Where would music be today if there was no Chuck Berry?
I agree. He not only brought his unique guitar style, but he aimed a lot of his early hits squarely at white teens(“School Days”, “Sweet Little Sixteen”, etc.).Plus, Chuck’s contribution to breaking down race barriers in Rock is kind of overlooked. Chuck himself said he wrote “Maybelline” as a country-type song. I saw him perform twice, and was able to talk to him and get his autograph after a show in Akron, Ohio in 1981. He and his “assistant” Francine then left in a rented Cadillac, which my friends and I followed, hoping to have a hamburger or something with Chuck Berry. Our plans were thwarted when Chuck pulled into the Highway Patrol station, shaking us from his tail. He still did the “Duck Walk” into his early sixties.
