Blast from the Past: Chuck Berry at The Cavern Club

This Day In History
Chuck Berry’s one and only performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool on February 27, 1967, is a notable moment in rock history, though details are sparse due to the era’s limited documentation. The Cavern, a cramped, sweaty basement venue on Mathew Street, was already legendary by ’67, thanks to the Beatles’ early gigs there. Berry, then 40 and a towering figure in rock and roll with hits like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven,” brought his signature guitar riffs and duck-walking stage antics to a crowd of eager Merseyside fans.

Liverpool’s lucky few witnessed a cornerstone of music history, no footnotes needed.

There’s no full setlist preserved, but Berry’s shows from that period typically leaned on his catalog of classics—“Maybellene,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” maybe “Memphis, Tennessee”—delivered with his raw, bluesy energy. The Cavern’s tiny stage, barely 12 feet wide, would’ve made his usual showmanship a tight squeeze, but that likely amped up the intimacy. Fans packed in, probably spilling into the venue’s arched brick tunnels, soaking up a rare chance to see an American pioneer in a space built for local acts.

When I saw Chuck Berry in the Convocation Center at Ohio University (as one act in a touring Rock N Roll Revival that included Sha Na Na and a host of Fifties and early Sixties groups) he had ample room to duckwalk all he wanted, and from my vantage point directly behind the stage the bright-eyed faces never wanted him to stop. The contrast between the venues is striking. The Cavern Club could pack 300 or so, the Convocation Center 5,000.

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Chuck Berry's house in the 1950s where he wrote
most of his greatest hits. (Photo: Gary Firstenberg)

Chuck Berry died on March 18, 2017, at his home near Wentzville, Missouri. He was 90 years old, and authorities confirmed he passed due to natural causes. More than 1,000 people lined up to pay respects before he was laid to rest at Bellerive Heritage Gardens Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, alongside his wife, Themetta “Toddy” Berry, who passed in 2019. 

Chuck Berry's tomb in St. Louis. (Photo: Gary Firstenberg)

Click to enlarge.

Rare photo of the legendary rocker showing Berry's red Gibson ES-335 guitar which accompanied him in the grave. The site’s a quiet nod to his roots, just miles from where he shaped rock and roll. This and the other photos below also courtesy Gary Firstenberg.

When the St. Louis Blues won NHL Championship, 2019

RELATED LINKS

Who Will Berry Whom?
Chuck Berry w/Bruce Sprngsteen: Johnny B. Goode

Who Will Berry Whom?

When Nikita Khrushchev made his 

provocative pronouncement,

"We will bury you!"...

Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev.

President Eisenhower missed

a golden opportunity to offer this witty reply:

"WE WILL BERRY YOU!!"

Legendary photographer Gary Firstenberg
strums Chuck Berry's guitar.

I saw Chuck Berry once when I was in college.
He was traveling with a pack of 1950s rock 'n rollers, doing the

rock 'n roll revival thing. This memory brought to mind a time 

I was at the Indianapolis Airport waiting for an early flight. 

About 30 WWF wrestlers straggled in and sat all around me. 

The thought I had was that one wrestler couldn't fill a night club 

but a whole squadron might fill a small stadium.

This is what the Rock N Roll Revival was about... packing small

stadiums like the Convocation Center in Athen. Even Chuck 

Berry's patented duckwalk would get old after awhile if he tried

to carry the whole evening alone. So these veteran stars came

together to share the stage, increase their audience size and 

get paid to do what they loved to do... Perform.

The Platters, Shirelles, Sha Na Na and a host of others...
Was Bo Diddley there? He might have been. 

Chuck Berry was fo' sure.

* * * 

If you like word games, you may have noticed that 

Bury and Berry are homonyms. Here's a story I created 

using as many homonyms as I could think of, & it was a lot.

How I One the Wore

Letter from Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan to Chuck Berry

Nevada Bob Gordon helping Chuck Berry 
strum while doing his famous duckwalk.
(Statue across from Blueberry Hill night 
club where Berry often played.)
 

One of the most memorable scenes in the film Back to the Future --yes, I know there were many, many, many--was when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) took the stage and played electric guitar with the Black musicians who were performing on prom night. This was the 50s and when he broke into an insanely wild guitar solo, one of the players called his cousin Chuck (Berry) and said, "Hey, you gotta listen to this."  

Meanwhile everyone had stopped dancing and was just staring dumbfounded. Marty pauses to say, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it."

Thanks to Hollywood, we now know how Chuck Berry found his inspiration. 

