
Chuck Berry has died - Perados
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39318602
======
jbuzbee
A brilliant showman. If you can make your way through the corny "Rock! Rock!
Rock!"[1] movie of 1957 you'll see some pretty awful performances from artists
of the day. But then on comes Berry[2] His segment was heads-and-shoulders
above the rest and still enjoyable today.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCt4_Dwt-
Lk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCt4_Dwt-Lk)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKrHzps0XM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKrHzps0XM)

~~~
vesinisa
The first video is some one and half hours long. Any idea where to skip for
the Berry performance? edit: Ah, I get it, the second link is the Berry's
performance starting at 22:34.

~~~
jbuzbee
See link [2] above. Watch his body-language. His facial expressions. His
unique dance-movements. Where did all that come from? He was an original

------
bamboozled
It's hard to imagine how much of an positive impact Chuck's music has had on
the world over the last several decades.

I think it's worth mentioning that his music was selected to represent earth
on "Music from Earth" [1] which is a pretty great honour in my opinion.
Whether or not any other extra-terrestrials get to groove out to some Chuck
one time is another thing, but I sure hope they do.

Rest in peace Chuck Berry, thanks for all the great music!

[1]
[http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html](http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html)

------
Brendinooo
I always found it amazing that the guy who could be credited for the birth of
rock'n'roll more than anyone else was still alive. Longevity isn't as much of
a thing in the rock circles, and the genre has changed so much over time.

Also, major props for putting out a new studio album almost 40 years after his
previous one.[1]

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_(Chuck_Berry_album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_\(Chuck_Berry_album\))

~~~
gexla
Chuck Berry and Elvis generally get the "King" label not because of the music
they created, but because they achieved mainstream success with that music.
They crossed the racial divide to bring music which had very much a black
background (but also a white background) to the white youth of the day.
Another artist which often gets the "King" label is Little Richard, but for
the music rather than level of success.

------
rmason
Chuck Berry was so much a part of my childhood. As a kid in Detroit I was a
fan of WXYZ disk jockey Lee 'the horn" Allen. He was good friends with Berry
and often told the story that Chuck wrote several of his hits in the back seat
of his Caddy as they went from bar to bar.

As I went through school his music was never far behind. Even in his eighties
he could still rock the joint. Hoping I could see him do it in his nineties
but I guess not.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> Hoping I could see him do it in his nineties but I guess not.

He was supposed to have a new album in the works so you might at least still
get to hear that.

------
acheron
Will never forget that time Marty McFly taught him how to play rock and roll.

~~~
pthreads
"I guess you guys aren't ready for it yet, but your kids are going to love
it."

------
cyberferret
Chuck would have been (in one way or another) the inspiration for almost
everyone who plays guitar today. Aside from "Stairway to Heaven", the opening
riff to "Johnny B Goode" is one lick that almost every guitarist learns to
play. I've been playing that lick for 40 years, but still can't get it to
sound as cool as Chuck did... RIP.

~~~
tnecniv
That lick is my go to when I'm in the middle of a solo and need a minute to
think about where to go (and he definitely plays it cooler than me).

Even if lots of people today aren't aware of him, they're probably aware of
the uncountable number of artists he directly influenced. The Beatles, the
Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen [0] immediately come to mind.

[0] Coincidentally, I was watching a video of a Springsteen concert where he
was arranging a cover of a Chuck Berry song for his band on the spot
yesterday: [https://youtu.be/L-Ds-FXGGQg](https://youtu.be/L-Ds-FXGGQg)

~~~
cyberferret
Exactly. Many youngsters I meet today who were inspired by more contemporary
guitarist usually don't realise that _their_ heroes were in turn influenced by
Chuck. He was definitely one of the 'founding fathers' of modern guitar
playing.

~~~
Joeboy
And most who associate that riff with Chuck Berry aren't aware of this 1946
version of it:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqiWTb-
UWA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqiWTb-UWA)

Edit: Fixed link

~~~
tnecniv
I thought the parent was referring to playing a fifth on the top two strings
with a slide, not the blues shuffle (which dates back to at least Robert
Johnson).

~~~
Joeboy
Cyberferret refers to "the opening riff to Johnny B Goode", which is extremely
similar to the opening riff from Ain't That Just Like a Woman. For some reason
the link I pasted started several seconds in, which might be causing
confusion.

