Mick Hartley

Chuck Berry 1926-2017.

A quick reminder of the man in his prime:

Despite all the adulation, and the endless repeating of that John Lennon quote "If you had to give rock'n'roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry", surely his main claim to fame was that he had the brilliant idea of writing rock'n'roll songs with lyrics that appealed to white teenagers.

And no other singer was so plundered by the British groups of the Sixties. Just about every band started out doing Chuck Berry covers. Whether or not he was the Godfather of Rock'n'Roll, he was certainly the Godfather of the British Invasion.

Mick Jagger:

I am so sad to hear of Chuck Berry's passing,' The Rolling Stones lead singer, 73, tweeted of the vanguard musician. 

'I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us. He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers.

'His lyrics shone above others and threw a strange light on the American dream. Chuck, you were amazing, and your music is engraved inside us forever.'

The BBC obituary, with short video, is pretty good.

Also, Rolling Stone.

Just don't mention My Ding-a-Ling.

And remember, for all the surprise that a rock'n'roll pioneer from another age had survived so long….Little Richard is still alive and kicking at age 84.