Famous rock n’ roll performers such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan could have not existed without the influence of the Father of Rock n’ Roll, Chuck Berry. Just as Brian Wilson said, Chuck Berry wrote "all of the great songs and came up with all the rock & roll beats" (Berry). When Berry debuted with “Maybellene,” the grown-ups did not understand his revolutionary sounds (Lynch). However, his songs cannot be disregarded as teenage music since it holds same depth and resonance even after 50, 60 years later (Sreenivasan). Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926 to a large family in St. Louis, Missouri. When he was a teenager, he was convicted for an armed robbery and was sent to a reform school from 1944 to 1947 (Rosenblatt). As a child, he developed a love for poetry and hard blues. Due to his interest, he was able to win his high school talent competition with a guitar and voice rendition of Jay McShann's "Confessin' the Blues." Through the local barber’s guidance, Berry was able to upgrade to a four-string tenor guitar up to an official …show more content…
He took an instrument that was primarily used in the background to be the star in his music (Rosenblatt). Because of his influence in making guitars more prominent in music, the instrument’s use of getting the area ready for rocking was termed as "Chuck Berry guitar intro" (Berry). The Rolling Stone guitarist has even admitted that every guitar lick used is from Chuck Berry. Another thing Berry is appreciated for is his showman skills. He is well known for improvising on stage (Sreenivasan). Although Chuck Berry performing splits in his performance or doing the duck walk may not seem outrageous in the current times, it was a huge deal in those times filled with racial tensions. It took audacity and attitude to be able to perform like these in a time where it was even difficult for an African American man to walk down the
Some rock ‘n’ roll artists are Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. Song examples are “Johnny B. Goode” and “La
“Walkin”, was a swaggering blues piece informed by the extended harmonies of bebop was a shift from cool jazz and announced the arrival of hard bop (Sales, 1992:171). Hard bop was the evolvement and development from bop during the 1950s and 1960s, often regarded as a reaction to the restraint and intellectualism of cool jazz (Kingman, 1990:389).
Starting in 1958 and on to 2017, Chuck Berry has been playing music for almost 60 years now. And deserves the right to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.He deserves it for his influential performance style and helping make Rock and Roll part of the music of the future.Others may disagree due to an arrest in his past. All will be explained throughout.
Upon being referred to Chess Records by Waters, Berry, with the guidance of Leonard Chess, recorded his first hit single, Maybelline, which would reach No. 5 on the Billboard Pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B charts. Besides the infectious beat and chugging rhythm, the narrative lyrics encapsulated the trends of raucous adolescents – hot rods, big drums, and the naivety of young
Dave Marsh, a famed rock journalist and interviewer, said that, “Chuck Berry is to rock and roll what Louis Armstrong is to jazz.” Chuck Berry, also known as the “Father of Rock and Roll”, was the developer of what is considered rhythm and blues during the 1950’s. Berry was also a symbolic character during this period in time because he not only broke musical barriers, but racial barriers as well. Berry mashed rock and roll and soul music styles but also brought together the youth; black and whites alike.
This American guitarist, singer, and songwriter is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music and his songs are electrifying and his videos great to view. Chuck Berry whose full name is Charles Edward Anderson came out with such great hits in the 50s as “Maybellene”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Rock and Roll Music”, and “Johnny B. Goode”. He performed in such a way which left a lasting impression and greatly influenced rock music.
Motown is an American record company, as well as its own musical genre that was started in 1959. The civil rights act was going on the same time. It was act of nonviolent protest dialogues between activists and government authorities. The civil right act ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination of race, color, religion, sex, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. Motown was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr, a former prizefight promoter and song writer. Motown musical offerings betrayed several different stylistic influences, gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, doo wop (earlier) and white pop music. Artist such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Dianna Ross,
Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of
I truly believe after working on this paper that Chuck Berry was one of the most popular and influential performers of all time in the genres of rhythm-and-blues as well as rock 'n ' roll. All this had taken place during the 1950s on through the 1970s. He 's
Blues, along with the artists that produced it, was noteworthy in the motivation of the Beatles. The Beatles had a great deal of respect for Chuck Berry and what he did for music. The Beatles credited Berry for being an important piece for creating rock and roll. Chuck Berry also prejudiced the Beatles with the lyrical content within his songs. It is easy to see that blues had an impact on rock and roll because a rock and roll band considered one of the best that ever lived, integrated it into their
Miles Davis is an American trumpeter that had a large influence on jazz music. Jazz is an American style of music starting in New Orleans during the 20th century that is characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm. We asked Davis what it was like growing up in the time where inequality was still effecting society, “It was very hard time to live in. A lot of colored people felt like they didn’t belong anywhere. That is why Jazz music emerged.
Rock ‘n’ roll music has widely influenced music and society and continues to do so today. Rock ‘n’ roll emerged in the 1950’s a time where whites and blacks were heavily segregated. Rock and roll music not only changed the nation’s current musical norms, but indicated the joy of the emerging youth culture of the generation. It influenced artists whether black or white to come into the mainstream music. Famous artists still remembered today also influenced rock and roll. Those pioneers helped change the musical norms and the overall history of music. White rock ‘n’ rollers helped build a ladder for black artists to come into the scene. It was certain that rock ‘n’ roll made it possible for greater acceptance, appreciation and a wider
Throughout the 1930’s until the 1950’s, Reinhardt was foremost among many Romani guitarists in Paris who played in various Musette ensembles, most famously ‘The Quintette du Hot Club de France'.5 Reinhardt was renowned for blending a dark, chromatic Gypsy sound with the swinging articulation of the Musette style waltz with this approach forming the basis of Reinhardt’s “Gypsy Jazz.” Reinhardt’s approach to rhythm defined this new sub-genre with a unique strumming technique adopted which later became known as ‘la pompe’. Reminiscent of the boom-chick percussive rhythm in bluegrass styles, this technique involves a rapid up-down strum followed by a down strum occurring on the second and fourth beat.6 The Quintette’s first song ‘Dinah’ exemplifies the use of ‘la pompe’ with its fierce percussive beat defining the rhythm of the piece in place of traditional percussive instruments. Another feature of ‘Gypsy Jazz’ is the chord shapes which Django was forced to use due to the injury to his 3rd and 4th fingers. Barre chords were seldom used and were instead replaced by two or three finger chords with multiple strings often muted by the left hand.7 Subsequently, standard major and minor chords were rarely played and substituted by major 6th and 7th chords, giving the music a minor feel even when played in a major key.8
One of the most influential groups of the 20th Century—the Beatles revolutionized rock and roll into what we know it as today. Not only were they great musicians, they wrote and composed each of their songs. The band proved to be popular and exciting causing mass hysteria at each of their public performances. The “Fab Four’s” talent was so great that the phenomenon was termed “Beatlemania” in Britain and eventually erupted in the United States being called the British Invasion of the Beatles (Britannica Online, 2005).
Many artists created a new form of music through the influence of the black artists. The first signs of this influence appeared in the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. It carried on to artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and various other musicians.4 A new form of music emerged, rock and roll. This new style of music was fueled by emotion. One of the first stages in the development of rock and roll was sacrificing musical complexity for the sake of capturing an audience. The jazz and blues songs that were popular before rock and roll emerged, consisted of several chords and elaborate rhythms, while rock and roll songs are comprised of only three or four chords and very simple rhythms.5 More direct expressions of emotions were used, and lyrics of personal and political significance were brought into the mix. The relationship between artists and their audiences changed. Fans related to the musicians’ opinions rather than simply the style of the music. As a result of the bold lyrics, a general respect for musicians