聽at the Pageant was where was the Rolling Stones鈥 Keith Richards (the Rolling Stones sent a floral bouquet in the shape of a guitar).
He didn鈥檛 show, but Richards has penned a letter posted to his Facebook expressing how he felt about the late legend, including the time Berry gave him a black eye for touching his guitar.
He began with 鈥淭o put Chuck Berry into words! That is a task.鈥
鈥淚f I flip the coin and wonder how the (expletive) Chuck Berry reacted to me when he first heard my feeble efforts to spread his groove, my guess is a disdainful chuckle and then a gleam as he imagined the royalties roll in. Then a realization that his music was far more important than he had ever imagined. (He did thank me for that). And, let鈥檚 face it, Chuck had imagination. Just check the songs. All is revealed on 鈥淢onkey Business鈥, 鈥淲ee Wee hours鈥, 鈥淛o Jo Gunne鈥, 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Catch me鈥, 鈥淐hildhood Sweetheart鈥濃 let alone on 鈥淛ohnny B. Goode鈥, 鈥淟ittle Queenie鈥 or 鈥淎round & Around鈥. It goes on and on: 鈥淟et it Rock鈥, 鈥淪weet Little Sixteen鈥 or the heartbreaking 鈥淢emphis.鈥
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You have to hear the original recordings to get the whole picture. Let us make no mistake about him. His inventiveness, natural exuberance, brought all of the variations of this vital music together, be it Rockabilly, country, R&B, Jazz or pop. His own roots went wide and deep, even back via 亚洲无码 Jordan to the big bands. But we鈥檙e talking about a complicated and thoughtful man here. Listen to 鈥淣o Money Down鈥, the incredible 鈥淏ye Bye Johnny鈥 with its reversed riff. As a lyricist his imagination, the themes and subject matter took songwriting to a level yet to be matched. Who else could come up with 鈥淭oo Much Monkey Business鈥. Throw in as well 鈥淣o Money Down鈥, 鈥淢emphis, Tennessee" and 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Catch Me鈥 鈥 a song that John Lennon reworked with 鈥淐ome Together鈥. And then there were the guys he worked with; Johnny Johnson, on piano, an icon of boogie and feel; Willie Dixon, the BASSMAN!; Freddie Below and Ebbie Harding on drums.
He was a very guarded and private man, essentially warm hearted, though he spent a lot of time disguising that fact which could give the opposite impression. Hard to know, moody, but when you got him at the right time, beautifully friendly. It鈥檚 hard to find the words to describe his contradictions: warm, infuriating, moody, disarmingly charming, angry . He once gave me a black eye for daring to touch his guitar. Quite Right!!! I called it Chuck鈥檚 greatest Hit.
At the moment I sense the same feeling I had at 15 years old when Buddy Holly died. A sickening thud to the guts and a feeling of losing a member of the family. For me the world went from black to white to glorious Technicolor when I first heard 鈥淟ittle Queenie鈥. There was no doubt in my mind: It was obvious what I had to do and I haven鈥檛 changed since. The effortless ease with which he laid down the rhythm makes a mockery of countless grimacing lip biting agonizing imitators.
I鈥檓 still working on it.
He brought joy to us; the feeling for a fifteen year old guitar player that there was more to life than seemed possible. With the exuberance, he brought a casual ease and a rhythm that makes bits of your body move you didn鈥檛 know you had. In essence, he was a revelation. I ain鈥檛 15 no more but the joy remains."