record release — NEWS — Let's Go Rockabilly!

As I'm sure you all know by now Chuck Berry, one of the creators of rock and roll, passed away at the age of 90 on March 18th.

The St. Charles County, Missouri, police stated they responded to a medical emergency call at around 12:40 p.m. The paramedics found an unresponsive man, but despite immediately administering lifesaving techniques, he could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. The St. Charles County Police Department identified him as Charles Edward Anderson Berry Sr., better known as Chuck Berry.

Berry directly influenced the early stages of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. Not surprisingly that is why Berry was among the first group of performers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame back in 1986.

His death is a great loss to rock n' roll fans who have enjoyed his music and live performances over the last six decades. I was lucky enough to see him a few years back at Viva Las Vegas and even in his 80's he was still doing his duck walk but just a little bit slower than his younger days.

Berry had announced last October, on his 90th birthday that he was releasing a new album. His first new album in over 38 years. His family announced just a few days ago that the album titled "Chuck" will be released June 16th and you can pre-order it from his official website: chuckberry.com

The first single is titled "Big Boys" and has been posted on Chuck's Vevo page on YouTube. Give it a listen below.

Chuck Berry Facts

Real Name: Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (singer, songwriter, guitar player)

Born: St. Louis, Missouri, October 18, 1926
Died: Wentzville, Missouri, March 18, 2017

Chuck sang in his St. Louis church’s Baptist choir at the age of six.
His first notable performance was on his school’s musical stage singing "Confessin’ The Blues".
While still a high school student he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947
During 1948 and 1955 he held many jobs such as: a janitor at an auto assembly plant, trained to be a hairdresser, freelanced as a photographer and helped his father as a carpenter.
In 1953 he started performing with The Johnnie Johnson Trio.
While in Chicago in 1955 blues great Muddy Waters suggests he meet Leonard Chess of Chess Records where he records "Maybelline". It goes on to sell 1 million copies and hits number one on the R & B chart.
His famous "duck walk" dance started in 1956, when Chuck attempted to hide wrinkles in his rayon suit by shaking them out with his now-signature body movements.
In 1959 Berry invited a fourteen-year-old girl to work as a hatcheck girl at his nightclub. After crossing the state line he was soon arrested on a prostitution charge and received three years at the Indiana Federal Prison. Years later he said “She was anything but innocent.”
The melody to The Beach Boys’ hit "Surfin’ USA" was almost identical to the melody of Berry's 1958 song "Sweet Little Sixteen". The Beach Boys had to give Berry co-writing credit in order to avoid a lawsuit.
Due to being burned early on in his career by promoters and his problems with the IRS, Chuck always requested to get paid in cash. In Australia in 1975 he was caught at Sydney Airport with $50,000 in an attaché case.
In 1984 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was one of the first artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when it opened in 1986
He is included in many of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll which includes "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music"
John Lennon was quoted as saying "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry".