I like Chuck Berry, not an avid fan, but an admirer. However, I am beginning to bridle at the hagiographic presentation of him that has emerged following his demise, culminating in the promotion of his new album from Decca describing him as the founding father of rock and roll. Propaganda and public relations exercises can subtly alter public perceptions and can indeed distort history to the extent that an exaggeration becomes a lie. Now I am not saying that the publicity surrounding Chuck's death is all a lie, but if there is a founding father of rock and roll it is undeniably Bill Haley. Rock Around the Clock was a historical event. That record changed history and genuinely revolutionised western culture to the extent that it gradually affected the rest of the world.
I consider that there have been three records that have had historical consequences, the aforementioned Rock Around the Clock, Heartbreak Hotel and She Loves You. Bill Haley was responsible for the phenomenon that emerged into the world, the teenager. Before Haley, young people were not represented as a distinct social group and his music resulted in a definable social entity, the teenager, out of which emerged, fashions, cultures, language and a considerable and worldwide demonstrable economic outcome, the pop music industry. Haley was a genuine revolutionary. Heartbreak Hotel introduced the world to Elvis. If any one person must rank along with the most defining individuals of the twentieth century Elvis must take his place in their ranks. She Loves You introduced the world to the phenomenon of the Beatles, who, before that record were largely confined to a British audience. There can be no debate about the impact of the Beatles on music, culture, and historical development in British society and beyond. I once watched an interview with Sir Malcolm Sargent the great classical musician and conductor who was asked what had created the greatest impact on classical music in his lifetime and he answered without hesitation, the Beatles. A bewildered interviewer asked him to explain and he told how the Beatles had generated such a massive income into the musical industry that record companies could now record symphony orchestras and classical musicians that they would not have done before because they could not afford it. He explained how a classical recording was so expensive it may take twenty years to recoup the costs but thanks to the Beatles and the resultant British pop explosion, companies now had the assets to allow them to do that and the Beatles explosion had led to a huge increase in classical output and investment. He concluded that the classical music community owed a massive debt to the Beatles.
Chuck Berry was good, and was influential, but when asked about their influences, the Beatles for example, replied Buddy Holly. No-one has ever had the influence, nor the imitators, that Elvis has had and continues to have. If any artist from the twentieth century is still being played and bought in the twenty second century, it will be Elvis. He still outsells everyone from the twentieth century, even the Beatles, forty years after his death. Yesterday stands as the most recorded song ever, having been covered by over 3,700 different artists including people like Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, The Berlin Philharmonic, to mention a few, defining the enormous influence the Beatles had on music and culture. All such developments are the result of Bill Haley and Rock Around the Clock. It may be argued that this movement was just waiting to happen and if it hadn't been Haley it would have been someone else, but it was Haley, it wasn't Chuck Berry.
I was fortunate enough to attend a Bill Haley concert and he was as good live as he was on record. People will always debate such things and will challenge my opinions and that is good, but the founders of rock and roll were Haley, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, and of course Chuck Berry. After Haley and Elvis you can put them in any order you like, but you cannot realistically put Chuck in the same category as those two giants in terms of influence and impact. Haley was the father of modern pop music with Elvis its greatest ambassador and exponent. The Beatles were their greatest legacy. That is the Kommirat's opinion, and I have been fortunate enough to live through it all and see many of these greats in concert. It has been a privilege.
Your Servant
Doktor Kommirat
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