Chuck Berry is 'bubbling over with glee' over weeklong tribute

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By Kevin C. Johnson kjohnson@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8191 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland will honor a St. Louis icon when it gives Chuck Berry a weeklong spotlight.

“Roll Over Beethoven: The Life and Music of Chuck Berry,” part of the museum’s American Music Masters Series, kicks off today and ends Saturday with a concert in Berry’s honor.

“I’m delighted — bubbling over with glee,” Berry said before performing a sold-out concert on the eve of his 86th birthday Wednesday at Blueberry Hill. “Each honor is a whole new day, and this one is a week.”

The American Music Masters Series, in its 17th year, honors a prior Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee each year. Honorees have included Woody Guthrie, Aretha Franklin, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bessie Smith and Buddy Holly. Berry, a St. Louis native and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, was inducted into the hall in 1986.

The rock ’n’ roll pioneer is known for his guitar licks and songs such as “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene,” “Rock and Roll Music” and his No. 1 hit, “My Ding-A-Ling.”

Berry has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame and an 8-foot-tall bronze likeness of himself in the Delmar Loop, where he still performs monthly at Blueberry Hill. His daughter Ingrid Berry-Clay, who sings and plays harmonica in his band, said the Rock Hall honor is “another adventure.”

“We’re all very grateful for all the hard work — the decades of hard work — that Pop has put in over the years,” she said. “It’s a heartwarming honor to see.”

Charles Berry Jr., a guitarist in his father’s band, is also proud. “It puts hair on a bald chest,” he said.

Lauren Onkey, vice president of education and public programs for the Rock Hall, said the American Music Masters Series presents an opportunity to explore the careers of its inducted artists who were key to the development of rock ’n’ roll and have changed the landscape of music.

“The goal is to get at the story of the honorees from different points of view with different voices in the mix,” said Onkey, who was in the audience last week at Berry’s Blueberry Hill show. “Chuck Berry is so crucial to the formation of rock ’n’ roll, and it’s the right time to get at that story. He was interested and gave us his seal of approval.”

Onkey said Berry had been discussed as an honoree for a while. Berry worked with the Rock Hall last year on an oral history interview for its archives.

“It’s a story we always wanted to tell, so we said, ‘Let’s go for it,’” Onkey said.

Writer-musician Greg Tate, a founding member of the Black Rock Coalition, said music wouldn’t be music as we know it without Berry. Tate is delivering a keynote lecture this week at the American Music Masters Series.

“Everything we call rock ’n’ roll wouldn’t have happened without him — Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles,” he said. “His form, his structure, approach and energy made the guitar matter the way it does. He created his own vernacular, which became the vernacular.”

Tate called Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” a breakout moment in the history of music.

“You can’t say there was ever a song like that before,” he said. “It made space for a new kind of entity. It was swinging, upbeat and affirmative — a ‘world, watch out, here I come’ song.”

Guitarist Ernie Isley, a 1992 Rock Hall inductee with the Isley Brothers, has never worked with Berry, but he said he quickly agreed when asked to perform in Saturday’s tribute concert in Cleveland. Isley, who also lives in St. Louis, said he was inspired by Berry’s talents as a teenager.

“When you pick up an electric guitar for the first time as you’re learning to play, you try different riffs,” he said. “You might play ‘Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ or ‘It’s Your Thing,’ and you’re certainly going to play ‘Johnny B. Goode.’ Everybody does. ... Chuck’s guitar riffs are signature.”

Blues-rock guitarist and singer Joe Bonamassa bought a Gibson guitar like Berry’s a long time ago.

“I’ve always loved his music,” Bonamassa said. “At the end of the day, it’s Chuck Berry. No matter what level or style of guitar you play, you never get past going through Chuck Berry. All styles lead there.”

Bonamassa said Berry’s style is erratic but identifiable — “one of the hardest things to do on a guitar.”

And rockabilly artist Rosie Flores said anyone who has ever played a guitar has to name Berry as an influence.

“There are no guitar licks more fun to start out with than learning to play guitar to Chuck Berry,” she said. “And if you play rock ’n’ roll, you know how to play ‘Johnny B. Goode.’ That was very empowering when you’re 15. And I’m still challenged playing it.”

Events to celebrate Berry this week in Cleveland also include a conference on his career and influence on rock ’n’ roll, a screening of “Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll” and programming for students. Two new Berry exhibitions also are open, featuring items such as his stage clothing, a guitar and an early recording contract. Most of the events will stream live at rockhall.com.