~~~
cyberferret
Thanks for posting, and for fixing the link too - I played it the first time
and missed it, and thought that you were talking about the standard blues
shuffle beat too.

------
coldcode
Many people don't realize that the only #1 hit Chuck ever had was the novelty
song "My Ding-a-Ling". It still cracks me up.

------
mgkimsal
"the great 28" was part of my musical "coming of age" in the 80s, and I
definitely annoyed the heck out of everyone else in the house practicing along
to that double album.

this is one of those people whose influence and impact will be felt for
decades to come (like les paul, hendrix and many other icons)

------
bengg
One of the first celebs to create a sex tape, Berry famously coined the phrase
"I like to do that" after farting in the face of a hooker. The video was
recovered in the late 1980's after a drug raid on Berry's house by Police. A
great man has left the world.

[http://efukt.com/21881_Chuck_Berry_Farting_On_Hookers.html](http://efukt.com/21881_Chuck_Berry_Farting_On_Hookers.html)

~~~
golergka
Just a warning for anyone who doesn't know, efukt is as NSFW as NSFW can get.

~~~
bengg
And yet, an undeniable cultural resource in this instance.

------
brudgers
"Send more Chuck Berry"

~~~
pjmorris
Two thumbs up... I saw that Weekend Update as well.

~~~
brudgers
I think of Berry every time Voyager's golden record shows up on Hacker News.

------
bboreham
One day, I thought "I should go see Chuck Berry, because he's getting old and
I'd like to see him before he dies"

So I did. That was in 1987.

Unlike standard rock concerts, Chuck Berry came on stage at exactly the time
printed on the tickets. He played exactly one hour, then he went off again. No
encores, no banter.

It was great, though. RIP.

------
exabrial
A bit of interesting history about the es-345 Marty used to play Chuck Berry's
Johnny be good in back to the future:
[http://bit.ly/2mHQzFG](http://bit.ly/2mHQzFG)

Spoiler: The guitar also traveled through time

------
maus42
I think it's remarkable that a recording of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode [1]
printed on gold is on its way towards Gliese 445 [2].

[1]
[http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html?linkId=356...](http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html?linkId=35613580)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record)

------
grabcocque
This was one of those TIL xxx was still alive moments.

------
slg
Reading this obituary reminds me of Michael Jackson's death. Someone dies and
suddenly all the bad things in their life are expunged. Berry was a very
influential and talented musician but he spent time in prison related to being
caught with a 14 year old suspected prostitute. He spent time in prison for
robbery. He spent time in prison for tax evasion. He settled a lawsuit for
video taping 50+ women including underage girls in the bathroom of his
restaurant. I get it, no one is perfect and a person's death is a time to
celebrate their life, but these crimes are part of his legacy. Not even giving
them a passing mention in his obituary sends a horrible message that if you
are talented enough you can get away with anything.

EDIT: This is currently the top comment, which likely isn't fair either. These
things are a part of the story of his life but they also probably shouldn't be
the top line. My point is simply we should be talking about his entire life
and this is a poor obituary for not even mentioning it. The New York Times has
a better obituary available at [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-
berry-dead.htm...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-
dead.html)

~~~
djtriptych
Wait was Michael Jackson ever convicted of a crime? How can you conflate the
two?

~~~
MisterBastahrd
No, but he settled lawsuits accusing him of being a child predator before they
made it to court.

~~~
djtriptych
It was settled by his insurance company, against MJ's wishes. He was also
actually tried, and found not guilty on 14 charges.

Not quite the same boat as Chuck Berry.

In any case, I'm a "separate the art from artist" kind of guy. There are no
saints.

~~~
volkk
At what point do you conjoin the two? Does the line vary? If a brilliant
painter turns out to be a convicted pedophile, for instance, would you still
hang their art on your wall? Just curious to hear opinions. I was just
wondering about this sort of thing the other day.

~~~
djtriptych
I guess I'd say that great art always speaks truth, and that truth has no need
for morality.

In particular I might argue that society might be better off if we were
collectively more offended by bad art than by good art made by bad people.

