The new issue of No Depression arrived in the mail last week. The Solomon Burke cover story, by yours truly, is titled “Pennies from Heaven: 13 Ways of Looking at the King of Rock ‘n’ Soul” (with apologies to Wallace Stevens). One of those ways to look at Burke is as the King of Soul […]

from the Associated Press, Oct 4 2006: 
ATLANTA - A suburban county that sparked a public outcry when its libraries temporarily eliminated funding for Spanish-language fiction is now being asked to ban Harry Potter books from its schools. Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday […]

 
Waiting for my college composition students to assemble Wednesday morning, I mentioned to my class that it was Chuck Berry’s birthday, his 80th. “You know, Chuck Berry, right?” I asked.
Well, as it turned out, no,they didn’t know Chuck Berry. Not one student recognized the name, and just one student knew the song title “Johnny B. […]

Happy birthday, Chuck!
Edd Hurt writes:
A sense of futility, of breakdown, transpires in Chuck Berry’s early instrumentals.  Yet the After School Session album remains the essential Berry recording, and not least for “Deep Feeling” and “Berry Pickin’,” which are instrumentals and which substitute guitar sound for narrative sense.  Berry runs out of ideas on “Berry Pickin’” […]

Chuck Berry turns 80 tomorrow, and here at Living in Stereo we continue our tribute to the Brown Eyed Handsome Man. Today’s post comes from Living in Stereo’s Best Friend, Roy Kasten, who offers the liner notes he penned for an excellent 2004 tribute record, Brown Eyed Handsome Man: St. Louis Salutes the Father of Rock and […]

Dallas Clemmons from Way Down in the Hole writes:

“It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled.” So sings Jerry Lee Lewis (age 71) on the cut “Rock and Roll” from his new album Last Man Standing. Jimmy Page (age 62) accompanies Jerry Lee on that number. Page is a youngster compared to most […]

 
Danny Alexander from Take Em As They Come writes:
I met Chuck Berry once.  Yep, sat on a panel with him at a music conference where we both defended pop music from those who would censor it.  He did a great job…
Afterward, I had a moment to introduce myself and shake his hand.  I blurted out […]

 
I>Charles Hughes from Shot of Rhythm writes:
“If you wanna get it right, let’s get it right.” - Chuck Berry, to Keith Richards, Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll
Over the years, I’ve probably had more conversations about Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll than any other film, conversations ranging from the usual oh-my-God-you’ve-gotta-see-it stuff to late-night deconstructions of the […]