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keefriff99
He sounds and looks amazing here, and he was 62!
It really sucks that he wasted his talent and career by not writing or recording anything of note past the '70s, and by never paying a decent backing band to accompany him onstage.
He could've been so much more impactful to the rock'n'roll community later into his career if greed and bitterness hadn't derailed him.
And yes, I KNOW he had nothing left to prove after the '60s, but it's still a shame that he was content playing with sloppy local backing bands and never writing new music.
I think Johnny's house band (led by Doc Severinsen) was backing up Chuck.Quote
Maindefender
Was there some sort of agreement that the band couldn't be seen during the performance? Strange that he had the back and forth but camera was fixed on Chuck…lol
The audience sure loved it!!
Yeah, you're right. Chuck, and Chuck alone, is responsible for the quality of his live performances, not the poor bands that had to deal with his erratic nature.Quote
TheBadRabbitQuote
keefriff99
He sounds and looks amazing here, and he was 62!
It really sucks that he wasted his talent and career by not writing or recording anything of note past the '70s, and by never paying a decent backing band to accompany him onstage.
He could've been so much more impactful to the rock'n'roll community later into his career if greed and bitterness hadn't derailed him.
And yes, I KNOW he had nothing left to prove after the '60s, but it's still a shame that he was content playing with sloppy local backing bands and never writing new music.
I agree with everything you said, but please don't blame the local backing bands for Chuck's poor performances. I saw him in the early 80s (Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee) and it was easily the most unprofessional, disappointing rock n roll show I've ever seen; and none of it had to do with the backing band--it was all Chuck. His touring M.O. is to show up minutes before showtime, tell the band "OK, we're gonna play Chuck Berry songs" and go on stage. The problem is that Chuck changes the arrangements to songs whenever he feels like it and plays in odd, un-rock n roll keys, like B flat. At the show I saw he continually stopped songs to "instruct" the band how he wanted it played, then ignored his own instructions and berated the poor band for not getting it "right." Honestly, I don't think he played a complete song the entire night. The big finale was a rushed, one-verse-one-chorus Johnny B Goode, a half-hearted duck walk and he was gone.
A true American poet and the real king of rock n roll but, sheeesh, what a jerk.