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Pete Clark's rating
, Chuck Berry is still reelin' & rockin'
By
Pete Clark
18 Nov 2008
You have to hand it to this old goat – he still considers the world to be a farmyard. At the age of 82, Chuck Berry prowls around the stage, eyeing up the ladies. You might have thought that he would have been put out to pasture by now but not a bit of it. This man was one of the prime movers in rock ‘n’ roll — formative guitar patterns and sharp lyrics — and he still wants a share of the action.
His band take the stage. Presumably Chuck is out the back haggling over money. Then he appears in a red sequinned shirt and jaunty sailor’s cap and starts to play guitar in a way that no one else can: it’s all in the tone and rhythm. Roll Over Beethoven is treated with some respect, as is Johnny B. Goode. Mostly Chuck toys with his back catalogue, offering snatches of songs then abandoning them.
Much to my dismay, he plays My Ding-A-Ling. This song distressed me when it first appeared, although it provided him with his only No 1 hit.
Chuck evidently still finds it funny and so do most of the audience. My Ding-A-Ling, for the record, is the worst song ever recorded, a soft-porn version of Two Little Boys, the second worst.
Yet something of the old rocker survives. Rock Me Baby (not one of his) does the business, as do bursts of Maybellene and Memphis. By the closing Reelin’ & Rockin’, there are six ladies on stage shaking their booty. Chuck is by this time in heaven and would surely have tried a duckwalk if that were not evidently quackers.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (4)
I saw him last Wednesday in Amsterdam where he did a double concert with another hero: Jerry Lee Lewis. Both gentlemen stil rock like a mother. I was so impressed!
And he did the duckwalk! Twice!
- Jerry, Rotterdam, Holland, 21/11/2008 10:42
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There was duckwalking at tonight's show (Tue 18th), so not so quackers after all.
No Ding-A-Ling, though. Drat.
- Charles Thomson, London, England, 19/11/2008 00:42
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Clark's review is only blighted by his 3 out of 5 rating. Chuck Berry held the respect of the crowd with the enthusiasm that shines so very brightly. I have never felt proud to see anyone play live - last night I did.
- Mark Capstick, London, 18/11/2008 13:55
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I was at the gig last night and it was great! If you go and see Chuck you know any regular rules of giving the audience what they want go out the window; Chuck plays what he wants and not what anyone else wants. That said, it was great fun and the totally packed Jazz Cafe loved it. His playing is still great even if a tad off-key, and the guitar sound he gets is briliiant, very very earthy and the real essence of what Rock n'Roll originally meant...
Chuck is such an infectiously funny guy that the only thing you can do is to go along with it. My Ding A Ling and all.
The entrance fee was justified by one track alone and that was Reelin n' Rockin; this is what rock n' roll is all about and you got some idea of what it must have been like back in the '50's in a packed sweaty club like the Jazz Cafe was last night.
Lets face it, there's no other man who defined rock guitar the way Chuck did, and to see him in the flesh was a rare treat.
Long Live Rock!!
- Terry, London, 18/11/2008 13:31
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