Rock n roll pioneer Chuck Berry bows out after an inspired career

CHUCK Berry, who duck-walked his way into the pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll pioneers as one of its most influential guitarists and lyricists of all time, creating raucous anthems that defined the genre’s sound and heartbeat, died on Saturday at his Missouri home. He was 90.

Police in St Charles County, outside St Louis, said they were called to Berry’s home by a caretaker and found him unresponsive. Efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead at 1.26pm.

Considered one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was present at its infancy in the 1950s and emerged as its first star guitarist and songwriter – a nearly 30-year-old black performer whose style electrified young white audiences and was emulated by white performers who came to dominate American popular music.

Although Elvis Presley was called the king of rock ‘n’ roll, that crown would have fit just as well on Berry’s own pompadour. Berry hits such as Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen, Maybellene and Memphis melded elements of blues, rockabilly and jazz into some of the most timeless pop songs of the 20th century.

He was a monumental influence on any kid who picked up a guitar with rock star aspirations – Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen among them.

Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as the Beach Boys and other acts – even Elvis – covered Berry’s songs.

His death came five months after Berry announced plans to release his first album of new music in 38 years some time in 2017 – a collection of mostly original material recorded and produced by Berry, titled Chuck and dedicated to his wife of 68 years, Themetta “Toddy” Berry.

Berry’s legacy was tarnished, however, by his reputation as a penny-pincher and runins with the law, including sex-related offences after he achieved stardom.

Some critics suggested it was his former pianist, Johnnie Johnson, who composed the tunes while Berry only penned the lyrics. Johnson sued Berry in 2000 for song royalties, saying they were equal collaborators on many of the hits, but the case was dismissed on grounds that limitations had expired.

It was with Johnson that Berry first made his mark, playing at black clubs in the St Louis area at the age of 27. Berry started out filling in with Johnson’s group, known as Sir John’s Trio, in 1953, and Johnson eventually acknowledged Berry’s talent, charisma and business acumen by allowing the group to evolve into the Chuck Berry Trio.

At the suggestion of blues legend Muddy Waters, Berry auditioned for Chess Records, the white-owned Chicago label that put out scores of blues hits. The result was the rockabilly tune Ida Red, which became a hit after it was retitled Maybellene.

Berry’s only No 1 hit was My Ding-a-Ling, a throwaway novelty song that seemed to be a juvenile sex reference.

Berry was born October 18 1926, the third of six children whose father was a contractor and church deacon and whose mother was a schoolteacher.

Berry received a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1984 and his 1986 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame made him part of the inaugural class. — Reuters the statute of