Chuck Was born in St. Louis Missouri on October 18, 1926. At the time, St. Louis was still very segregated. Both his father and mother were grandchildren of slaves and they had moved to St. Louis in search of a job during WWI. He lived in a middle-class black community and attended a private all black high school but he ended up dropping out at 17.
Chuck was a true showman. He was Full of life and always put on a show. He invented his signature duck walk. He blew up in the 50's and 60's. He had many hits: Johhny B. Goode, Run Run Rudolph, Roll over Beethoven, Maybellene, Rock and Roll Music, and many, many more. He had the Rock and roll attitude and inspired many artists such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Beach Boys. John Lennon once Said that if rock and roll was called something else it would be called Chuck Berry. He continued playing up to the 2010's
He was the father of rock and roll and arguably deserved the title of king or rock more than Elvis did. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. He was Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in 2000. "Johnny B. Goode is even aboard the Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft as part of the Golden Record, one of the things that were placed aboard the spacecraft in hopes that extraterrestrial life forms will find them. With his music, he shaped generations of Americans and although he himself is dead, his music, influence, and legacy will live on.
This is very interesting! Post well done. I really find interesting how he made it real big even with all those things he went through especially with a rough past and the harsh segregation system he had to endure. It interesting he influence all these famous musicians later on and not be known as well like other artists. Because i never heard of him but I heard of all the other bands he influenced. How did he get to writing and preforming music ? Did his music symbolize anything like have any meaning towards segregation, trying to help with civil rights?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I had no idea who Chuck Berry was prior to looking him up, but I recognize many of his songs (which is an interesting trend with many American artists, such as Scott Joplin, and others). I decided to look more into the Mann Act, which was aimed as a progressive moral reform of the progressive era. Apparently, it was ambiguous enough that it was used at times to criminalize sexual intercourse between consenting adults. Despite this, the primary use of the act was to prosecute men for engaging in intercourse with underage girls, and is still in effect today, after being revised in 1978 and 1986 to apply to prostitution.
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