
Johnny
be goode covered by Count Bishops
Johnny be goode covered by Ventures
Johnny
be goode covered by Earthlings
Johnny be goode covered by Meat Loaf
Johnny
be goode covered by Beatles
Johnny be goode covered by Beach Boys (live)
Johnny
be goode covered by Checker Chubby
Johnny be goode covered by Denver John
Johnny
be goode covered by Gerrett Leif
Johnny be goode covered by Hendrix Jimmy
Johnny
be goode covered by John Elton
Johnny be goode covered by Jones Tom
Johnny
be goode covered by Rivers Johnny
Johnny be goode covered by Winter Johnny
Johnny
be goode covered by Haley Bill
Johnny be goode covered by Lewis Lee Jerry
Johnny
be goode covered by Thorogood George
Johnny be goode covered by Twitty Conway
Johnny
be goode covered by AC/DC (live)
Johnny be goode covered by Owens Buck (live)
Johnny
be goode covered by Pilarm Eilert
Johnny be goode covered by Hanson (live)
Johnny
be goode covered by Ten Years After
Let it Rock covered by Rolling Stones
Let
it Rock covered by Motörhead
Let it Rock covered by Edmunds Dave
Let
it Rock covered by Seger Bob (live)
Let it Rock covered by Greateful Dead
Let
it Rock covered by Georgia Satellites
Let it Rock covered by Yardbirds
Let
it Rock covered by Animals (live)
Little Queenie covered by Rolling Stones
Little
Queenie covered by Clapton Eric
Little Queenie covered by Lewis Lee Jerry
Little
Queenie covered by Thunders Johnny
Little Queenie covered by REO Speedwagon
Little
Queenie covered by Easybeats
Little Queenie covered by Springsteen Bruce (live)
Little
Queenie covered by Beatles (live)
Maybelline covered by Foghat
Maybelline
covered by Revere Paul & theRaiders
Maybelline covered by Nugent Ted
Maybelline
covered by Axton Hoyt
Maybelline covered by Everly Brothers
Maybelline covered
by Foghat
Maybelline covered by Lee Lewis Jerry
Maybelline covered by Rivers
Johnny
Maybelline covered by Simon and Garfunkel
Maybelline covered by Twitty
Conway
Maybelline covered by Vincent Gene
Maybelline covered by Lucas Matt
Memphis
covered by Faces
Memphis covered by Stradlin Izzy
Memphis covered by Troggs
Memphis
covered by Pickett Wilson
Memphis covered by Green Al
Memphis Tennessee
covered by Basie Count
Memphis Tennessee covered by Anka Paul
Memphis Tennessee
covered by Beatles
Memphis Tennessee covered by Belafonte Harry
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Dave Clarke Five
Memphis Tennessee covered by Lee Lewis
Jerry
Memphis Tennessee covered by Animals
Memphis Tennessee covered by
Rivers Johnny
Memphis Tennessee covered by Presley Elvis
Memphis Tennessee
covered by Owens Buck
Memphis Tennessee covered by Silicon Teens
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Status Quo
Memphis Tennessee covered by Brown Greg
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Diddley Bo
Memphis Tennessee covered by Cale John
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Mack Lonnie
Memphis Tennessee covered by Stradlin Izzy
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Orbison Roy
Memphis Tennessee covered by Twitty Conway
Memphis
Tennessee covered by Jones Tom
Memphis Tennessee covered by Rolling Stones
Nadine
covered by Bunch
Nadine covered by Junior Cadillac
Nadine covered by Led
Zeppelin
Nadine covered by Jennings Waylon
Nadine covered by Thorogood George
No
money down covered by Springsteen Bruce (live)
No money down covered by Humble
Pie
No money down covered by Hammond John
No money down covered by Junior
Cadillac
No money down covered by Edmunds Dave
No money down covered by
Bruce Ed
No particular place to go covered by Thorogood George
No particular
place to go covered by Troggs
No particular place to go covered by Toy Dolls
No
particular place to go covered by Big Problem Rockers
No particular place to
go covered by Lee Lewis Jerry
No particular place to go covered by Presley
Elvis (bootleg)
Oh what a thrill covered by Rockpile
Promised Land covered
by Greatful Dead
Promised Land covered by Presley Elvis
Promised Land covered
by Allen Johnnie
Promised Land covered by Edmunds Dave
Promised Land covered
by Taylor James
Promised Land covered by The Band
Promised Land covered
by Meat Loaf
Promised Land covered by Rivers Johnny
Reelin` and rockin`
covered by Led Zeppelin
Reelin` and rockin` covered by Junior Cadillac
Reelin`
and rockin` covered by Dave Clarke Five
Reelin` and rockin` covered by Twitty
Conway
Rock & Roll Music covered by Beatles
Rock & Roll Music covered
by Ebba Grön
Rock & Roll Music covered by Manic Street Preachers
Rock
& Roll Music covered by Beach Boys
Rock & Roll Music covered by Mental
as Anything
Rock & Roll Music covered by REO Speedwagon
Rock & Roll
Music covered by Backbeat Band
Rock & Roll Music covered by Dave Clarke
Five
Rock & Roll Music covered by Haley Bill
Rock & Roll Music covered
by Humble Pie
Rock & Roll Music covered by Presley Elvis (bootleg)
Rock
& Roll Music covered by Simmons Gene
Roll over Beethoven covered by Dave
Clarke Five
Roll over Beethoven covered by Beatles
Roll over Beethoven covered
by ELO
Roll over Beethoven covered by Sonics
Roll over Beethoven covered
by Thirteenth Floor Elevators
Roll over Beethoven covered by Russel Bobby
Roll
over Beethoven covered by Mountain
Roll over Beethoven covered by Clapton Eric
Roll
over Beethoven covered by Status Quo
Roll over Beethoven covered by Javelins
Roll
over Beethoven covered by Hamton String Quartet
Roll over Beethoven covered
by Wayne Pat
Roll over Beethoven covered by Byrds
Roll over Beethoven covered
by Lee Lewis Jerry
Roll over Beethoven covered by Uriah Heep (live)
Round
& round covered by Bowie David
Run run Rodolph covered by Foghat
Run
run Rodolph covered by Greatful Dead
Run run Rodolph covered by Richards Keith
Run
run Rodolph covered by Edmunds Dave
Run run Rodolph covered by Schwarz Brinsley
Run
run Rodolph covered by Crow Sheryl
Run run Rodolph covered by Adams Bryan
Run
run Rodolph covered by Krakowski Jane
Run run Rodolph covered by Buffett Jimmy
Run
run Rodolph covered by Nixon Mojo
Run run Rodolph covered by Bellrays
Run
run Rodolph covered by Yoakam Dwight
School days covered by AC/DC
School
days covered by Led Zeppelin
School days covered by Presley Elvis
Sweet
Little Rock & Roller covered by Edmunds Dave
Sweet Little Rock & Roller
covered by Springsteen Bruce
Sweet Little Rock & Roller covered by Stewart
Rod
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Lennon John
Sweet Little Sixteen covered
by Silicon Teens
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Trashmen
Sweet Little Sixteen
covered by Taylor Vince
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Hollies
Sweet Little
Sixteen covered by Ten Years After
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Animals
Sweet
Little Sixteen covered by Cox Mikael
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Dave Clark
Five
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Cochran Eddie
Sweet Little Sixteen
covered by Lee Lewis Jerry
Sweet Little Sixteen covered by Springsteen Bruce
(live)
Too much monkey business covered by Animals
Too much monkey business
covered by Kinks
Too much monkey business covered by Yardbirds (live)
Too
much monkey business covered by Javelins
Too much monkey business covered by
Presidents of the United States
Too much monkey business covered by Cream
Too
much monkey business covered by Presley Elvis
Too much monkey business covered
by Three Dog Night
Tulane covered by Jett Joan
Tulane covered by Steve Gibbons
Band
You can`t catch me covered by Rolling Stones
You can`t catch me covered
by Stills Stephen
You can`t catch me covered by Lennon John
You can`t catch
me covered by Love Sculpture
You can`t catch me covered by Blues Project
You
can`t catch me covered by Thorogood George
You never can tell covered by Prine
John
You never can tell covered by Hotbox
You never can tell covered by
Hexedene
You never can tell covered by Neville Aaron
You never can tell
covered by Springsteen Bruce(live)
You never can tell covered by Seger Bob
You
never can tell covered by Harris Emmylou
You never can tell covered by Jennings
Waylon
Chuck
Berry all songs:
208 songs
I'm
Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
(Untitled Instrumental)
21 Blues
After It's
Over
Ain't That Just Like a Woman
Almost Grown
Anthony Boy
Around
and Around
Away from You
Back in the U.S.A.
