Chuck Berry
          "...if you were to give Rock-and-Roll another name
          you might call it Chuck Berry."      - John Lennon

              Chuck Berry circa 1973
               
               
        While at Mercury Records, Roy produced one LP on Chuck Berry.
        I don't have the titles  yet for the specific LP,  but research has
        turned up this information on Chuck Berry titles/releases during
        the time Roy was at Mercury.  1969-1975 .
       
       
        A very brief synopsis of a very long and sucessful career....
        Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926 at
        2520 Goode Avenue (now Annie Malone Drive) in St. Louis, MO. His
        mother, Martha, was qualified as a schoolteacher; his father, Henry,
        was a contractor and deacon of the nearby Antioch Baptist Church.
        The third of six children, he grew up in The Ville, an area just north of
        downtown St. Louis which was one of the few areas in the city where
        Blacks could own property.
        After growing up and delving into his love for music, on New Years' Eve, 1952, he was asked to join the Sir John's Trio.
        Adding showmanship and hillbilly music to the combo's savvy selection
        of blues and r & b, Chuck soon took over the band, vying with Ike Turner
        and Albert King for popularity in the St. Louis area.

               Eventually, Chuck visited Chicago where, on the advice of Muddy
               Waters, he sought out Leonard Chess, owner of Chess Records.
               Chess, along with house producer Willie Dixon, was immediately
               impressed by an upbeat country tune Berry had written called "Ida
               Red"; they asked Berry, Hardy and Johnson to return. On May 21,
               1955, the song, now renamed "Maybellene," was recorded with Willie
               Dixon on bass; immediately, Chess gave a copy of the record to the
               influential disc jockey Alan Freed, who aired the single for two hours
               on WINS in New York. The song went on to sell over a million copies,
               reaching 1 on Billboard's R & B chart and 5 on the Hot 100.

        During this time, the touring continued unabated.  During a
               tremendously successful package tour promoted by Irving Feld in late
               1957 (visiting 75 cities in 75 days), Berry befriended newcomer
               Buddy Holly; their friendship continued during 1958's "Big Beat" tour.
               Promoted by Alan Freed, the tour was marred by controversy. Joining
               Berry and Holly on the tour was another newcomer, Jerry Lee Lewis.
               By the time of the tour, Lewis was hot property, having followed up
               "Whole Lot Of Shakin'" in March of 1957 with "Great Balls of Fire" in
               November and "Breathless" in February 1958. Lewis, who at the time
               was 22 and some 11 years Berry's junior, came to New York
               expecting to be the final act each night on the tour, but with his third
               consecutive top ten single, "Johnny B. Goode," in the charts, and a
               long-time association with Freed in his favor, it was Berry who was
               asked to close the show. This began a fierce rivalry between the two
               which lasted throughout the tour. However, the tour would be
               remembered mostly for what happened on May 3 when, with only a
               handful of dates remaining, they played Boston. While Berry was on
               stage, fights broke out in the audience, forcing the police to turn on the
               houselights, leading Freed to make comments about the Boston
               police which later got him arrested for inciting a riot. It was this incident
               that provided the inspiration for the climax of the 1978 movie
               American Hot Wax in which both Berry and Lewis starred.
       
        On December 1, 1959, Berry was held on
               charges of violating the Mann Act transporting a minor across state
               lines for immoral purposes. A first trial, in which Berry was found guilty,
               was overturned after the judge was found to have uttered racist
               remarks; a second trial in October 1961 arrived at the same verdict,
               however, and Berry was sentenced to 3 years in jail and a $10, 000
               fine forcing a decline in his career.
       
        But Berry's greatest success was yet to come. In a supreme twist of
               irony, one of the greatest songwriters of the rock and roll era achieved
               his only number 1 hit with a sophomoric schoolyard ditty entitled "My
               Ding-A-Ling." Originally recorded under the title "My Tamborine" on
               the 1968 Mercury album From St. Louis to Frisco, it became Berry's
               best-selling single ever in July of 1972.

               His contribution to rock and roll is enormous and still being felt, as his
               1986 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 1987 release of
               his autobiography and accompanying movie Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll
               have proved. Perhaps John Lennon said it best -- "If you tried to give
               rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

      Chuck Berry - 1995

      SINGLES
      MERCURY 72963
      Good Looking Woman/It's Too Dark In There

      MERCURY 61138 Live At The Filmore
      Rocking At The Filmore/Every Day I Have The Blues/C.C. Rider/Driftin' Blues/
      Feelin' It/Flying Home/Hoochie Coochie Man/Filmore Blues/It Hurts Me Too/
      Wee Baby Blues/Johnny B. Goode/(Featuring the Steve Miller Band)
      Available on CD: 836 072-2

      ALBUMS
      MERCURY 61233 Concerto In B. Goode
      Good Looking Woman/My Woman/It's Too Dark In There/Put Her Down/
      Concerto In B. Goode
      Available on CD: 836 074-2

      1972 Releases
      MERCURY SRM 2-LP 6051 St. Louis To Frisco to Memphis
      Double album set containing entire recording of MERCURY 61138
      Live At The Filmore, plus St. Louie to Frisco/Ma Dear, Ma Dear/Soul Rockin'/Check Me Out/Little Fox/ Back To Memphis/My Tambourine/
      Misery/It's Too Dark In There/I Do Really Love  You
      I Can't Believe/My Heart Will Always Belong To You/So Long
       


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