| Of
all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is
more important to the development of the music than Chuck
Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its
instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists and one
of its greatest performers. Quite simply, without him, there
would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan,
nor a myriad others. There would be no standard "Chuck
Berry guitar intro," the instrument's clarion call to
get the joint rockin' in any setting. The clippety clop rhythms
of rockabilly would not have been mainstreamed into the now
standard 4/4 rock & roll beat. There would be no obsessive
wordplay by modern-day tunesmiths; in fact, the whole history
(and artistic level) of rock & roll songwriting would
have been much poorer without him. Like Brian Wilson said,
he wrote "all of the great songs and came up with all
the rock'n'roll beats." Those who do not claim him as
a seminal influence or profess a liking for his music and
showmanship show their ignorance of rock's development as
well as his place as the music's first great creator. Elvis
may have fueled rock & roll's imagery, but Chuck Berry
was its heartbeat and original mindset. |
