The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: On the 'tube: Chuck Berry On Jay Leno

Chuck Berry On Jay Leno

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- Rated: 23 ↑
Aug 29, 2008 9:53 p.m. johnnyringo:

For those interested,Chuck Berry is scheduled to perform on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno tonight(11:35 EST).I just found out,so there is still some time to catch it.Just thought I'd pass this info along.
- Rated: 13 ↑
Aug 29, 2008 10:16 p.m. Rex:

THANKS!!
- Rated: 212 ↑
Aug 29, 2008 10:26 p.m. Proteus:

Wonder if he'll tune - or play a song all the way through ... or just torment the band.

It'll be interesting to see him with good musicians for once!
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Aug 29, 2008 10:29 p.m. Beatles6120:

I agree. He's such an asshole!
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Aug 29, 2008 10:33 p.m. Proteus:

But that's his right!

National treasures get a little latitude.
- Rated: 23 ↑
Aug 29, 2008 10:56 p.m. johnnyringo:

Yea Proteus,he has earned a little latitude.National treasure for sure.
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Aug 29, 2008 11:45 p.m. johnnyringo:

Well?He is Chuck Berry.I could only wonder what playing that song is like for him after thousands of times.He's still a showman.
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Aug 29, 2008 11:49 p.m. cyclopssam:

hum..... crazy guitar tone,but hey he's chuck berry,ha!
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Aug 30, 2008 12:20 a.m. Ric12string:

cyclopssam said: hum..... crazy guitar tone
Sort of like "ringing a bell."
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Aug 30, 2008 12:33 a.m. Richard Hudson:

Well, he did make one good move across the stage.
- Rated: 212 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 12:38 a.m. Proteus:

Oh, and he played JB Goode ALL the way through, with all the lyrics. He pretty much played the critical parts, and his tone was as big as the amps.

The guitar was only on completely wrong chords for a few bars, and that might just be rock & roll. He was in tune (which might NOT be), and his timing was impeccable.

In a casual way.

I thought it was a complete success!
- Rated: 13 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 12:42 a.m. Rex:

Icons are Icons, I only hope I can still make my fingers move when I get to be his age.
- Rated: 38 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 1:42 a.m. bobbyrivera:

Thanks for the heads up johnnyringo! One up for you- I would have never caught that as I don't really like most of Jay Leno's comedy very much.

He's got to be bored after playing the same damn song for the billionth time. I liked it. It was pretty sloppy in a good way- Kind of like Johnny "Guitar" Watson sloppy (or casual, as Proteus said).

I'm not sure if the sloppiness was a function of his age, of just his apathy over the tune and trying to make it different. He threw in some cool passing chords (granted they weren't jazz worthy, but good enough for Rock 'n Roll) in there which worked well. I also enjoyed his voice (still sounds awesome) and phrasing.

I thought the Fender stacks were excessive, but every time I've seem him (only on TV, docs, etc. unfortunately) he has had different amps. Look at how many of us go through a few different stage rigs in two or three years, much less fifty.

He still has an awesome stage presence, showmanship, enthusiasm, and seems to care about putting on a show. I can't say that about all of the original 50's legends out there that are still playing.

I think that as a performer, he's still cooler than just about anyone out there right now. I think he has a commanding stage presence and is still viable.
- Rated: 32 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 2:18 a.m. cyclopssam:

gibson's though fenders always sound weird to me playing though 15's just magnifys that,ha! but he can still rock it. his comand of the moment,stuff like that ya just can't teach,that's years of boogie, made me glad i stayed up,i'll never work w/ him so,i'd like to see him live before he kicks.so glad i got to see bo before he did....

hail,hail rock& roll
- Rated: 23 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 3:21 a.m. johnnyringo:

Speaking of hail,hail rock& roll.I love it when Keith Richards is getting shown the "Proper" way to do an intro by Chuck and after a few times,Keith gets rattled.I've only seen it once,but that(as I remember it)was classic.Those two together were great to see.I must watch it again if I can get the chance.
- Rated: 32 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 3:30 a.m. cyclopssam:

i saw that,that was pretty classic! don't mess w/ chuck little boy,ha!
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Aug 30, 2008 4:29 a.m. DangerousMan:

Just saw it on the aul YouTube... my god that was messy. Then again, what can you do? The rules just don't apply for people like Chuck Berry.
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Aug 30, 2008 5:31 a.m. Sunshine:

If anyone want to see Chuck playing Gretsch - here is the video.
- Rated: 23 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 5:50 a.m. johnnyringo:

Always the SHOWMAN.The Mold was broken,then blown to smithereens and what was left (if any at all) were then buried deep within the restricted confines of Area 51.That,of course is just rumour,but true or not,there is only one Mr. Chuck Berry.
- Rated: 45 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 5:51 a.m. Tsar Nicholas :

Chuck Berry is a god and can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes.. but that was a parTICularly good performance of JBG for a man in his 80s.

