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GoldenStreet wrote:Gibson man through and through!

Bill

Well, he started with an Epiphone electric archtop, and some of the last guitars he used in concerts were Korean Samick 355 copies...his well known parsimony probably made such cheaper alternative guitars attractive...!

Also, when his tuning got really bad on stage (and for Chuck, his tuning on stage was often way out!) he would grab another guitar - usually from whoever was playing guitar in his pickup backing bands...there are clips of him 'borrowing' a Fender Strat, a Gibson reverse Firebird etc so that he could carry on playing...

He also played a Gretsch

cockroach wrote:

GoldenStreet wrote:Gibson man through and through!

Bill

Well, he started with an Epiphone electric archtop, and some of the last guitars he used in concerts were Korean Samick 355 copies...his well known parsimony probably made such cheaper alternative guitars attractive...!

Also, when his tuning got really bad on stage (and for Chuck, his tuning on stage was often way out!) he would grab another guitar - usually from whoever was playing guitar in his pickup backing bands...there are clips of him 'borrowing' a Fender Strat, a Gibson reverse Firebird etc so that he could carry on playing...

Well, mainly!


Bill

Mainly Gibsons, yes...

In the Hail Hail film he was walking through an airport with his suitcase and guitar, and he held up the guitar case and said...
'I get a new one every year...tax deduction'!

It has been mistakenly stated on the news of his death that he started rock and roll ,I don`t think that anyone person can be credited with that. I first became aware of Chuck in a film called Rock Rock Rock in 1957 I wonder if any copies of that are still in existence he did his famous duck walk and pushed out one foot out in a comical manner ,there are not many old rockers from the 1950`s left now.

Derek Mowbray wrote:It has been mistakenly stated on the news of his death that he started rock and roll ,I don`t think that anyone person can be credited with that.

In the words of Frank Bach*, "Nothing is all true, it depends who you talk to". In the UK in 1957, 'Rock'n'Roll Personality Parade' only rated Chuck a quarter-page in this 36-page magazine (along with Little Richard, Alan Freed and Gene Vincent!) while 'famous' rock'n'roll stars like Tony Crombie were given a two pages.

The extreme reluctance of the BBC in the 1950s to play records by American rock'n'rollers, combined with the Musicians Union restrictions on needle time, meant that as far as the UK was concerned, Berry was still only a minor figure. Maybellene was of course banned by the BBC because (shock, horror!) it mentioned Ford and Cadillac cars, which was advertising! Films featuring Berry were in similar short supply, which is why I saw Jazz On A Summers Day whenever it made its occasional appearance as a second feature, simply because Chuck (with a weird backing band of jazz musicians) plays Sweet Little Sixteen.
Ray

*Dark Skies Ep.1

The reference to disc jockey, Alan Freed reminds me that he, in addition to Russ Fratto, subsequently received a co-composer credit for Maybellene, for services unrelated to the actual creation of the song, which, supposedly, was inspired by the traditional fiddle tune, Ida Red, popularised by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, notably including left-handed fiddler (Joe Holley) and guitarist!



Bill

RayL wrote:

Derek Mowbray wrote:It has been mistakenly stated on the news of his death that he started rock and roll ,I don`t think that anyone person can be credited with that.

In the words of Frank Bach*, "Nothing is all true, it depends who you talk to". In the UK in 1957, 'Rock'n'Roll Personality Parade' only rated Chuck a quarter-page in this 36-page magazine (along with Little Richard, Alan Freed and Gene Vincent!) while 'famous' rock'n'roll stars like Tony Crombie were given a two pages.

Chuck_LR_Alan_Gene.JPG

The extreme reluctance of the BBC in the 1950s to play records by American rock'n'rollers, combined with the Musicians Union restrictions on needle time, meant that as far as the UK was concerned, Berry was still only a minor figure. Maybellene was of course banned by the BBC because (shock, horror!) it mentioned Ford and Cadillac cars, which was advertising! Films featuring Berry were in similar short supply, which is why I saw Jazz On A Summers Day whenever it made its occasional appearance as a second feature, simply because Chuck (with a weird backing band of jazz musicians) plays Sweet Little Sixteen.
Ray

*Dark Skies Ep.1

I certainly don't recall ever hearing Chuck's records on the radio in the '50's- although he appeared briefly in some of early rock'n'roll films, some of which were screened in the UK. And as was later explained, his use of brand names in his songs meant that the BBC couldn't/wouldn't play them. Maybe they were played on Radio Luxembourg? I didn't start to listen to that until the early '60's..

American rock'n'roll popular in the UK then included most of the legendary artists (Elvis, Buddy, Jerry lee, Little Richard, Bill Haley etc) and also some people who were not as successful in the USA, such as Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Charlie Gracie, Marvin Rainwater- but many of these artists toured the UK and made life long fans...

I suspect a lot of Chuck fans only first became aware of his music when UK groups started covering his songs in the early/mid '60's?