Ask someone who was the first person inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. See if they don't tell you it was Elvis Presley. Not a bad guess, but it's not correct. But then you knew it was Chuck Berry, right?
Chuck Berry was an American original who had his pulse squarely on the postwar teen culture developing in the mid-1950s. His ability to write lyrics that those kids could relate to combined with his blues guitar background and guitar creativity was just the ticket. Berry became an overnight sensation, whose music would remain internationally popular for decades. In fact, it may well be popular in interstellar cultures because it was sent into outer space on the Voyager mission to Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond. As an artifact of the diverse cultures on planet Earth, a gold copy of "Johnny B Goode" was included in the items blasted into space.
But Berry's life in music was filled with interactions and experiences with some of the music industry's most greedy promoters. Because he was often underpaid and not allowed royalties for some of his most well-known sings, Berry was super cautious. That's why he developed the reputation for being hard to work with and often untrustworthy. Throughout his career and hundreds of gigs, he demanded to be paid in cash, delivered in a paper bag. Sometimes he demanded half the fee before the performance, and the remaining half afterward.
Chuck Berry also drove his Cadillac to all gigs and demanded to park close up so he could make a quick getaway.
In the mid-1970s, I saw Chuck Berry perform at a most unlikely setting. It was in front of the grandstand at Golden Gate Fields racetrack. Since all of the thoroughbred horse racing in the state was at the county fairs in the summer, this August night featured the Berry concert after a modest program of harness races under the lights. It was fairly well attended, but not what you'd expect for a rock and roll legend.
Chuck Berry did a medley of his familiar hits, backed up by a local group of musicians as was his style. He always used a local group of young musicians because they came cheap and everybody knew his music. If they didn't, they were dismissed on the spot. By the end of the 60 min. performance Berry went into a version of "Rockin" and a Reelin" that would never have passed the censors back then. But he went on, verse after verse filled with double entendre, much to the delight of the crowd who were well filled with beer on this warm evening by the Bay.
I had attended with a colleague and his three kids and as we descended the stairway from the clubhouse level to the ground floor, we noticed a small crowd gathered around a car parked under the grandstand. I walked up to the edge of the crowd and there was Chuck opening the trunk of his Cadillac. He was putting his guitar in the trunk and getting ready to split. I never saw any paper bag, but I assure you it was there somewhere.
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