Chuck Berry Collapses Onstage In Chicago
Got a text from a pal last night, saying he was at the Chuck Berry show in Chicago; then I read something this morning saying Berry collapsed onstage during the show? Well, the guy is 84 years old, and the online article also said he had shows in NYC last night PLUS... I know Berry doesn’t travel with a band (or rehearse with them either), so there’s that added stress of dealing with musicians he’s never met before. I have two musician pals/bandmates who tell me they’ve played with Chuck Berry, and here’s their stories:
Tam Milano (guitar/bass/vox) did a show with Chuck many years ago in St. Louis. According to him, the show’s promoter pays a performance fee PLUS a quality performance fee for the pickup band (which the promoter hires). If Chuck likes the band, he returns the extra fee; if he doesn’t like them... he keeps it.
Jeff Thomas (drums) says he played with Chuck in Chicago at the Cubby Bear years ago - I think he said Pinetop Perkins was on piano? He said he’d heard Chuck could be a little scary to deal with, but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to play with the legend. After all, when you listen to “Johnny B. Goode,” it’s not quite swing and not quite rock & roll - it’s both. The drummer is playing a swing beat, but the guitar is playing a choppier “cut beat”... to me, that’s the marriage of old & new right there, and where it all began.
So Jeff got the call and says: “Chuck rolls up in front of the bar, alone, driving an old, fine Cadillac. He walks in carrying his own amp & guitar, and that’s it. They run through some stuff at soundcheck, but that’s the only ‘rehearsal’ there is.” Come showtime, Jeff said he was nervous about Chuck going off on the band (he has that reputation, even famously punching Keith Richards on camera). But Jeff would close his eyes from time to time during the show, and there it was: The genesis of rock & roll, coming through strong, and he was right there with one of the original messengers.
Sometime during the show, he sees Chuck wander over to the keyboard player and talk in his ear. Jeff starts thinking “this is IT - Chuck’s going to go off!” But he doesn’t. Next, he rambles over to the bass player, and say something in his ear, too. After the show, Jeff pulls the keyboard player aside and asks “What did Chuck say to you?” The keyboardist replies: “He asked me what key we were in.” Next, Jeff asks the bass player the same question. Chuck had said to him “What song are we playing?”
Tam Milano (guitar/bass/vox) did a show with Chuck many years ago in St. Louis. According to him, the show’s promoter pays a performance fee PLUS a quality performance fee for the pickup band (which the promoter hires). If Chuck likes the band, he returns the extra fee; if he doesn’t like them... he keeps it.
Jeff Thomas (drums) says he played with Chuck in Chicago at the Cubby Bear years ago - I think he said Pinetop Perkins was on piano? He said he’d heard Chuck could be a little scary to deal with, but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to play with the legend. After all, when you listen to “Johnny B. Goode,” it’s not quite swing and not quite rock & roll - it’s both. The drummer is playing a swing beat, but the guitar is playing a choppier “cut beat”... to me, that’s the marriage of old & new right there, and where it all began.
So Jeff got the call and says: “Chuck rolls up in front of the bar, alone, driving an old, fine Cadillac. He walks in carrying his own amp & guitar, and that’s it. They run through some stuff at soundcheck, but that’s the only ‘rehearsal’ there is.” Come showtime, Jeff said he was nervous about Chuck going off on the band (he has that reputation, even famously punching Keith Richards on camera). But Jeff would close his eyes from time to time during the show, and there it was: The genesis of rock & roll, coming through strong, and he was right there with one of the original messengers.
Sometime during the show, he sees Chuck wander over to the keyboard player and talk in his ear. Jeff starts thinking “this is IT - Chuck’s going to go off!” But he doesn’t. Next, he rambles over to the bass player, and say something in his ear, too. After the show, Jeff pulls the keyboard player aside and asks “What did Chuck say to you?” The keyboardist replies: “He asked me what key we were in.” Next, Jeff asks the bass player the same question. Chuck had said to him “What song are we playing?”
