If you tried to give rock ‘n’ roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry…John Lennon
Chuck Berry is the father of rock and roll. His guitar paved the way but most importantly his poetry with his writing. He used rhyme and more reason to weave his songs into the fabric of society. If you were a teenager in the 1950s you understood No Particular Place To Go and his other songs. He used cars as a symbol of freedom much like Bruce Springsteen would do years later.
Berry’s assistant, Francine Gillium, told Berry about the High School that she worked at and helped him get in the right mindset to write these songs about teenagers. He mostly stayed away from politics and topical references in his songs…which is why many are relatable today.
Sweet Little Sixteen, the second-biggest pop hit of his career next to the terrible My Ding-a-Ling. Chuck wrote this song when he was on a package tour, and came across a teenage autograph-seeker who was insistent upon getting the autograph of each headliner on the tour.
The most important collaborator that Chuck had was Johnnie Johnson. He was a piano player who collaborated with Berry on many songs, including “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Johnson often wrote songs on the piano, and then Berry converted them to guitar and wrote lyrics. Berry joined Johnson’s group, The Sir John Trio, in 1953, and quickly became the lead singer and centerpiece of the band.
There is a controversy that Johnson came up with a lot of the riffs that Chuck used and Berry would transpose them from piano to guitar. In 2000, Johnson sued Chuck Berry, alleging he deserved co-composer credits (and royalties) for dozens of songs, including No Particular Place to Go, Sweet Little Sixteen, and Roll Over Beethoven, which credit Berry alone. The case was eventually dismissed because too many years had passed since the songs in dispute were written. Keith Richards has talked about this also… he is a huge fan of Chuck but also a huge fan of Johnnie Johnson.
Sweet Little Sixteen
They’re really rockin’ Boston
In Pittsburgh, PA
Deep in the heart of Texas
And ’round the ‘Frisco Bay
All over St. Louis
And down in New Orleans
All the cats wanna dance with
Sweet Little Sixteen
Sweet Little Sixteen
She’s just got to have
About half a million
Famed autographs
Her wallet filled with pictures
She gets ’em one by one
Becomes so excited
Watch her, look at her run, boy
Oh, mommy, mommy
Please, may I go?
It’s such a sight to see
Somebody steal the show
Oh, daddy, daddy
I beg of you
Whisper to mommy
It’s all right with you
‘Cause they’ll be rockin’ on Bandstand
In Philadelphia, PA
Deep in the heart of Texas
And ’round the ‘Frisco Bay
All over St. Louis
Way down in New Orleans
All the cats wanna dance with
Sweet Little Sixteen
‘Cause they’ll be rockin’ on Bandstand
Philadelphia, PA
Deep in the heart of Texas
And ’round the ‘Frisco Bay
All over St. Louis
Way down in New Orleans
All the cats wanna dance with, ooh
Sweet Little Sixteen
Sweet Little Sixteen
She’s got the grown up blues
Tight dresses and lipstick
She’s sportin’ high heel shoes
Oh, but tomorrow morning
She’ll have to change her trend
And be sweet sixteen
And back in class again
But they’ll be rockin’ in Boston
Pittsburgh, PA
Deep in the heart of Texas
And ’round the ‘Frisco Bay
Way out in St. Louis
Way down in New Orleans
All the cats wanna dance with
Sweet Little Sixteen
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I was never interested in collecting autographs, but when my dad took my brother and I to see the Mets play at Shea Stadium, we waited after the game for the players to come out and most of them gave us their autographs, but I have no idea what happened to them.
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The one autograph that I got was Dawn Wells when I was a kid…and shook her hand…didn’t wash my hands for a week.
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Good stuff.
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A good early rock staple. Rock would certainly have evolved quite differently without Berry’s presence. Surprised me this was his second-biggest hit (though I did know the less than stellar biggest one of his career).
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Yea that hit was a fluke and really an insult although he probably loved the benefits off of it…but Johnny B Goode and all the others not #1? It’s hard to believe.
