VERY sad day in St. Louis. Our town and the world lost the inventor of Rock & Roll.
Chuck Berry.
A son of St. Louis, MO.
He died today at the age of 90.
First inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sadly, I was remiss and didn't go to any of his shows last year. I was watching for his next concert to be scheduled this year. I've seen him several times. The last time was up the road from my house where he just showed up at a Billy Peek show. Billy called him up on the stage and they played a few songs together.
And yes, he did the duck dance.
Billy grew up across the street from Chuck. Chuck taught Billy how to play guitar. Eventually Billy became the lead guitarist for Rod Stewart.
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were inspired by the work of Chuck Berry and the two groups covered about 20 of his songs. The Stones did a whole album of Chuck Berry covers.
He got his first break in 1952 when Johnnie Johnson's saxophonist had a stroke and couldn't perform a New Year's Eve gig at the Cosmopolitan club in East St. Louis. Johnson figured since Chuck wasn't well known, he wouldn't be performing on NYE. He called him up and Chuck became part of the band.
Chuck started playing guitar at the age of 8 and started performing at 16.
Just in case anyone isn't familiar.
Chuck Berry and John Lennon
Another St. Louis icon, Tina Turner with Ike Turner and the Ikettes played nightly across the street from my house at the Club Imperial. In those days, no one had air conditioning and on hot summer nights I went to sleep at night listening to their music.
This was the show where Rod Stewart first saw Billy Peek which prompted Stewart to ask Billy to join his band.
One of his blues tunes at the 25 minute mark in this '72 London concert.
The streets of University City (St.L. suburb) around Blueberry Hill and the Chuck Berry bronze statue are packed with people right now to honor the true king of Rock and Roll.
A young protégé and friend of mine from Kazakhstan, Dauren Toleukhanov, came to stay with us as a high school exchange student. As a student of rock&roll, when he learned he was coming to St. Louis, his primary goal was to go to Blueberry Hill and see Chuck Berry perform.
I like to think that rock & roll, St. Louis and I had a positive impact on Dauren's life.
After graduating from high school here, he attended Montana State University, Kazakhstan Legal University, London Diplomatic University at Westminster, London School of Economics and Political Science and Churchill College at Cambridge University.
Since then he has been attaché for the Kazakh prime minister and CEO of the center of trade policy development of Kazakhstan. He is now Director at Kazakhstan's Sovereign Wealth Fund.
I hope I can talk him into coming to St. Louis for the funeral so I can see my friend again.
Long time no see for some of y'all!
(Now I wait for the anconas..)
