Download MP3   If you were going to rename “rock’n’roll”, you could call it “Chuck Berry”.  The man was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in St. Louis on October 18, 1926.  Sadly, he passed away of natural causes just two days ago, leaving a hole in the music industry that will never be filled.

This is one of my favorite Chuck Berry songs – I must have sung it a thousand times and often threw in piano solos that shouldn’t have been there.  I like the constant breaks in the music leading up to classic guitar solos.  Berry wasn’t what you’d call an “intricate” guitarist – he played primarily open chords but had lightening fast strumming that made it sound like a guitar solo even though it really wasn’t.  The man was a genius.

He wrote “No Particular Place To Go” when he literally had “no place to go”.  He was in prison in 1959 for a crime that probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted if he weren’t black.  He spent that time writing songs (this was one of them) and studying accounting – which helped him tremendously in his career after he was released – except for the fact that he then insisted on being paid in cash – which eventually got him in trouble with the IRS … well, CRAP!  His life had its up and downs, but he’ll always be remembered as the “Father of Rock’n’Roll”.  You’ll be missed, Mr. Berry… by all of us.  Now you’ve got a place to go forever – rock’n’roll heaven.

If you’re a singer out there doing a job this weekend, use my backups and learn this song quick.  Pay tribute to “the man”.