~~~
volkk
I see the argument. How bout this scenario: We uncover that Hitler (hello
Godwin's law) was a master sculptor, absolutely unparalleled. His art speaks
volumes, especially to those unbeknownst of its origins. How do you see the
art being viewed then? On one hand, he has the legacy of attempting genocide,
but on the other hand his art is amazing. What are the morality guidelines
behind this sort of predicament?

Does humanity keep it on display in a museum and continue his legacy in the
vicinity of works such as Rembrandt's? Even though it would undoubtedly offend
millions? Does the fact that it's great art outweigh the social negativity
surrounding the whole predicament?

~~~
djtriptych
Sure - I did consider a hypothetical Hitler as artist argument.

So, the boring rejoinder is that, yes, his work ought to be recognized on its
merits. Sculpture as a discipline shouldn't be punished for Hitler's sins.

Hung next to Rembrandt? Probably not, but then again how much do we know about
Rembrandt? There are plenty of great artists whose personal life we know
little about (see Shakespeare for instance. We don't know where he went to
school or what he looked like!) If we found out tomorrow he peeped on women in
the bathroom should we burn all our copies of Hamlet?

Anyway, regarding Hitler, a more interesting answer (to me) is that I'm not
convinced great art and the will to extinguish an entire people really exist
in the same soul. We know Hitler to be a failed artist. I wonder if good art
requires a sensitivity to the world that sociopaths simply do not possess.

~~~
slg
>Anyway, regarding Hitler, a more interesting answer (to me) is that I'm not
convinced great art and the will to extinguish an entire people really exist
in the same soul. We know Hitler to be a failed artist. I wonder if good art
requires a sensitivity to the world that sociopaths simply do not possess.

This is somewhat different from what you were discussing, but it genuinely is
interesting looking at his paintings. There is a penchant to read into them as
coming from the mind of one of humanities worst, but I am intrigued by the
fact that they are almost all paintings of architecture with some landscapes
mixed in. Any human that is depicted is just happenstance. There is also the
fact that Hitler's signature seems to be different in every painting that I
have ever seen of his. Do these facts suggest the painter is a man that never
identified with other people and constantly was in search of his own
consistent identity? Who knows. But it is at least a worthy discussion.

------
alistproducer2
Sort of relevant. I was watching an old movie that featured the original
writer and performer of "I put a spell on you." His name is screamin' j
Hawkins. I actually thought he was doing a cover. Apparently he is the real
father of shock rock. I consider myself to be a music afficionado and I was
completely unaware of this guy's contributions. I'm sure there are many that
don't know how much Chuck contributed to the creation of rock. Rest in peace
man.

~~~
alrs
I hope you've heard Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_n0vkzc8PU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_n0vkzc8PU)

~~~
alistproducer2
I actually have not. Thanks for sharing that. Now I've got something to watch
tonight.

------
vasira
RIP ! very sad to hear this. His guitar style was unique and popular. We all
will miss you

------
Pro_bity
I am curious, when HN became reddit? This seems like a total social shit post
not in keeping with HN.

~~~
coldtea
HN was always more than mere startup culture / computer science posts.

The same way that every balanced programmer (or scientist for that matter) has
always been.

And it's difficult to be an entrepreneur of any major scale if one doesn't
understand the society they live in, its culture, and its roots. Selling
socks, maybe.

~~~
krapp
Celebrity news and gossip is explicitly the sort of mainstream content which
HN is supposed to select against, and which doesn't belong here. No one on
Hacker News cared enough about Chuck Berry to post about him when he was
alive, why should his death be worth discussing now?

~~~
dang
Someone's death is often a moment to consider them, and HN has had discussions
like this for years. I'm sure no two readers share the same list of which such
discussions belong on HN, but as long as it's not excessive or predictable I
don't see why we shouldn't have them. Chuck Berry's a pretty important
historical figure.

~~~
backpropaganda
Why isn't this thread being flagged/deleted?

EDIT: I mean the comment thread, not the post.

~~~
krapp
I was downvoted considerably when I made similar complaints in the Carrie
Fisher thread, and so far I'm at -1 for my comment here.

It could be because Chuck Berry isn't nearly as much of a trigger for pop-
cultural nostalgia and trivia as Carrie Fisher, and so the thread simply isn't
as popular, or it could be that I'm not entirely wrong.

I used to be fine with these threads but over time they've gotten more and
more grating to me.

