Chuck Berry  

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These links take you to additional content relating to Chuck Berry on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum website.

These research databases can be accessed within the Library and Archives.

Below are just a few of the books relating to Chuck Berry that are available for use in the Library Reading Room.

Brown-Eyed Handsome Man - Bruce Pegg

Call Number: ML420.B47 P44 2002

Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry draws on dozens of interviews done by the author himself and voluminous public records to paint a complete picture of this complicated figure. This biography uncovers the real Berry and provides us with a stirring, unvarnished portrait of both the man and the artist.

Chuck Berry - John Collis

Call Number: ML420.B47 C655 2004

It’s no exaggeration to say that, with songs like Rock 'n’ Roll Music, Roll Over Beethoven, and Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry invented rock 'n’ roll. However, his career has been overshadowed, and often stalled, by tax evasion, liaisons with an underage prostitute, and jail sentences. John Collis interviews those who have worked with Berry and uncovers the truth about his life back in St. Louis.

Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry

Call Number: ML420.B47 A3 1987

This astonishingly candid autobiography is the amazing life story of Chuck Berry, the man who created rock 'n' roll - written with all the flash, bounce, soul and humour that made million-seller classics of 'Johnny B. Goode', 'Memphis, Tennessee', 'Roll Over Beethoven', 'Reelin and Rockin', and the rest. As the first black rock 'n' roll star, Chuck Berry saw race relations change from back-door service and near-lynchings for just talking with white women to more open but still strained relations between blacks and whites. His powerful accounts of racism and acceptance make fascinating, englightening reading.

Spinning Blues into Gold - Nadine Cohodas

Call Number: ML3792.C447 C64 2000

"In the hands of a lesser talent, the entwining threads of musical history, racial politics, and cultural upheaval spanning seven decades could easily become a tangled parody of a James Michener novel. Fortunately, author Nadine Cohodas is more than equal to the task. Her way with Spinning Blues into Gold combines the intelligence and conciseness of a political reporter and the contagious enthusiasm of a dyed in the wool music fan."--Richard Henderson, Billboard Magazine

These are some sound recordings of Chuck Berry available at the Library and Archives.

Have mercy : his complete Chess recordings, 1969-1974 - Chuck Berry

You never can tell:his complete Chess recordings 1960-1966 - Chuck Berry

Johnny B. Goode : his complete '50s Chess recordings - Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry London Sessions

These are some DVDs available for viewing at the Library and Archives.

Archival collections are described in Finding Aids that provide you with historical and organizational information on a collection, subject headings that tie it to other library and archival materials, and an inventory to help you pinpoint what you need. The detail of inventories vary. Search the full text of finding aids for these collections and more via the catalog.

In addition to the collections listed in more detail below, there are individual items of interest on Chuck Berry in the following:

• Alan Freed Collection
• Bluefield Audiotorium Posters
• Bomp! Records Collection
• David Hinckley Papers
• Duane Sycz Photographs
• James Brawley Collection
• Library and Archives Subject Files
• Mo Ostin Collection
• Sire Records Collection

Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers. Quite simply, without him there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, nor a myriad others. More...

Annual Induction Ceremony, 1986.

Chuck Berry performs "Roll Over Beethoven"