Happy Birthday to Chuck Berry who celebrates his 75th birthday on Oct 18.

"Together, Berry and sideman Johnnie Johnson - another St. Louisan and the inspiration for ``Johnny B.
Goode'' - blended blues, boogie and country to help shape rock music in the early 1960s. Johnson
composed the music on piano, and Berry converted it to guitar and wrote the lyrics. "


Chuck Berry Turns 75

By JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Chuck Berry still unleashes the bent-kneed duck walk and one-legged hop that
helped make him famous in the days of sock hops and soda shops.

``Sometimes I forget, and the fans remind me I can still do it. So I'll fire back,'' says Berry, who turns
75 on Thursday. ``If they want it, they got it.''

For the flashy showman behind ``Johnny B. Goode,'' life hasn't been bad.

``Rock's so good to me. Rock is my child and my grandfather,'' he said a few days before his birthday
bash Thursday night at The Pageant, a club in his hometown of St. Louis. He was to perform, along
with his friend Little Richard.

``I'd live this life again, with the exception of a few mistakes,'' Berry said. ``But you can't live without
the negatives, and the positives have outweighed the negatives.''

One of rock 'n' roll's most important architects, Berry pioneered a musical revolution that began
decades ago when couples bopped to his guitar-driven hits like ``Maybellene,'' ``Roll Over
Beethoven,'' ``Sweet Little Sixteen,'' ``Rock and Roll Music'' and ``No Particular Place To Go.''

He helped inspire Elvis and the Beatles, was inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters
halls of fame and last year got one of the nation's highest awards as a Kennedy Center Honor recipient.

``I think he's enduring,'' says Little Richard, who with Berry was among the first inductees into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. ``I think he's a great songwriter, great entertainer and one of the
greatest businessmen - black or white - in the business. He knows what he's doing.''

Berry learned to play guitar in his teens. Even Little Richard can't believe he's turning 75.

``I didn't know he was that old. I was really shocked,'' the 68-year-old says. ``But I'm glad to see him
make that age and still be energized to do what he's doing, still doing the split and all that stuff. That's a
blessin' and a lesson.''
.
.
.
Berry hasn't made an album in nearly two decades, but he still draws crowds. On the road, he plays
hour-long gigs in venues ranging from ballparks to casinos, amphitheaters to armories.

``I'm glad to be anywhere,'' says Berry, who has four children and six grandchildren. ``I'll be doing the
same thing as long as it doesn't hurt anybody, especially if it brings somebody happiness.''

He isn't worried about his legacy, and casts himself only as a man ``trying to do my best.''

``I have very little concern for sure about time and age,'' he says. ``If I feel 14, I act like it. If I feel old,
I'll lay down.''

``My grandfather smoked a pipe when they found him lying deceased in his bedroom. I'm hoping I'll
have just finished a practice in my room, with a guitar in my arms. That's the way I want to go.''

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011017/en/berry_at_75_1.html

I was in attendance when Chuck Berry was scheduled to do a concert with the Four Tops after a Pirate game in 1986. When the game went into extra innings, Berry refused to perform & the Four Tops did an extra long show. Bery wouldn't have had to wait long, as the game ended in 11 innings, but he still wouldn't play.

Since then, I have refused to buy or play any of his records.

Chuck Berry's 75th Birthday Party:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20130-2001Oct19.html

I hope they dropped his cake, said the vindictive Italian.

from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Sound + Vision: Happy 75th Birthday, Chuck Berry
By Daniel Durchholz
STLtoday.com entertainment editor
10/17/2001 07:09 AM

Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live
forever?
--Zechariah i. 5.

Forget for a moment most of what you know about Chuck
Berry—all the bad stuff at least, the stuff that involves minors and
state lines, nude photos with groupies, and all manifestations of sex,
lies and videotape. Forget his often mailed-in performances with
clueless backing bands, and a personality so bitter, standoffish and
downright mean, that even Keith Richards once wanted to punch
him out.

