Chuck Berry by RJ Smith
$7.99
Chuck Berry
- An American Life
- By: RJ Smith
- Narrated by: Phil Morris
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Categories: Arts & Entertainment
About this listen
The definitive biography of Chuck Berry, legendary performer and inventor of rock and roll
Best known as the groundbreaking artist behind classics like “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene,” “You Never Can Tell” and “Roll Over Beethoven,” Chuck Berry was a man of wild contradictions, whose motives and motivations were often shrouded in mystery. After all, how did a teenage delinquent come to write so many songs that transformed American culture? And, once he achieved fame and recognition, why did he put his career in danger with a lifetime’s worth of reckless personal behavior? Throughout his life, Berry refused to shed light on either the mastery or the missteps, leaving the complexity that encapsulated his life and underscored his music largely unexplored—until now.
In Chuck Berry, biographer RJ Smith crafts a comprehensive portrait of one of the great American entertainers, guitarists, and lyricists of the 20th century, bringing Chuck Berry to life in vivid detail. Based on interviews, archival research, legal documents, and a deep understanding of Berry’s St. Louis (his birthplace, and the place where he died in March 2017), Smith sheds new light on a man few have ever really understood. By placing his life within the context of the American culture he made and eventually withdrew from, we understand how Berry became such a groundbreaking figure in music, erasing racial boundaries, crafting subtle political commentary, and paying a great price for his success. While celebrating his accomplishments, the book also does not shy away from troubling aspects of his public and private life, asking profound questions about how and why we separate the art from the artist.
Berry declined to call himself an artist, shrugging that he was good at what he did. But the man's achievement was the rarest kind, the kind that had social and political resonance, the kind that made America want to get up and dance. At long last, Chuck Berry brings the man and the music together.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 R. J. Smith (P)2022 Hachette Books
GEORGE JOHNSON
Great listen.
It I thought it was fair to Chuck. Complicated guy, but his music was great.
Kathryn
how in-depth they would go painting out the picture of explaining who the other people were within the store
very informative I enjoyed the narration it was a little difficult at the beginning I spent a lot of time painting the picture of what Saint Louis was like at the exception of a state and try to explain the world that Barry grew up in at one point my wife said I thought this is documentary on Chuck Berry she thought it was a documentary on St Louis is a spend a lot of time with it but after that it was very important it was a complicated man without the matter