In the year following this film the Voyager interstellar spacecraft was sent off to go where no man (or woman) has gone before. On board the Voyager were a variety of items from Earth to export to the stars. One of these was Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode.*

Here's the letter that was sent to Mr. Berry from Cornell University.

15 October 1986

Mr. Chuck Berry
c/o Mr. Nick Miranda
12825 Four Winds Farm Drive
St. Louis, MO 63131

When they tell you your music will live forever, you can usually be sure they're exaggerating. But Johnny B. Goode is on the Voyager interstellar records attached to NASA's Voyager spacecraft now two billion miles from Earth and bound for the stars. These records will last a billion years or more.

Happy 60th birthday, with our admiration for the music you have given to this world...

Go Johnny, go.

Ann Druyan

Carl Sagan

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 

On behalf of the 

Voyager Interstellar 

Record Committee

The abandoned Chuck Berry house at 3137 Whittier in St. Louis

Photos courtesy Gary Firstenberg

"Turning Negatives Into Positives"

*Trivia: I was told that Chuck Berry actually took the riff for Johnny B. Goode from Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like A Woman." Carl Hogan' guitar intro is note-for-note used by Berry years later.

A Quick Snapshot: A Leisurely Visit with Gary Firstenberg Here in the Northland

World's oldest soccer ball. Sterling, Scotland.

The world is full of interesting people and it just so happens that many of them are music fans. Of this set of people there is a subset that is profoundly motivated to do more than listen to the music but also make time to visit important places in the lives of people they appreciate and admire. For this reason, there is a steady stream of people who visit the Northland to see the homes Bob Dylan grew up in and experience his early influences.

Mural by Wyland on the Edgewater Hotel, Seattle where Beatles stayed in 1964.

On Monday, Gary Firstenberg stopped at the Duluth home of Bob Dylan and as it turns out I was in town, so we quickly connected that he might gain a few pointers on points of interest that are off the beaten trail. GF has been an avid Dylan fan since Blood on the Tracks, has since collected and become intimately acquainted with all his music over the years. 

A professional photographer, his chief gig has been traveling the world with the internationally acclaimed "whale muralist" Wyland as his official photographer. The 60-year-old marine life artist is a celebrated conservationist who has painted more than 150 whale murals around the world.

As you can see from this array of photos, GF's passion for people and places is extensive.

Bruce Springsteen wrote "Born to Run" in this house, Long Branch, NJ

Gary F with Tracy Smith from CBS Sunday Morning. (Pre-pandemic)

Grave of Buddy Holley in Lubbock, TX

Buddy Holly's glasses.

Nevada Bob Gordon album cover: Long Trail to Nowhere.

Buddy Holly's guitar.

House where Chuck Berry wrote his classic hits in the 50s that influenced 

Gary F with Fred Tackett of Little Feat who did session work with Dylan in Nashville.

One of the six officers who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald in the Texas Theater.

At 13 this man played Dueling Banjos in the film Deliverance.

He now works in a Wal-Mart in Clayton, Georgia.

Firstenberger with "W". Gary has more than 100 photos in
the George W Bush Presidential Library.

Firstenberg has had the privilege of shooting five presidents (with his camera) and attending key moments in music history (funeral of Aretha, private audience with Fats Domino) and a documentarian of four decades of New Orleans jazz. 

In addition to photography Firstenberg has an extensive entrepreneurial bent, but that's a much more involved story. In the meantime....

Here's a link to his website. Ye shall be impressed.

www.firstinphoto.smugmug.com

Chuck Berry at 90, Art Shows and Bucket Lists

"Is it rolling, Bob?" ~Nashville Skyline

This week I saw a news story about Chuck Berry releasing an album of new songs at age 90. Wowzer. Made me wonder what I will be doing for my 90th birthday. I immediately thought of former president George Bush's 90th birthday parachute jump. Then my mind meandered to the notion of bucket lists, parachute jumping in general (I made three jumps in college, before the tandem thing became preeminent) and what it was like to see Chuck Berry at Ohio U in 1973.

If it was indeed 43 years ago that I saw Chuck Berry, that means he wasn't even 50 yet. Back in those days Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane stated that no rock 'n roller should still be playing after age 50, that it was indecent (or something to that effect.) If I recall correctly her issue with old rock 'n rollers was that the songs were about protest against the establishment and the old people who ran it. So, has anyone seen her remarks about Coachella's Desert Trip?

To be frank, I would be interested in hearing what kind of songs Chuck Berry has been writing from the vantage point of a long life lived. As a result of an encounter with Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry signed with Chess Records in Chicago. Two Beatles covers were Chuck Berry hits from that time.

