Chuck Berry did play steel

Mark Zinns · Post by **Mark Zinns** » 10 Jun 2002 12:36 pm

The question was posed a while back if Cuck Berry really did play pedal steel? Well, at the end of his movie " Hail, Hail Rock & Roll", there is good ol' CB playing a Fender 400. The movie was on AMC a few days ago. He was playing a kind of haunting delta blues thing. Although I don't think he was using the pedals, he sounded pretty decent. Did anybody else see this? I bet that Fender 400 will be worth alot more than the average 400.

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 10 Jun 2002 1:00 pm

I've seen that documentary a couple of times. I especially like the comments by Keith Richards about working with Berry. And the shot during the concert when Berry goes to Richards and tries to change the key of the song...

Ian McLatchie · Post by **Ian McLatchie** » 10 Jun 2002 1:04 pm

Mark: It's a nice scene, that one. Berry did a little recording on steel, some simple but effective playing. "Deep Feeling" and "Crying Steel" both appear on a number of anthologies.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 10 Jun 2002 2:01 pm

If you ever get the chance to see Chuck Berry's home movies do yourself a favor and don't.

Bob

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 10 Jun 2002 3:45 pm

Maybe we can get him to play at the convention.

Harry Hess · Post by **Harry Hess** » 10 Jun 2002 6:00 pm

On "Deep Feeling" he used the A&B pedals. In the movie, it looks like he's playing with a "flat pick" !!!

If only it was that easy. You can't beat Chuck's 50's and early 60's songwriting though. He was as good a songwriter as anybody.

Regards,
HH

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 10 Jun 2002 9:57 pm

Low Feeling + Blue Feeling are the only tunes i know of that Crazylegs played Steel on. those tunes are on the "one dozen Berrys"
lp: Chess LP 1432
"Hail Hail Rock + Roll" is a good one all right. Thanx to Keith Richards for puttin' up the $$$ and commemorating Chucks 60th B Day.
Chucks Bio is also a good one.
Steel hailin' grandpa Chuck...

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 11 Jun 2002 3:34 am

I'd like to know about Chuck's home movies...

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 11 Jun 2002 5:57 am

no you wouldn't

ok, maybe you WOULD

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 11 Jun 2002 6:23 am

I think they're still in police custody...

Peter Dollard · Post by **Peter Dollard** » 11 Jun 2002 3:31 pm

A few years ago I read Chuck's biography. In it he describes writing Johnny B Goode and changing the line "My but that little colored boy could play" to "Country boy". He said that in 1957 the economically correct thing to do was to change it. What a sense of humor...Pete

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 11 Jun 2002 5:00 pm

The next time I play at a steel show, I'm going to sing Johnny B Good and introduce it by saying "Here's a song written by a steel player."

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 12 Jun 2002 3:08 am

Tom Morrell (on Pteradactyl Ptales #4) does a tune based on Berry's "Deep Feeling" that takes it to a whole 'nother level.

Eric Stumpf · Post by **Eric Stumpf** » 15 Jun 2002 5:43 pm

The tune Chuck is playing at the end of the documentary is "Floyd's Guitar Blues" which was written and originally recorded by Floyd Smith with the Andy Kirk band (Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy). Smith performed this tune on electric Hawaiian guitar tuned in E7th tuning as a novelty solo when not playing standard guitar with the orchestra. The recording can be heard on the 1980 MCA LP catalog # MCA-1308 Andy Kirk: "Instrumentally Speaking" 1936-1942

Harry Hess · Post by **Harry Hess** » 16 Jun 2002 3:59 am

That's interesting Eric,

If so, then I guess you would say that Chuck "appropriated" it into "Deep Feeling" in the tradition of the early blues players like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson having identical tunes credited to themselves on their recordings.

Regards,
HH

P.S. I'm looking at my tan Chess LP Box Set that I thought I lost with the matching book that Chuck autographed for me when I met him backstage in upstate New York back in '94. I tooled up there from Delaware in my red MGB/GT. My parents were both still alive and reasonably healthy and I didn't have a care in the world. My parents are both gone now, God bless them and the MG will soon be gone also. Cha,Cha,Cha,Changes..........[This message was edited by Harry Hess on 16 June 2002 at 05:11 AM.]

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 2 Apr 2006 8:43 am

I saw Hail Hail Rock & Roll last night for the first time, and sure enough, as mentioned in this old thread, there was Chuck playing the Fender 400 at the end.
Pretty cool!
An enjoyable film, all in all.
pb
[This message was edited by Pete Burak on 02 April 2006 at 09:48 AM.]

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 2 Apr 2006 9:35 am

Maybe we could put Chuck and Garcia in the Hall of Fame at the same time. We could save room and put them both on the same plaque for all their steel contributions.

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 2 Apr 2006 9:51 am

Also "Blues for Hawaiians" on lapsteel or bottleneck ...[This message was edited by Paul Arntson on 02 April 2006 at 10:53 AM.]

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 2 Apr 2006 12:14 pm

I heard that when Chuck Berry was touring with Bill Haley in the middle 50's, on one occasion Bill's non-pedal steel player was sick and Chuck filled in for him.

By the way, if you read the excellent biography of Bill Haley, "Sound and Glory" there's an interesting story there about Bill saving Chuck's life. They were in a southern state and a lynch mob was after Chuck who had been amorous with a white girl. Bill hid him in his tour bus behind the amps at the back of the bus.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 2 Apr 2006 1:19 pm

What's the deal with his home movies?

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Billy Wilson · Post by **Billy Wilson** » 2 Apr 2006 1:31 pm

I like the part of the movie where he introduces Julian Lennon as "my good friend John Lennon"

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 2 Apr 2006 3:19 pm

CB's Golden Decade #2 has a steel instrumental "Mad Lad". Not the greatest delivery, but steel just the same.

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 2 Apr 2006 4:29 pm

According to his home videos, he likes the "push-pull".......sorry, had to say it.

Darryl Hattenhauer · Post by **Darryl Hattenhauer** » 5 Apr 2006 6:15 pm

I don't want to see Chuck's home movies because my daughter might be in them.

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"Drinking up the future, and living down the past"--unknown singer in Phoenix