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Had to enter the item number in Fleabay's search box to get a .... gosh that is opportunistic.
I think it's in the Keith Richards film when Berry is arriving at Heathrow, he's at baggage reclaim and a Gibson case comes bouncing down the conveyor - Berry grabs it and starts to walk off without even looking at it. The interviewer says something like "Do you always travel like this? What would happen if your guitar got broken?" Berry looks like he thinks it's the stupidest question ever and replies "I'd buy another one."
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Legendarily too tight to pay for a proper band either, so would roll up with his guitar (cash up front from the promoter or no show) and lead a band of local players with no rehearsal, and generally be a dick to them. Interesting thread at TGP:
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/anyone-else-play-in-chuck-berrys-pickup-band.1756189/#post-22843567
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Berry fixed him with a steely gaze, then gave him a big smile and said, "Sure!"
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
My favourite from TGP was the guy who approached him and asked "say, aren't you... Bo Diddley?"
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Apparently Chuck used to have bad experiences with promoters back then too- he "sounded white" on the radio (presumably because he used big words and made jokes in his lyrics, I don't know...), and got booked on that basis. On several occasions promoters were unhappy when a black man turned up to play these lucrative Chuck Berry gigs.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
On the 'sounding white' subject, when I was a kid my grandmother was a fan of country singer Charley Pride… it was only much later that I found out he was black.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Fretboard scoop.
Chuck (who didn't have the stereotypical black facial features) was from a middle class background in a majority-white city that wasn't in the south, and sang about cars and high school with a fairly sophisticated vocabulary. Many of his black contemporaries, even if they lived in Chicago or some other big urban centre, were still singing about farming or cotton picking and being down on their luck with the accents and vocabulary of majority-black southern working class rural communities. You can see how people got the impression they did. Still, it's a long way from "you don't look like I imagined you did" to "you aren't going to be playing for these white kids".
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I have a film on DVD of Chuck Berry in concert with what looks like a scratch band (of all white guys) and the other guitar player is using a Les Paul that has the legendary 'wasp in a beercan' sound when ever he's given an opportunity to be heard. I've always wondered who these guys were and why they were playing with him.
http://tertl.blogspot.com - personal blog
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.