Instead, just go dig a Chuck Berry record out of your collection (or
perhaps your parents' or even grandparents' collection). Let it play, and think for a while about the
songs you're hearing—songs such as "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Rock and Roll Music,"
"Sweet Little Sixteen," "Johnny B. Goode," "Back in the U.S.A.," "No Particular Place to Go," and so on.

If you're young, these songs might not mean a heck of a lot, but they should. Folks of a certain age can
no doubt remember when they were the lingua franca of rock bands throughout the nation—indeed, the
world. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys all played Chuck Berry songs. Countless
lesser bands did, too, and when they ran out of their own material, they played his.

Simply put, Berry's music forms the greater part of the foundation of rock and roll. Had he never
managed to share his songs with the world, rock would still exist, but it'd be nowhere near as rich or
poetic.

Early on, Berry's ringing guitar was one of the genre's defining sounds, and his distinctive style
featured a blues rhythm section combined with elements of country & western music and vocals that
were racially nondescript (an important factor at the time in terms of gaining airplay on certain stations).

But it was Berry's lyrics that were truly special. He wrote about elemental teen topics such as girls,
cars, and school, but did so in a way that was never condescending to his audience. Instead, Berry
wrote intricate narratives like "Downbound Train" and "Memphis, Tennessee" and songs full of deft
wordplay (like that car "motorvatin' over the hill" in "Maybellene"). He created indelible characters such
as the guitar playing "Johnny B. Goode" and juke-box ingénues "Little Queenie" and "Sweet Little
Sixteen" as well as the rightfully proud black men described in "Brown Eyed Handsome Man."

In short, he took music that was thought of as a merely faddish, and took it to another level entirely.

Nearly half a century later, we're still riding the wave of that revolution, and for that, we owe him a debt
of thanks.

Berry turns 75 years old tomorrow, and he's celebrating the occasion with a concert at the Pageant.
Little Richard will perform as well, but there's someone else that I'd like to see behind the keyboard.
That's Johnnie Johnson, Berry's longtime piano player, his fellow member of the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, and depending on whom you believe, his possible collaborator on a fair number of the
abovementioned songs.

Johnson, of course, is currently suing Berry for co-writing credit and for a share of the royalties earned
by the songs. At the very least, millions of dollars are at stake. Pride—seemingly always a factor with
Berry, though almost never with the guileless Johnson, is in play here as well.

I'm not prepared to say who's right and who's wrong. The only two that know exactly who wrote what
all those years ago are Berry and Johnson.

I'm just sad that, because of this, their professional relationship has been sundered, and even worse,
as these men enter their twilight years, it's as enemies, not as friends, which is as it should be.

So even though the concert will mark a happy occasion tomorrow night, it'll be tinged with at least a
touch melancholy. Perhaps both Berry and Johnson should consider that even prophets don't live
forever. It's time for someone to blink or to bury the hatchet. A partnership that lasted as long as it did
and gave the world so much joy deserves that much.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 3 times, lastly by janet on Oct 19, 2001 ---</FONT></center>

post-party article from today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
(follow-up from previous post)

Chuck Berry and Little Richard
By Kevin C. Johnson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic
10/19/2001 10:25 AM

Rock 'n' roll and politics, which have always shared an
uncomfortable history at best, came together on stage at The
Pageant Thursday night when a near sold-out crowd that included
some of Missouri's most visible political heads paid tribute to
legendary rocker Chuck Berry.

The occasion marked Berry's 75th birthday, and drew a partying
crowd that not only featured Berry's family and friends, but
performers Little Richard
and Duke Robillard and a parade of policy makers including Gov. Bob
Holden, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, House Minority Leader Richard
Gephardt, University City Mayor Joe Adams, and St. Louis County
Executive George ``Buzz'' Westfall. At least a couple of the
politicians drew audibly boos when introduced to comment on Berry.