Those amps are pretty omnipresent when it comes to Chuck. They're on his rider. Gotta have 'em!
- Rated: 38 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 6:04 a.m. bobbyrivera:

johnnyringo said: Speaking of hail,hail rock& roll.I love it when Keith Richards is getting shown the "Proper" way to do an intro by Chuck and after a few times,Keith gets rattled.I've only seen it once,but that(as I remember it)was classic.Those two together were great to see.I must watch it again if I can get the chance.

I got a kick out of that part too:) He was just being Chuck Berry! Even if Keith had played that riff spot-on, It still wouldn't have been right according to Chuck Berry. I love that!

DangerousMan- I hear what you're saying. It was messy, but I liked it like that though; for the reasons I submitted in an earlier post. EDIT: The following is a small rant..It was only inspired by what DM said about "rules don't apply" and is in no way a response- It just got me thinking about both the good and crappy performances I've seen from rock icons and how I view them.

I agree that the "rules" don't apply for many of the 50's legends (and few, if any get bigger than Chuck Berry). I tend to think that the "rules" should apply though. (I just happened to like the performance).

I've been lucky enough to see some great, legendary artists (of various genres) perform.

Some of the legendary folks I saw in concert depressed me. They had no vigor left. I certainly understand the reasons (seemingly financial) why they were touring. It left a sour taste in my mouth though, as I preferred to remember them as they were (from their early recordings). I really didn't want my last memory of some of these guys to be some horrid off-key version of their "hit". I noticed that many folks in the the audiences seemed to have the same reaction. It was clear to me that some of the artists really didn't want to be playing anymore and just did their best ot get the set over with.

After seeing Chuck Berry on the TV today though, I don't think I could say that about him. He seemed to be having a really good time with the band (which is not his normal band): messing with the tune, breathing some new life into it, and just putting on a show and having a blast; That's what I like to see.

IMO the stuff Les Paul still does is brilliant (check out youtube). Can he play a million notes a second anymore? No. Can he still transfix an audience with his performance, phasing and stage presence? Yes. It still works. Granted, it's different than his early stuff, but his fire is clearly still there. He loves to play and entertain. He doesn't play only for the money. He still plays because he loves the instrument. I see that in Chuck Berry.

Sorry for the rant- I just really liked the performance, but I can understand why people thought it wasn't very good. I blame it on the NBC soundguy
- Rated: 23 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 6:08 a.m. johnnyringo:

Yea,Performing at all for someone in their 80's is amazing,but on the Tonight show in front of millions is spectacular.Even the trademark duckwalk was a galiant effort.I agree with you Tsar,particularly good performance.
- Rated: 66 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 8:29 a.m. Walter Broes:

Tsar said: Chuck Berry is a god and can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes
agreed!
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Aug 30, 2008 10:04 a.m. Deed Eddy:

Go, Johnny, Go!

How much more rock and roll do you WANT??? That was and is amazing to me, because here he is, 82 years of age, in total command. The best I've seen him in a while, he looked happy and the band was right there with him. This made my day.
- Rated: 212 ↑
Aug 30, 2008 10:16 a.m. Proteus:

This was a GREAT performance of JBG for Chuck. The tempo and groove change, the lyric phrasing, the sometimes abbreviated lead phrases, everything about it worked. The leads were even coherent, in their way, and truly not much sloppier than he EVER was.

Everyone who can ought to catch one of his monthly appearances at the Blueberry Hill club in St. Louis. When I saw him there, he teased us with pieces of JBG a dozen times, and never played the whole song.

Some songs were mulligan-stew pastiches of several others. His "regular band" is, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty bad. At least when I saw him, his son played guitar (a guy who could be competent in a rehearsed outfit, but didn't exactly shoot off sparks); his daughter sang backup, whacked some percussion, and danced (and was engaging in all three roles); the rhythm section was sub-marginal, dull, plodding, and generally a drag on the proceedings.

Now – Chuck legendarily will not rehearse with ANYone ("everyone knows my stuff, why should I?"), and in his set lists (I'm sure there are none), set pacing, and stage direction does co-workers no favors, so a band is always scrambling to keep up with a program that's constantly in flux. All that I understand - but you'd think people who played with him regularly would be a bit more fluid at it. I think perhaps he's been through every bar musician in the St. Louis area, and gets for the riddm section whoever will show up.

And why not? I'd try to sit in with the man once, wouldn't you?

All this sounds critical, but it's not really. Not once did I have the impression the song pastiche resulted from his inability to remember; there's a wise, almost defiant, and very witty sparkle in the man's eye. Verses, lines, choruses, hooks may all have been jumbled as his own ironic commentary on the repetitiousness of his own output, or a celebratory lesson in the "song remains the same" nature of rock & roll. Might have been both.

And teasing us with parts and pieces of JBG was surely intentional. Maybe defiance, maybe seduction. He left us without EVER giving it up. Maybe he thinks you ain't gon see Chuck Berry play THAT song, that immortal anthem, in no basement of no little club for no forty people. Maybe you only get that juicy berry on national TV.

And in neither performance (when I saw him at Blueberry Hill several years ago, or on Leno) did he lack energy, commitment, or showmanship. However he manages the technical demands of the show, the man is fully engaged. He ain't phonin' 'em in. To me the Leno performance was still rock & roll, and 100% Chuck.