National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 12 * June 21, 1999

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Chuck Berry concert should B. Goode

By Kevin Wilcox
senior staff writer

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If you happen to see Chuck Berry in St. Louis on July 20 "cruisin’ and playing the radio, with no particular place to go," remind him that he’s performing at NACo’s Annual Conference that night.

Berry will play at the inaugural ball of C. Vernon Gray, Howard County (Md.) Council chairperson who will take over as NACo’s president at the Annual Conference.

"I think it’s a nice touch to have someone as renowned as Chuck Berry at our conference," Gray said. "I remember him from my childhood and I have always liked his music."
Gray said one of the reasons he selected Berry is because he’s a legendary figure who’s also a native of St. Louis.

"I’m sure there are many people from my generation who have fond memories of him," Gray said. "We are asking everyone to come to the installation of officers, not just to see us sworn in, but to see Chuck Berry do his thing."

There’s no consensus on who was the father of rock ‘n’ roll, but everyone knows Chuck Berry, at the very least, was in the hospital when the baby was born. He has been a major influence on the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys.

For all anyone knows, Berry might be influencing teenage aliens, as well. A copper record of "Johnny B. Goode," along with other samples of pop culture, was sent into space on 1977’s Voyager space probe.

Berry and his biographers are at odds over where he was born and exactly when. Berry says St. Louis, circa 1926. He grew up in St. Louis, where he learned to play the piano and the guitar at an early age.

For all the influence Berry would have on music later, his early influences include the vocal style of Nat King Cole and the blues mastery of Muddy Waters.

It was Waters who pointed Berry to Chess Records, where Berry recorded the songs – "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," "Rock and Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Reelin’ and Rockin’ " – that landed him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame www.rockhall.com in 1986.