Hail! Hail! Chuck Berry…  In 2022, Vintage Rock and a dozen famous friends paid homage to The Poet Laureate Of Rock’n’Roll. Join us as we celebrate the iconic guitarist, legendary songwriter and cultural trailblazer:

Colin Blunstone – The Zombies

“In the late 50s I’d go with a friend to this little trucker cafe in Hatfield that had a jukebox. We would order a tea or coffee and make it last for as long as possible so we could listen to songs on that jukebox. There was no rock on the radio then, so it was quite hard to hear this new kind of music. It was a very exciting sound, and I was fascinated by it. Chuck was one of the guys who introduced me to rock’n’roll, along with Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Those three guys made me want to get a guitar when I was about 12 years old.

“He was an incredible performer, and his duck walk was mesmerising. I got to see him do it for real when The Zombies opened for him in Newcastle. I never got to spend any time with him, I was probably a bit intimidated. He was a pretty forthright person to be fair and I was just a young kid starting out. But he helped define rock’n’roll, he broke down barriers and, of course, he influenced The Beatles and the Stones and just about every other British band around.”

BERRY PICK: “Although there are many of his songs that I like, Johnny B Goode was the first Chuck song I ever heard, and it remains one of his very best.”

Marty Wilde

“The first song that I heard Chuck Berry sing was Maybellene, and I thought that it was a violin playing the intro! It wasn’t until later I found out it was, of course, his guitar. The first time I was really influenced by Chuck was when he released that stunning classic Sweet Little Sixteen. I think the way he played those chords influenced every musician that I know. He was a great stage performer and when you watch his appearances on those early black and white television shows, you can tell he’d given a great deal of thought as to how he was going to perform his music.

“Most of his songs are telling stories, but without the impact of his guitar playing I don’t think they would be as brilliant as they are. He truly was an innovator, and a lot of his contemporaries were just really following trends set by people like him.”

BERRY PICK: “My favourite is Sweet Little Sixteen. Although it’s only basically a piano with guitar accompaniment. So damn good!”

Glen Matlock – Sex Pistols

“I had an older uncle who gave me his old 78s (Chantilly Lace, Great Balls Of Fire and Teddy Bear), and I’d play them on our radiogram. Chuck always stood out because every song was like a mini opera. His music was a travelogue of American culture, taking you there and you’d realise there was a whole world beyond your bedroom. I was sat in an English class and the teacher was going on about the eloquence of Shakespeare’s adjectives and descriptive writing: ‘The fringed curtains of thine eye’… and I just thought he was overdoing it, especially when Chuck hit you with: ‘With hurry-home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye’ – that’s finer than any Shakespeare.

“Chuck was edgy and innovative with his guitar-playing. Years later he would be hopelessly out of tune, but it didn’t matter, he was Chuck with that impish smile on his face. He certainly did his bit for breaking down barriers and lived a life. I don’t blame him for having a chip on his shoulder, especially with cash –I can relate to the whole thing about getting paid up front… don’t trust anybody!”

BERRY PICK: “Because I have brown eyes, as a youngster my favourite song was Brown Eyed Handsome Man [laughs]. Memphis, Tennessee is a great one, too. I remember trying to learn it with Gary Holton, and we couldn’t work out where the third chord came in… an hour later we realised there isn’t a third chord!”

Wilko Johnson – Dr. Feelgood

“I started out in the mid-60s learning the same songs that all the other bands were doing and Chuck Berry was obviously among those numbers, particularly Johnny B Goode. I kind of learned to play that without knowing much about Chuck himself. When I saw he was appearing live at the Odeon Southend on a package tour, I bought a ticket, and it was that night I found out about the duck walk. As soon as he started to play, and did the duck walk across the stage, I jumped up out of my seat and ran down the aisle to the front. I remember he turned around and our eyes met. At school the next morning, I told everyone: ‘He looked at me, he saw me!’

“The next time I came in close quarters with him was in 1972 at the Wembley London Rock & Roll Show. We’d played terrible that day and, as I ran off stage, I saw this electric blue Rolls Royce with Chuck in the back seat. Chuck was famous for being an irascible fella, but I went over to the car, and asked him to sign my guitar… he was in a very good mood, and he signed his name on the neck.

“He is rock’n’roll and what a contribution he made to human culture. I think it was right that they sent the Chuck Berry song out into space, the Martians should definitely know about that… I reckon they would change from green to electric blue when they hear Chuck!”

BERRY PICK: “Memphis, Tennessee. I remember hearing it on the radio for the first time and it had such a beautiful rhythm and melody, it absolutely intrigued me. You think it’s a love song before the payoff comes at the end when you realise, he’s thinking about his little daughter. So poignant.”

Charlie Gracie

“It was probably towards the end of 1955, or early ’56, when I first heard Chuck Berry and the song was Maybellene. I was a budding young musician myself at the time, playing nightclubs and making records out in New York and Philadelphia.

