Johnny B. Goode turns 75

A hometown crowd and some political heavyweights shower Chuck Berry with affection as he shows them what made him a giant of popular music.

By King Kaufman

Oct. 19, 2001 | ST. LOUIS -- Five songs into his 75th-birthday show at the gleaming Pageant nightclub Thursday night, five songs after being introduced by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, who awkwardly hugged him as he played the famous opening riff of "Roll Over Beethoven," Chuck Berry had a question for the 1,500 people who had come to cheer his every move and shower him with hometown affection.

"Have we played any blues?" he said.

"No!" answered the crowd.

"Well, are you having a good time?"

"Yeah!" came the answer.

"Then we won't play no blues. We'll play rock 'n' roll."

And with that he launched into another of his signature tunes, the one with that very title, "Rock and Roll Music."

Gephardt and others throughout the evening -- Missouri Gov. Bob Holden, and the mayors of St. Louis and adjacent University City, where Berry plays a monthly show, and the chief executive of St. Louis County all presented Berry with proclamations -- mentioned that Berry invented rock 'n' roll. It isn't really true, but it's a fair enough conceit on a happy occasion. And while you could make a very good argument that rock 'n' roll existed for a solid decade before Berry became popular in the mid-'50s, it's impossible to imagine rock 'n' roll without him. As both a guitar player and a songwriter he influenced nearly everyone who came after, and if he's not known as a great singer, it's only because his precise but playful phrasing has been overshadowed by his other enormous skills.

At 75 he still can bring those skills to the party, though he doles them out carefully. He still plays a mean guitar, though he often let his son, also a guitar-playing Chuck Berry, have the spotlight. It wasn't until another two songs had gone by that he first broke into his trademark duck walk, something he would do exactly four times during the evening. He says it's not hard for him to do it even at his age, though it tires him out more than it used to. Still, it's more of a hopping step than the squatting walk displayed in film clips from his younger days. And while that unique, enunciating singing style is still there, he seemed to have trouble remembering lyrics, and often found himself a little behind the song, improvising a bit to catch up.

But nobody minded, nor should they. "To be beside a living legend," Gov. Holden said, "you're walking among one of the giants of music, of rock 'n' roll. He's from Missouri, from St. Louis. He makes us all proud."

And Thursday night the hometown crowd ate him up. This is not a city long on living legends who don't play baseball, and even though this legend plays every month right down the street at a smaller club called Blueberry Hill, an eager crowd turned out to celebrate. They lined up early and filled the place an hour before the music started, three hours before Berry hit the stage. The demographics skewed older and the conversations tended toward mortgage rates and pro football, not fast cars and teenage dances, but they cheered every musician's every move, and by the time Little Richard began his act, the dance floor, where younger folks congregated, was jumping.

Berry, in a sequined red shirt and black slacks, made his first appearance after blues guitarist Duke Robillard opened the show. The politicians spoke briefly, and then the crowd roared when Berry walked out. He yelled, "Thank you!" and pumped his arms in the air. The crowd kept roaring. Berry has a reputation for being difficult and diffident, stubborn and moody. These qualities were on display in an excellent documentary about his 60th birthday shows, "Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll." They were nowhere to be seen Thursday. Onstage and off he was gracious, friendly, funny. Asked if he'd mellowed in his senior years, he said, "I'd say yeah right away. I don't know what you mean even, but I'll say yeah," and laughed.

Now, with the crowd roaring, he appeared near tears. "I love you!" he shouted, then retreated backstage.

Next page: Little Richard takes the stage