Although ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ are widely deemed Chuck Berry’s most significant singles, in terms of what it represents, his 1955 Chess Records debut, ‘Maybellene’, cannot be understated for the pure, game-changing genius it’s imbued with.
Born into a middle-class family in 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry was deeply ensconced in the arts from a young age. A talented guitarist, it didn’t take him long to master the upbeat, refreshing blues of Chicago pioneer Muddy Waters, as well as the expressive singing of famous Black artists such as Nat King Cole. While this was undoubtedly impressive, with the charming young Berry clearly talented, he was more interested in the sounds from the other side of America’s racial divide, dubbed ‘white’ music by those who were so violently blocked from experiencing all the other side of the wall had to offer.
With St. Louis being one of the major cities in the Midwest, most of the music played in clubs were the popular white-dominated genres of swing and country-western. In a show of his character, after Berry started playing live on the local circuit, in addition to the typical blues and ballads, he began sneaking his not-so-guilty pleasure of white music into his sets. At first, this did not go down well with his Black audience, but due to the chutzpah with which he regaled such sounds, in time, they began to love it.
In his autobiography, Berry wrote: “Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our Black audience began whispering ‘who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?’ After they laughed at me a few times, they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it.”
Little did Berry know it at the time, but it was his love of ‘white’ music that would take him to the major leagues, and create an icon, for whom we have to thank for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and countless others.
In 1954, with the band Joe Alexander and the Cubans, Berry released the tracks ‘I Hope These Words Will Find You Well’ and ‘Oh, Maria!’. As well as attracting more fans from the Black community, his seamless, energetic fusion of music from either side of segregation even began to attract wealthy white fans.
In May 1955, Berry travelled to Chicago to watch his idol Muddy Waters, and after the show managed to speak to him. In a moment that he had dreamed of, he was instructed by Waters to speak to Leonard Chess, one of the founders of Chess Records, the influential label based in ‘The Windy City’ that was home to the likes of Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
The next morning, Waters went to the legendary Chess headquarters at 2120 South Michigan Avenue. He politely spoke to the receptionist, and took his chance, asking to see Leonard Chess himself. To his surprise, he was waved into his office, and the wily upstart readied himself to deliver a rehearsed speech detailing his hopes of becoming a star. It worked, and Chess was amazed by the young Berry’s clear business acumen. Yet, it wasn’t just this. Berry talked a good talk, but could also back it up with substance; his demo tape affirmed to the CEO that he was looking at a star.
In response, Chess suggested that Berry cover the country standard ‘Ida Red’, that was popularised in 1938 by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. As Elvis Presley was so cleverly playing Black music as white man, and reaping all the rewards, Chess recognised that there was significant potential for Berry to succeed doing the inverse.
Adding flavour to the original and accentuating Berry’s vivacious act, Chess implemented bass and maracas in his backing band, and instructed his new protégé to re-write the lyrics to appeal to the new demographic buying records en masse; the youth. He wanted music with a big beat that discussed teenage love and cars. Berry obeyed, and penned an animated tale about a man driving a V8 Ford, chasing his cheating girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe de Ville, who he renamed ‘Maybellene’, after the popular makeup brand that was all the rage.
Chess was bang on the money. Although the song only climbed to the mid-20s on the main Billboard pop chart, it also hit on the rhythm and blues and country and western charts, outlining that Berry’s formula had legs and extensive crossover appeal.
The general blueprint was now established. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Rock and Roll Music’, and ‘Johnny B. Goode’ were to follow, refining Berry’s act and changing the complexion of music in the process. This was the beginning of Berry’s arc as ‘The Father of Rock and Roll’.
Editors’ Picks
- 1950s Music
- Blues and Country
- Chess Records
- Chuck Berry
- Crossover Hits
- Father of Rock and Roll
- Maybellene
- Music History
- Rock and Roll
