Chuck’s son Charles on his dad’s posthumous new album – the first new work in 38 years

Before Chuck Berry’s death in March at the age of 90, the rock ’n’ roll pioneer announced plans to release Chuck, his final album, and first original release in 38 years.

It proves to be a warm, wise and witty farewell from one of the true architects of rock. Berry entrusted his family including son Charles Jr, 55, to finalise plans to release the album.

“He did not care if it was a commercial success, he just wanted the world to know he still had something to say and he still wanted people to have fun and be happy,” says Charles. “He also said my sister Ingrid and I would have to keep the music alive.

“What he left in the world has left an indelible mark and cannot be erased. Hell, Johnny B Goode is now in interstellar space.”

Between tours and live appearances Berry had been worked on the album since he released Rock It in 1979.

“It took a long time, man – after a fire destroyed his studio and all its contents he had to build a new one and create or re-create the music for the new LP,” Charles explains.

Legal problems, including the settling of a class action taken by 59 women in 1990 – after Berry installed cameras in the rest room of a restaurant he owned – also had to be dealt with.

“He readily admitted to his mistakes. The stuff people accused him of that he didn’t do just made him a more careful person,” says Charles.

Chuck features several guests including Nathaniel Rateliff and Gary Clark Jr, but Berry’s most famous guitar playing acolyte, Rolling Stone Keith Richards, is absent.

Charles insists that, despite the testy relationship between the pair depicted in the Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, the legends remained on good terms.

“Keith sent my parents Christmas cards for a very long time,” says Charles. “Someone in a fractious relationship would never even bother to put pen to paper, much less send correspondence unless they were a solicitor preparing a writ.

“There was nothing to make up for as far as my father was concerned, because neither of them ever did anything at a personal level that needed it.”