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He was the guy so many of the 60’s stars were exposed to, his influence certainly set the stage for what was to come. It’s a real shame he didn’t share with Johnnie as he certainly wasn’t shy to sue anyone stepping on his toes!
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Yea I know…I think Keith helped talk Johnnie into trying to get some of the royalities that should have been shared. I love and respect Berry’s music…but yea it wouldn’t have hurt to share some.
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The 50s was a dog-eat-dog decade, the newfangled loud music was leaving the old schoolers behind, the new Rock and Rollers just took and turned upside-down and reinvented old tried and true melodies and riffs- electrifying what had before literally been lost in the shuffle. Suddenly everyone could hear the guitar rise above it all.
Music changed so over that decade. Imagine, a musician out celebrating New Year at the end of ’49 would not believe how his/her world would have changed when ringing in 1960 ten crazy years later.
And Chuck, whatever his faults, could write the perfect lyric.
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His lyrics are what I remember about him the most really. I did love his guitar but those lyrics are just great.
The decade did change… You know Dave and I were talking…I don’t see as big of a change between 2010-2020 and this decade…covid aside. Not as much between 2000-2010 either. Not as defined as the 20th Century.
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Nice one! I’ve always thought the Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA was very heavily based on Sweet Little 16 and wondered how they got away with it!
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Thanks for commenting! They shared royalities on that one I believe.
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Keith Richards favourite guy to get yelled at by… Amazing how Angus young nicked some of Berrys moves as well as his playing except Angus crushed it live with a row of Marshall stacks….
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Oh yea…he borrowed heavily from him….I think that is why a lot of just regular rock fans like AC/DC… they were rooted in older rock and roll.
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Great tune. I love Chuck Berry. His July 1959 studio album “Chuck Berry Is On Top” might as well have been titled “The Greatest Hits of Rock & Roll”. With “Carole”, “Maybellene”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “Little Queenie”, “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Around and Around” it featured amazing tunes. It would have been even better had it included “Sweet Little Sixteen”, which was the opener of his sophomore album “One Dozen Berrys”.
While Berry’s guitar playing was influenced by T-Bone Walker and the amazing Sister Rosetta Tharpe and he, as such, didn’t invent guitar-driven rock & roll, he clearly helped shape it and, in turn, influenced other great guitarists like Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix.
It’s unfortunate Berry didn’t give Johnnie Johnson the credit he evidently deserved. It reminds me a bit of Led Zeppelin who time and again borrowed from other artists without acknowledgment. In both cases, giving credit where credit was due wouldn’t have taken away anything from the music. But I guess it would have diminished the egos!
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Yea to me his poetry was just as important as the music…he knew the life of teenagers so well.
Yea that intro to Johnny B Goode…that is one of the main riffs to come from Johnson. Even Berry admitted he transposed his piano to his guitar.
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You’re definitely right about the lyrics. Together with the groove and that signature guitar sound, they made Berry’s songs truly great!
I think that guitar intro to “Johnny B. Goode” is one of the coolest ever. Back in my teenage years when I was practicing the guitar all the time, I tried to figure it out so hard but never got it right. My fretting fingers just didn’t want to cooperate! 🙂
BTW, I never knew Berry had transposed that intro from Johnson’s piano to the guitar!
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Yes… I’ve heard old stuff by Johnson and yea he did that lick on piano first. No one thought that the music would be worth so much back then…well only at the time…but not 60 years later….but it is!
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He used several hit formulas in this for people to identify and connect with, from teens to naming popular places. This shows off his superb gift for connecting with people through his lyrics and stage persona. I assume his human flaws were caused or made worse by being scammed and mistreated, and he reacted like a survivor had to in that dog eat dog world as obbverse called it. His ‘relationship’ with Keith Richards was absolutely priceless from every angle.
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Oh yea…he was mistreated as were a lot of artist back then…his lyrics to me were the most important factor…the guitar was great…but those lyrics described what life was about at that time for teens.
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I turned on the radio in the car last night and it was playing ‘C’est La Vie’, which admittedly I know better from Emmylou Harris’ cover.
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I think of Pulp Fiction when I hear that song…which I need to do a post about.
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