Chuck Berry
• created the guitar style that came
to define rock and roll
• created a new lyric vocabulary in
his songs that spoke directly to
young people and to the integrated
rock and roll audiences of the
1950s
• influenced the next generation of
rock and roll
Inducted 1986
“Maybellene”
Written by Chuck Berry, 1955
• Adapted from a country
song (“Ida Red”)
• Berry’s first single and his
first hit
• Youthful subject matter
with an energetic sound
Teenage Audience
GO, JOHNNY GO!
(1958)
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(1957)
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MR. ROCK AND ROLL
568021
568021
(1956)
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ROCK, ROCK, ROCK
Chuck Berry: Guitarist
• blues, country, jazz
influences
• signature style/classic riffs
• focus on the guitar