The booed Gephardt said of Berry: ``This man invented rock 'n' roll in
the United States of America, and during his whole career, he
brought people
together through his music.'' And this is a time, Gephardt said, when people need such unification. ``Do
you know what it means to have a senator come to my rock show?'' Berry asked the crowd at one
point, referring to state representative Gephardt.

Man of the day Berry was greeted with resounding cheers throughout the night, from the moment he
took the stage wearing a red sequined shirt that was as blazing as his guitar playing. Berry delivered a
classic set that most likely thrilled even those who catch his regular monthly gig at Blueberry Hill's Duck
Room, as he performed signature rock tunes like ``Roll Over Beethoven,'' ``Sweet Little Sixteen,'' and
``Rock and Roll Music.'' He managed to pull out his duck walk move four times during the set, each
instance drawing huge applause. He also performed ``Johnny B. Goode,'' inspired by his longtime piano
player Johnnie Johnson, who was noticeable absent (the two are in the midst of litigation). Another
person who has known Berry forever, his look-alike daughter Ingrid Berry Clay, was on hand to share
her immense vocal and blues harp playing on a few selections.

Little Richard, attempting to show more sequins than Berry, also gave a classic routine that included his
drama queen persona and his dynamite piano playing. He started out on a patriotic vibe with ``Living in
the U.S.A.,'' dedicated to Berry though the song was preceded by his comments on how much he loves
this country. ``Good Golly Miss Molly,'' ``Blueberry Hill,'' ``Old Time Rock 'n' Roll,'' ``Tutti Frutti,'' and ``I
Saw Her Standing There'' were songs of his own and others he performed.

He recruited about two dozen fans to dance during one song, ``Old Time Rock 'n' Roll,'' and a pair of
young men, Laurencin Dunbar and Michael Burks, for another song, ``Lucille.'' Berry joined him briefly
while Little Richard performed Stevie Wonder's version of ``Happy Birthday,'' but Berry and Little
Richard sadly never performed together.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by janet on Oct 19, 2001 ---</FONT></center>

Yep, Roy Rogers... born November 5, 1911. He obviously registered himself in the ArloNet database to get his name mentioned in the birthday list on the homepage, before he passed away....that's right, before he passed away.
I always knew he was a big Arlo fan. He probably got turned on to Arlo after hearing Arlo's "Son Of The Wind" album, or was it "Alice's Restaurant".
He would have turned 90 yrs. old today.
Happy Trails, Happy Birthday, cowboy!

Happy Birthday to Joni Mitchell
Born on this date November 7th, (different year)... 1943 I believe it was.
Born in Fort Mcleod, Alberta, Canada.

Happy Birthday to: Bonnie Raitt
Born November 8, 1949, Burbank, CA
Also, you can see Bonnie as a special guest of Arlo's in the 1987 TV special,
"The Arlo Guthrie Show." A 90 min. video available from Rising Son Records,
in the Get Stuff section.

Art Garfunkle has hit the 6 decade milestone today too!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Larry:

Art Garfunkel has hit the 6 decade milestone today too!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well actually, he hit the 6 decades + 3 days milestone today.
November the 5th, is the day that boy first disturbed the Sounds Of Silence
with cries for his momma. Are you by any chance going by your celery time calendar again ?
<center></center>

I celebrated Art's birthday...He's amazing!

Neil Young hits 56 today, and unless he gets married and changes his name, I suppose he will be "Forever Young" ? <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/confused.gif" width=15 height=22>
I think Neil will be that anyway!!! <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain,
but you can be fifty six on November 12.
That is.... if you're Neil Young.
Born 11-12-45 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Rust never <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/zzz.gif" width=20 height=24>

3 birthday posts within 8 minutes......
One Art, and two Young.
It's the, "Kerry, Larry, Levi Shared (but not proven safe) Brain Cell Conspiracy!"