* * * *

Hanging the new show at Goin' Postal

So, what's it going to be? How's your Friday going? Here's a re-cap of three art events you might want to check out if you're here in the Twin Ports.

The Goin' Postal Fall Art Show is from 6-9 and will be at the usual location in Superior down by the tracks on Tower Ave, though the after party will move to the newly renovated Cedar Lounge. (FREE)

From 3-5 this afternoon there will be a We're Moving show at Art on the Plaza. Their new address will be 1413 Tower starting in November, but their closing celebration is at their Belknap Plaza location and you should try to be there, if nothing else than to hear Similar Dogs perform a couple songs with a guest harmonica player. (FREE)

Finally, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. the DAI Make Your Mark Fund Raiser is being conducted down at 1400 Railroad Street, between the Silos and Garfield. There will be local artists making live art as well as plenty more to see with many of the usual suspects on hand. ($50 per person) The attire is Lumberjack Chic, as there is no heat in the building. There will be lots of artists making art, however, generating a measure of warmth thereby. The turn is just before the tracks if you're coming from the direction of the AMSOIL Arena/Bayfront Park. Follow the signs till you get there.

* * * *
As for Bucket Lists, I first wrote about bucket lists in this 2009 blog post, and in re-reading it I can see that my somewhat short list is pretty much obsolete. Do you have a "Bucket List" and if so, how serious are you about it. I know some people swear by them as a means of staying motivated for living a life of purpose. What activity are you saving for your 90th birthday?

Well, if that seems a little beyond the scope of your imagination, then just make it your aim to visit with us at Goin' Postal tonight. There's a great batch of talent making art for the Duluth Art Institute, too. Live. For information on additional upcoming DAI exhibitions and events, here's a link to check out.

See you there.... or here, or wherever. It's a weekend. Why not start with art. 

Cultural Literacy

We often take so much for granted. This is especially true in our communication. We say something and assume everyone else knows what we’re talking about. The reality is that we are in the midst of a national communication breakdown.

Our American education system can’t be entirely to blame, but it is a contributing factor. Instead of teaching young people to love literature and learning, we “teach to the test” and strive to simply make sure they get a passing grade, even if they learn nothing. Sure, there are exceptional teachers, but all too often the pressures are there for outcomes and not real learning.

E.D. Hirsch, Jr. wrote an important book called Cultural Literacy which addresses this theme. The subtitle is What Every American Needs To Know. Hirsch argues that there is certain knowledge that is fundamental in order to function in our modern society. When writers write and politicians speak, there is a background to their words. Without understanding that background, we often miss the point of what they are attempting to convey.

Wikipedia defines “cultural literacy” as “the ability to converse fluently in the idioms, allusions and informal content which creates and constitutes a dominant culture. From being familiar with street signs to knowing historical references to understanding the most recent slang, literacy demands interaction with the culture and reflection of it.”

Professor Hirsch devotes many pages of his book to making a distinction between important knowledge and trivia. In the realm of people, for example, it is important to know who Benedict Arnold and Judas were, not so important to know Betsy Ross. Arnold and Judas have become metaphors for betrayal. Betsy Ross was of many who made early contributions in our history.

Hirsch ends his book with an appendix that lists 5000 names, phrases, dates and concepts which “every American” ought to know. Here are some of the items from that list. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t know some of them. Instead, make a decision to be a lifelong learner. It will increase your influence and strengthen your confidence as you interact with others in our challenging, modern world.

Important Dates
1066

1492

1776

1861-1865

1914-1918

1939-1945

and (the book) 1984

Important People (these are just a few of the many names in Hirsch's list)

Henry Aaron

Adam and Eve

John Adams

John Quincy Adams

Adonis

Muhammed Ali

Woody Allen

Hans Christian Anderson

Attila the Hun

Saint Augustine

Bacchus

Clara Barton

Ludwig von Beethoven

Chuck Berry

Billy the Kid

Robert Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Cain and Abel

Catherine the Great

Fidel Castro

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Copernicus

John Dewey

etc.

Examples of expressions, concepts and events would include:

Conditioned reflex

Crossing the Rubicon

Cuban missile crisis

Cum laude

Custer's last stand

Cut the Gordian knot

Diplomatic immunity

Dialectical materialism

Double indemnity

Dreyfuss affair

Fiddling while Rome burns

Fireside chat

Frankenstein's monster

Golden Rule

etc.

You get the picture. The book is worth your time, as is your investment in lifelong learning. At the very worst, you'll become a better team mate in your next game of Trivia Pursuit.