Chuck Berry: the Biography

This book is fantastic!!! I learnt a lot of things I didn't know about the man, with a few surprises. I will read it again one day. He doesn't try to be anything but himself, his music is fantastic, the songs I dance to most are Johnny B. Goode and You Can Never Tell, 2 songs that bring me a lot of happiness. If you love his music and enjoy a good autobiography then you'll love this!

The great Chuck Berry in his owns - some of his language is a bit convoluted but still a great read

really honest , what a hard worker as well as a great rocker, strikes me he did it all with a smile on his face. , but why is he still playing ?

The book was very informative and well written completely by Chuck himself. I would recommend this book if you are a fan and even if you are not!

It is far more interesting to hear things written from Berry's perspective - this was a great book to read

Very good condition

The definitive Check Berry.

Excellent

Great book

My husband had said he wanted a book about Chuck Berry, so the autobiography seemed the best bet, and he has loved it.

This book is a gift . It came on time and I'm sure it will be well received.

buona condizione.

Chuck Berry wrote The Autobiography in 1987. He started it in 1959 and lost the manuscript in a fire and then restarted it while in prison in 1979 before finally completing it in the mid-1980s. This was time well spent time. Chuck Berry introduces his hardworking family clan and how music filled the humble houses, on Goode Street (as in „Johnny B. Goode“), of all places. The writing style is that of a genteel bygone southern era. Berry also tells you of his youth in early 20th century St Louis and doesn’t leave out where his mother sent him to get circumcised as a 17 year old with his older nurse girlfriend assisting in the operation (effectively ending the dis-approved relationship) or his 3 year spell in reform school/prison for armed robbery in 1944. He eased into playing live all while working as a carpenter with his father. In one of those fateful moments, Muddy Waters told him to seek out Chess Records in Chicago. Unexpectedly, "Maybeline" became a huge hit, but Leonard Chess assigned some of the song writing credits to the infamous DJ Alan Creed as a form of payola. Berry much later managed to get his publishing back. Teetotaler Berry made most of his money from touring, first with his original band, and then with pick-up bands positioned at the venues in order to keep costs low and avoid the annoyance of „loaded“ musicians. Even Bruce Springsteen once played as part of one of these backing bands. Berry put a lot of emphasis into investing in real estate and music related businesses he could keep under control in order to build up reserves for a rainy day. Even when he was incarcerated for allegedly transporting young women across state lines in the early 1960s, he uses the time to finish his high school diploma and brush up on business law. This was a time of unrepentant racism, where even a superstar got hassled at hotels, restaurants or just for driving nice car, especially if accompanied by a pretty girl. In one case he was turned away at a venue as the promoter thought Berry was white due to an overexposed press photo. Chuck Berry got paid anyway. Berry gives you a lot of background on the people in his life, often the women who helped him keep his business running. The bands from the British Invasion era all honoured their mentor and Berry continued to perform in his niche throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. By the mid 1970s, Chuck was audited by the IRS due to his wise habit of making sure he was paid for gigs upfront in cash. Some bookkeeping inconsistencies and testimony from less than well meaning business partners landed him in Jail for the 3rd and last time, albeit for only 3 months. Still, he was finally voted into the Rock N’ Roll hall of fame, where he jammed with the likes of Keith Richards. In the middle of the book, Chuck tells you about the creative process of a number of his most famous songs. Though this book is currently out of print, it is an extremely valuable historical testimony of the birth of Rock N’ Roll as seen by an American living legend. Steal it if you have to.