KEEP IT SIMPLE JERK

If someone were to ask you what Chuck Berry's biggest hit was, what would be your guess? You know all the Berry classics. A first guess might be "Johnny B. Goode", or maybe "Sweet Little Sixteen", or "Roll Over Beethoven", right? Nope, it was "My Ding A Ling" a corny novelty song, that he didn't even write. So, you know what were dealing with here; record buyers are, by and large, lame brains. Despite hefty record sales, you can't think hit when you think of Chuck Berry, because despite all of the iconic rock n' roll songs he's written, he's still relatively under appreciated when you consider what he's given us. Part of it is his fault. His habit of hiring pick up bands without rehearsing first, playing without set lists, forgetting his own lyrics, and totally straying from the original recorded versions of his songs, is all his doing. But, hell, he's Chuck Berry. It's part of the package.

Back when my brothers and I were in the process of backtracking to early rock n' roll, one of the first records bought was "Chuck Berry's Golden Decade." It had all the songs we'd heard on the oldies station and, as an introduction, was exactly what was needed. Not long after that, the "London Sessions" LP was added to our collection ('72 I believe). Even back then, we thought that "My Ding A Ling" was a stinker, so, of course, it had to be the hit. Around that time, when my cousin told us that she had been thumbing home from a Berry concert at a local college and was actually picked up by Chuck Berry himself (in a VW bug), it only added to the package. Suffice it to say, that in the boy's room, there was a huge amount of respect for the man.

The other night I ran into a video of Electric Light Orchestra doing Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" and all I could think was "jeez, and people wonder why punk rock happened." They managed to drag Berry's concise thumper into six and a half bloated minutes of solo after solo after solo. It was so far removed from the simplicity of the original, it's like the fat guy pushing his way to the front of the buffet line. Compare and contrast, if you will:

Chuck Berry, early 60's

Let me introduce the next clip by saying that if you prefer the Electric Light Orchestra version because Berry's version is sloppy, and a half-effort, you're at the wrong party. Berry shows warts and all. The Electric Light Orchestra version might be tight, but at what expense? Just look at all the people on stage, and all the cello players and such. It's obscene. (It brings to mind the lyrics of the Weirdos' "Destroy All Music": "I'm gonna kick in my radio, I'm gonna burn my tickets to see ELO". There's one for your bucket list.)

Electric Light Orchestra's circle jerk, 1978

Here's a few to wash your ears out. If you haven't already, watch the Chuck Berry video above, and then watch the subsequent versions below, from '72, 87, and '07. I swear, in a few years it'll be a blues song. It already kinda sounds like one in the '07 version. (It's like Chuck Berry's in Bizzaro World, where the blues come from rock n' roll, not the other way around.)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode mp3 at Tune the Proletariat
Chuck Berry - Maybelline mp3 at Teenage Kicks
Chuck Berry - Nadine mp3 (via Box.net) at Dr. Mooney's 115th Dream
Chuck Berry - Memphis mp3 at Noise Variations
Chuck Berry - Back In the USA mp3 at Weekly Tape Deck
Chuck Berry - Blues For Hawaiians mp3 at Clumsy & Shy
Video:
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven (live, TV, 1972) video at YouTube
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethhoven (live, 1987) video at YouTube
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven (live, 2007) video at YouTube
Visit:
Chuck Berry's Official site
Chuck Berry at Wikipedia