Back to Memphis
Beautiful
Delilah
Berry Pickin'
Betty Jean
Big Ben
Big Ben Blues
Bio
Birmingham
Blue
Feeling
Blue on Blue
Blues for Hawaiians
Bordeaux in My Pirogh
Bound
to Lose
Brenda Lee
Bring Another Drink
Broken Arrow
Brown Eyed Handsome
Man
Butterscotch
Bye Bye Johnny
C.C. Rider
California
Carol
Childhood
Sweetheart
Christmas
Chuck's Beat
Club Nitty Gritty
Come On
Concerto
in B Goode
Confessin' the Blues
County Line
Crazy Arms
Crying Steel
Dear
Dad
Deep Feeling
Deuce
Diploma for Two
Do You Love Me
Don't You
Lie to Me
Down Bound Train
Down the Road a Piece
Driftin' Blues
Drifting
Heart
Every Day I Have the Blues
Feelin' It
Fillmore Blues
Fish and
Chips
Flying Home
Fraulein
Go Bobby Soxer
Go Go Go
Good Looking
Woman
Good Lovin' Woman
Good Morning Little School Girl
Got It and Gone
Got
My Mojo Working
Guitar Boogie
Gun
Hail, Hail Rock & Roll
Havana
Moon
Have Mercy Judge
Hello Little Girl Goodbye
Hey Pedro
His Daughter
Caroline
Hoochie Coochie Man
House Lights
House of Blue Lights
I Got
a Booking
I Got to Find My Baby
I Love You
I Need You Baby
I Never
Thought
I Want to Be Your Driver
I Will Not Let You Go
I'm Just a Lucky
So and So
I'm Just a Name
I'm Talking About You
I'm Through With Love
(Rehearsal Recording)
I'm a Man
I'm a Rocker
I've Changed
If I Were
In
the Wee Wee Hours (I Think of You)
In-Go
Instrumental
It Hurts Me Too
It
Wasn't Me
It's My Own Business
It's Too Dark in There
Jaguar and the
Thunderbird
Jamaica Farewell Song
Jo Jo Gunne
Johnny B. Goode
Johnny
B. Goode/O Carol
Juanda
Key to the Highway
Let It Rock
Let Me Sleep
Woman
Let's Boogie
Little Girl from Central
Little Marie
Little Queenie
Little
Star
Liverpool Drive
London Berry Blues
Lonely All the Time
Lonely
School Days
Long Live Rock & Roll
Louis to Frisco
Loverpool Drive
Mad
Lad
Man and the Donkey
Maria, Maria
Maybellene
Mean Old World
Medley:
Carol/Little Queenie
Medley: Maybellene/Mountain Dew
Medley: Rockin' at
the Filmore/Everyday I Have the Blues
Memphis
Memphis Tennessee
Merry
Christmas, Baby
Move It
Musical Piece
My Ding-A-Ling
My Ding-A-Ling(single
version)
My Dream
My Little Love Light
My Mustang Ford
My Woman
Nadine
Night
Beat
No Money Down
No Particular Place to Go
O Rangutang
Oh Baby Doll
Oh
Louisiana
Oh What a Thrill
Oh Yeah
One O'Clock Jump
One for My Baby
Ooh
Baby
Orangutang
Our Little Rendezvous
Pass Away
Promised Land
Put
Her Down
Ramona Say Yes
Reelin' and Rockin'
Right off Rampart Street
Rip
It Up
Road Runner
Rock & Roll Music
Rockin' At The Fillmore
Rockin'
at the Philharmonic
Roll over Beethoven
Roly Poly
Round and Round
Route
66
Run Around
Run Rudolph Run
Runaround
Sad Day, Long Night
San
Francisco Blues
School Days
She Once Was Mine
Some People
Song of
My Love
St. Louis Blues
Stop and Listen
Sue Answer
Sweet Little Rock
& Roller
Sweet Little Sixteen
That's My Desire
Things I Used to Do
Thirteen
Question Method
Thirty Days
Time Was
Too Late
Too Much Monkey Business
Too
Pooped to Pop
Tulane
Vacation Time
Vaya con Dios
Viva Viva Rock &
Roll
Way It Was Before
Wee Baby Blues
Wee Hour Blues
Wee Wee Hours
Welcome
Back Pretty Baby
Who Do You Love?
Why Should We End This Way
Woodpecker
Worried
Life Blues
Wuden't Me
You Came a Long Way from St. Louis
You Can't Catch
Me
You Can't Judge a Book by It's Cover
You Never Can Tell
You Two