Berry will accept the American Music Masters Award on Saturday at a concert that features Isley, Bonamassa and Flores, plus Merle Haggard, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Vernon Reid, Duke Robillard, Ronnie Hawkins and others.

“I’m super-appreciative,” Berry said. “The man upstairs is taking care of me.”

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Chuck Berry Looks to Record, Admits Future is 'Very Dim'

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by AP / Billboard Staff Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Pays Tribute to 86-Year-Old Icon

Still rockin' at 86, music legend Chuck Berry promised a comeback Saturday with six new songs, some written 16 years ago.

"And as soon as I can get someone to guide me - and I do know a little about the business - I want to push them out," he told reporters at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which honored him with an award and tribute concert. "I'm going to come back and push them out if you know what I mean, somehow."

Berry, a rock pioneer with early hits that included "Roll Over Beethoven," ''Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode," wouldn't tip his hand in detail about the new songs or when they might be released.

"They might be old, but they are the same type of music that I have been playing," he said.

The lineup for Saturday night's tribute concert honoring Berry at the State Theater included Ernie Isley and Darryl DMC McDaniels, Joe Bonamassa, Rick Derringer, Rosie Flores, John Fullbright, David Johansen, Ronnie Hawkins, Steve Jordan and Merle Haggard.

Berry offered some advice to the performers: "Keep rocking, keep rocking. That's two words. Next word is: Be kind to your fans."

Earlier in the day, the legend struck a bittersweet tone when talking to reporters about his own mortality and diminished vocal abilities, saying he's been "wondering" about his future.

"I'll give you a little piece of poetry," he said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . "My singing days have passed. My voice is gone. My throat is worn. And my lungs are going fast."

Berry still performs monthly at Blueberry Hill, a club in St. Louis, and says he has no plans to slow down, adding his fans are "having a great time from memory. I hope that I can continue to enhance their memory, because it looks very dim."

To mark the American Music Masters award presentation, the rock hall has mounted a special exhibition with items including Berry's stage clothes, a guitar and his 1958 Chess Records recording contract.

The rock hall's new library and archives has a separate exhibit with items including Berry's 1964 British tour program and a handbill promoting his appearance with the Grateful Dead in 1968.

Past American Music Masters program honorees include Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Woody Guthrie.

Berry, the museum's first inductee in 1986, called the award and enshrinement in the rock hall a great honor. "You can't get any higher in my profession than this building or this reason for this building," he said.

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Chuck Berry: 'My singing days have passed'

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05 Noah_ And the NeighborBy Rolling Stone Recently, Chuck Berry made a rare move: he gave an interview. Visiting Cleveland to accept the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s American Music Masters Award, the 86-year-old met with journalists at the museum’s offices before touring an exhibit celebrating his life.

Seated in the center of a conference table between friend Joe Edwards and his son Charles Berry Jr., wearing a captain's hat and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame varsity jacket, Berry was humble, revealing and playful.

"Now let me make a statement," he said at the beginning. "After being before drums for 48 years, it has taken effect in the last four months and I have a strange hiccup that comes out every time I tell the truth." The room erupted in laughter.

At one point, Rolling Stone asked Berry how far the country has come since the days he played segregated venues throughout the South. Berry paused for a moment. "I never thought that a man with the qualities, features, and all that (President Obama) has, [could] be our President," he said. "My dad said, 'You may not live to see that day,' and I believed him. I thank God that I have." Berry stopped for several seconds while his eyes welled up. "Excuse me," he said.

The most moving moment came when Berry discussed his own future. Explaining that he doesn't hear well, Berry turned to his friend Edwards. "If you don’t mind, Joe, explaining [questions] to me, because I am hearing very little. I’m wondering about my future," he said, raising his finger. "That’s news!"

Berry was asked to expand. "Well, I’ll give you a little piece of poetry," he said. "Give you a song? I can’t do that. My singing days have passed. My voice is gone. My throat is worn. And my lungs are going fast.  I think that explains it." St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Kevin C. Johnson argued that people still pay to see Berry monthly at St. Louis’ Blueberry Hill. "I’ll tell you what that is," Berry said. "They’re having a great time from memory. And I hope that I can continue to enhance their memory because it looks very dim, like I said, you know."