gavran wrote:br7knicks wrote:Rest in Peace. as a guitarist, he is a guy i've learned a lot from. one of the absolute best. should be on the mount rushmore of guitarists.
You play as well?
You play too?
Tell me about your rigs. I got me a '52 Reissue Tele, a Gretsch 6120 and a Heritage semi-hollow; and a Ric 12-string along with a Vox AC15.
Getting back to Chuck, one of the most - if not THE most - influential guitarist in the history of rock and roll. Chuck's business dealings in the world of RnR were a little bit, um, different. He book his gigs for whenever/wherever but would insist on getting paid in cash UP FRONT and that the club would provide the back up that "knew" all of his music. The problem was that a lot of times, the story goes, that pull shyt on stage to see if he could screw up the band. If they did screw up, Chuck would stiff them on their take. But Chuck Berry was "Chuck Berry!" so the back-up bands would still take his gigs because they could say that they played with Chuck.
Chuck also had some bizarre fetishes that he got nailed for when a bunch of videotapes he had put out for trash got taken when the feds were investigating him for tax evasion. Oopsy. lol.
The thing about Chuck was not just his talent for playing the guitar (he was greatly influenced by T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian) but his gift for lyrics. Those lyrics had a bounce and rhythm to them that has been mimicked a lot by other artists since. AND he was a great showman on stage.
Here's a clip of a young Chuck at the Newport Jazz Festival (1958) playing Sweet Little Sixteen (hmmm? ... lol). There will never be another Chuck.
Oh, and then there was the classic argument between Chuck and Keith Richards (who was once punched in the face by Chuck, lol) during rehearsal for Chuck's 60th birthday concert in his hometown of St. Louis, MO. Keith was soooooo pissed at him.
https://vimeo.com/18623223