“We always kept an ear on the Black radio stations, which played the likes of Chuck, Big Joe Turner, Bill Doggett and LaVern Baker. We, of the younger set, revelled in that music. For me, Chuck was the great poet of rock’n’roll. He put into words the feelings and sentiments of that new teenage generation.

“I only met Chuck once, at a grand show hosted by the popular Mid-Western disc jockey Howard Miller, in June 1957. It took place at the Chicago Opera House and about 5,000 young fans attended the show which took in $16,000, a lot of money at that time, especially when tickets only sold for $2.50, $3.50 and $4.50. Eddie Cochran, a very young Brenda Lee, Tommy Sands, The Everlys, and movie actor Tab Hunter were also on the bill. I was 21, Eddie maybe 17, and we were all younger than Chuck, so we stood in awe of him. But he was very cordial. Backstage we switched and swapped guitars, plucked strings, and discussed our axes. These were very special moments and none of us really knew how long our fame, or rock’n’roll itself, would last.

“Chuck was such a great showman, but what amazed me was how he always seemed to play with his guitar ever so slightly out of tune. It really gave his music a unique and raw sound. No one sounded like him!”

BERRY PICK: “For me, it’s School Days or Johnny B Goode. They are emblematic of what rock’n’roll is all about and epitomise the man himself… the excitement he created on stage. I’ve often included these tunes in my own shows as encores and they never fail!”

Shakin’ Stevens

“I was very little when Chuck Berry came on the scene, but my older brother Leslie had a Dansette record player, and he’d send us to the shops to get the latest records. So I first heard Chuck with my brother. As a performer, he was terrific and had the full package with the guitar and the moves.

“I would’ve loved to have seen him in his prime. I did get to see him perform live later in his career and he was still incredibly charismatic. You never knew what he was going to do next. When I was with The Sunsets we appeared on the same bill as Chuck, alongside The Pretty Things I believe. We were sitting in our dressing room and who should walk in the door… We all looked up and said in unison: ‘That’s Chuck Berry!’ We couldn’t believe it! Well, I’m sure he was looking for the promoter to get paid, or the loo, but that was real excitement for us – to have that moment and share a brief chat with the great man.

“There was nothing else quite like Chuck really, he was the full package and will always be around. His talent was second to none, and he certainly left his mark… we’ll never forget Chuck Berry. I’m sure that there’s other songs he left that we still haven’t heard yet. He and his music will live on and on.”

BERRY PICK: “When I left school and started to play in a band and met other groups, everyone had a Chuck song or two in their set. From early on, we always played Sweet Little Rock And Roller and Little Queenie, so I’d go for those.”

Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats)

“Growing up, listening to the oldies radio station in New York, you would hear the classics and Chuck Berry was always on your radar. You always knew that he was the beginning of everything. I’m sure he was influenced by T-Bone Walker, but Chuck invented a lot of the moves and I think everyone tries to borrow it, but Chuck wrote the book on performing. One of the first times I saw him was on a US talk show, maybe The Mike Douglas Show, and John Lennon was a guest host. Him, being Lennon, could do whatever he wanted so he brought Chuck onto the show, and they performed together. I caught him live a few times, but never met him. He just turned up, played, and didn’t talk to anyone. I think everyone was afraid of him.

“While a lot of great guitar players have followed, I think the least successfully imitated element of his work is his rhythm and the sing-ability of the words… the storytelling and phrasing. Every song is a complete vignette and has never been duplicated or improved upon. When something becomes an adjective to describe a whole way of playing, that’s when it has really made it into pop culture. In a jam session you can just say ‘Chuck Berry’ and everybody knows what to do.”

BERRY PICK: “There’s a few that I always go to, one of them being Thirty Days, that one has always stuck with me. The Stray Cats were playing Chuck songs in the garage in 1979 and when we want to do one it tends to be Beautiful Delilah.”

John Steel – The Animals

“I met Eric Burdon in 1956 and it was the same year that the movie Rock Around The Clock was released. It was swiftly followed by a whole slew of films cashing in on the rock’n’roll phenomenon. We saw them all and it must have been one of those that first introduced us to Chuck Berry. Early in 1957 we formed our first trad jazz band, but Eric quickly decided it was a dead end and we switched to rock’n’roll. Chuck was a huge influence on that change of direction. His music was great to jive to and that was the only dance I was ever any good at.

“I was privileged to be able to watch Chuck perform twice a night for three weeks, when The Animals played support on his first UK tour in 1964. He had excellent backing from Kingsize Taylor & The Dominos and Chuck was on top form. I saw him several times over the years, but I’m glad that I’d caught him at his best on that first tour. I could be wrong, but I don’t think he used narcotics, alcohol or tobacco. In the three weeks on the 1964 tour bus and backstage I never saw him touch any of those. I think his drug of choice was money… preferably cash up front!”

BERRY PICK: “There are so many, but Johnny B Goode has all his classic ingredients: a lovely guitar intro and solo, great stuff from Johnnie Johnson on piano, solid drums and bass and, of course, great lyrics… As many people have said, he was rock’n’roll’s poet laureate. Thank goodness he didn’t write My Ding-A-Ling!”

