{"id":27491,"date":"2017-03-20T05:30:54","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T09:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=27491"},"modified":"2017-03-18T22:56:45","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T02:56:45","slug":"hail-hail-chuck-berry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/03\/hail-hail-chuck-berry\/","title":{"rendered":"Hail! Hail! Chuck Berry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The pioneering rock \u2018n\u2019 roll guitarist and songwriter Chuck Berry died. \u00a0He was 90 years old.<\/p>\n

I saw him perform at his St. Louis club Blueberry Hill. \u00a0He must have been in his 80s. \u00a0But what\u00a0energy he showed! \u00a0What joy! \u00a0What connection with his audience!<\/p>\n

After the jump, a link to an obituary story that goes into detail about just what it was about his guitar playing and his songwriting that made them so good.<\/p>\n

Also, read this interview <\/a>from 1987, in which Berry confessed that his favorite kind of music is big band. \u00a0Also how\u00a0he wrote from a teenager\u2019s perspective even though he was an adult and far older than his\u00a0rock musician peers such as Elvis. \u00a0And why he wasn\u2019t bitter that white musicians like Presley and the Rolling Stones made much more money from his music than he did.<\/p>\n

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In memory of \u201cthe Father of Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll,\u201d here is a clip of him playing at Blueberry Hill in his 80\u2019s. \u00a0Yes, his voice is about gone, but listen to him playing the guitar. \u00a0Like ringing a bell.
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