Chuck Berry Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Joel Vance

Critical Essay by Joel Vance

Berry was the first literate lyricist in rock-and-roll, and, so far as I'm concerned, he's still the champ. His delighted exploitation of the possibilities of the English language and his sophisticated sense of humor are unsurpassed in the field….

"Rockit" is precious not merely as a reminder of what he once was, but as evidence of how great he still is. Some of the songs here, such as Oh What a Thrill, are such pure, undiluted examples of Berry's late-Fifties style that they might have been written and recorded twenty years ago. Others are frankly updates: Havana Moon, one of Berry's B-sides from the Fifties, is re-created here without the West Indian accent he was then fond of using, and I Need You Baby is a rewrite of Elmore James' blues number It Hurts Me Too….

But three cuts here show quite a "new" Chuck Berry, different from the "classic"...
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