Dave Davies – The Kinks

“The first time I heard Chuck was at a friend’s house in Muswell Hill. His name was Johnny Burnett – not related to the Johnny Burnette [laughs] – and he was Canadian. His mother would import all the latest American records and he had a great collection. I went round to his house one day and he was excited because his auntie had sent him a record of Sweet Little Sixteen – we were in raptures while we listened to it.

“Chuck was the all-round rocker: a great guitar player, great singer, great lyricist and his songs reflected a wicked sense of humour… he was a poet with a unique way with words like no other. Totally different to his contemporaries.

“I was a big fan of Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and Little Richard, but Chuck Berry had an individual style of playing that wasn’t country or blues but had something in between that everybody loves. He was so charismatic and a really big influence on us growing up in the 60s. He really had it all.”

BERRY PICK: “Too difficult, but Sweet Little Sixteen has always had a special place for me, because it was the first time I heard Chuck.”

Don McLean

“I remember watching Chuck on TV and he had those enormous fingers that could span six frets. He could play a chord in a weird-ass way that I never understood. His influence on me came via Buddy Holly, who was my guy – Buddy covered Brown Eyed Handsome Man and was directly influenced by Chuck. Everybody was influenced by Chuck. In the early 60s you had The Beach Boys who came on the scene with Surfin’ USA, which used Sweet Little Sixteen, and, of course, at the same time you had The Rolling Stones who stole everything. No wonder Chuck wanted to smack Keith Richards during Hail! Hail! Rock’n’Roll! There was a lot of anger… and rightfully so with those guys [laughs].

“I saw Chuck at Carnegie Hall with Jerry Lee Lewis in the 70s. Jerry chose to close the show… BIG mistake. Chuck started off his set with Johnny B Goode and the audience immediately jumped to their feet, and they were swaying, sweating and screaming – it just didn’t stop for more than an hour. Poor Jerry Lee had to come out and follow him. All he had was two hits and a lot of ego. He was a lightweight compared to Chuck. One time I was on a show with Bob Seger, we were both these two unknowns, and Chuck was headlining. There was some 5,000 people there and the son of a bitch didn’t show up and the gig was cancelled. If he didn’t feel like it, he wouldn’t play [laughs]. He was brilliant and, of course, crazy and dangerous – he created the rock’n’roll template!”

BERRY PICK: “Memphis, Tennessee. Like all his songs it tells a complete little story. I adore him and his music. He was the soul of rock’n’roll.”

Graham Fenton

“I didn’t even know what Chuck Berry looked like when I first heard Roll Over Beethoven, but it was exciting. His lyrics described what you thought 50s America was like. You put any of his records on, close your eyes, and you’re transported there.

“I was with a band called The Houseshakers at the beginning of the 70s and we’d backed one of my heroes, Gene Vincent. After he sadly died, we were asked to play Gene’s part at the Wembley London Rock & Roll Show in 1972. All the greats were there: Jerry Lee, Little Richard, Bill Haley, and we were asked to back Bo Diddley in the afternoon and close the evening with Chuck Berry. His rehearsal with us lasted about five minutes and he was like, ‘Well everybody knows my songs.’ So, we just ran through the list and winged it. He had a sold-out Wembley Stadium in the palm of his hand.

“Years later at a festival in Holland, when I was with Matchbox, I played with him again when the scheduled backing band, The Flying Saucers, didn’t show up. At the end of the set Chuck got in his waiting limo, as the promoters begged him to go back out for an encore, he wound down the window and said: ‘pro rata’… so they found the dollars required to get him back on.”

BERRY PICK: “Rock & Roll Music, it literally tells the story of rock’n’roll. Chuck wrote his own songs and made a note of how the kids were reacting in those early days. There’s a reason everybody calls him the poet laureate of rock’n’roll.”

RICHARD THOMPSON

“We didn’t really hear rock’n’roll in the 50s here in the UK, but my sister had an EP with Roll Over Beethoven on it, and that’s the first track I remember hearing, probably in 1962. Like a lot of groups in London, my school band played covers of Chuck, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. The music was so exciting and I’m sure we had no clue about the culture behind it but it was fun to play our pale, suburban imitation of it. Chuck was an amazing performer – to the point where he would sacrifice guitar skill to get some dance moves across to the audience. I saw him many times, starting in 1964 I believe, where he was all-round brilliant. Every show after that saw a steady decline.

“He wrote his own material, which was not unique, but unusual at the time, and he founded a school of rock lyrics that matched the machine gun metre of the music. His lyrics are funny and clever. His guitar playing, probably influenced by people like T-Bone Walker, created a whole vocabulary that fit into the new style of rock’n’roll. He also brought in country, Latin, and other strains of music. He was the complete package: a very influential guitarist, a groundbreaking and unsurpassed rock lyricist, so many of us are deeply influenced by both.”

BERRY PICK: “For lyrics, maybe Brown Eyed Handsome Man, because they’re clever and funny. For groove – and the groove is profound on some Chuck tracks – Promised Land.”

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