UNITED FOR AMERICA’S VALUES
T(photo), who directed the documentary “Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll,” chronicling two 1986 concerts celebrating Chuck Berry’s 60th birthday, was surprised by how difficult the “Johnnie B. Goode” singer really was.
“We all knew when we went to St. Louis in 1986,” he told Confidential about the pop music trailblazer who died Saturday at 90. “We knew Chuck Berry’s reputation. We didn’t have any idea if time had softened him but we found out that even at 60, he was the still the original rock and roll bad boy. He was impossible!”
The film also features who is shown attempting to organize a stellar backup band for Berry’s two concerts at the Fox Theater in St. Louis.
“We were all there to celebrate him, we were all there because he changed our lives . . . but it was intrusive in his life,” Hackford remembers. “We all descended on his place and he did everything possible to sabotage what we were trying to do.”
The “La Bamba” director says that when Richards attempted to get Berry to rehearse with the band he had assembled, Berry — who had not rehearsed in decades — was none too pleased.
“You can see scenes in the film where they’re rehearsing and Chuck is actually giving Keith a lot of s---,” he said, chuckling. “In reality, most rock and roll stars would walk, they’re spoiled. But Keith took it. He knew what Chuck was doing. He took it and he forced Chuck to deliver.”
Hackford thinks that some of Berry’s thorniness was due to racism.
“The reality is, here’s Keith Richards who basically said, ‘I stole every one of Chuck Berry’s guitar licks,’ and Keith Richards and the Stones have made hundreds of millions of dollars,” Hackford says.
“Everyone who came afterwards paid homage to Chuck Berry in their music and they freely admitted it. The difference was they were white. Chuck Berry, who created it all ... although he made money, money was his idol, his god, but he was nowhere close to that success, and I think he resented it.” (inset left) was on hand to introduce close pal and fellow supporter (right), who was honored with the Human Rights Campaign’s Ally for Equality Award in L.A. The “Ugly Betty” actress said it’s not always easy to be an activist. “Some days I feel tired and inadequate, incapable of making a dent,” she said. “There are days I would rather crawl under my bed with a box of Cap’n Crunch and all six seasons of ‘Dawson’s Creek.’ ”