Whenever I’m attending a concert, even more so now at the spry age of 39, whether it be a backyard party with some talented kids or an arena packed with 20,000, without fail, a hard-to-describe feeling pushes down through my bones like a cheap french press that’s an equal mix of awe and jealously. That feeling of leaving a *great* show is hard to articulate but I guess it’s comparable to that feeling in college walking out to your roommates after just scoring a hottie:
There’s a history of what influenced musicians and all the unnoticed hard work that went into perfecting their craft. This site is a homage to capture that, and in the case of rock n roll, it all (mostly) starts with Chuck Berry.
For the music nuts, most don’t know but there is a world of great music history at your fingertips on Netflix. Generally, Netflix binging is for Law & Order SVU, Peaky Blinders, Breaking Bad; however, the gem is actually the “Documentaries” section. I’m talking detailed birth to present stories on Tom Petty, Keith Richards, the Eagles, Bob Weir, and Muscle Shoals to name a few.
Sure, everyone likes to think Elvis and the Beatles are at the top of the family tree of music, but if you ask them who are their influences, they all mention Chuck Berry…including Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Bob Weir, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, CCR, and Buddy Holly. Just wow.
If it wasn’t for black music and Chuck Berry, both Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones have said they would not exist. Think about where music would be today? I’m guessing 3 million Weird Al Yankovic’s playing original music.
So, with the death of so many colossal musicians the last 10 months: Prince, Glenn Frey, Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie…how can we not hug and tribute the daddy of them all while he’s still around?
The Wall Street Journal covered Chuck Berry’s last gig in 2014. The YouTube videos sounded a bit off key, but does it really matter? Women are still throwing bras at him and his strew of hits still play through. In honor of Chuck, here are few of his best videos:
And whoever says 90+ year old people still don’t have it…please forward them this:
