Death of Chuck Berry, father of our identity

News Mondays - Jonas Follonier

We sometimes tend to think that evolutions - be they societal, musical or technical - take place day by day, bit by bit, through a series of tiny changes which, when added up, form one big one. But this is not the case: the great revolutions take place at precise moments in history. Chuck Berry's death on Saturday, March 18, 2017 invites us to travel back to the end of the fifties, a pivotal moment in the history of rock and roll, to understand what this man changed in the destiny of the most influential music there has ever been.

The various media that have paid tribute to Chuck Berry have presented him as one of the Fathers of rock ‘n’ roll and rock 'n' roll, not even knowing themselves what the definition of these two terms is. In reality, if we consider rock and roll to be an evolution of rhythm and blues, with a synthesis of blues and country, then Chuck Berry is not the inventor of rock and roll, but he remains indisputably (along with Fats Domino and Little Richard) one of the three creators of a new kind of music. some form of rock and roll.

This was the musical genre that would later evolve into the rock we know today, influenced by folk, blues and, of course, pop. The rock of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd - each band with its own influences, of course. Berry's rock and roll is a music of limpid guitar solos, simple but important civic lyrics, consumerism and teenage chicks and cars.

From Maybellene to Rock and Roll Music including the famous Johnny B. Goode, At the end of the fifties, a real system was put in place. It's music that makes sense, that leaves room for the performer, that gives him or her depth, that knows how to handle arrangements so that a perfect balance is established between the various guitars, bass, drums, piano, voice and sometimes harmonica. Chuck Berry's rock - the good rock, that is, the real rock - is first and foremost an experiment in sound. When you make rock, you're looking for sounds.

Apart from French singer Christophe, who's still looking for sounds today? Perhaps this is the reason for the current decline of rock in general. The former editor-in-chief of Rock & Folk, Philippe Manœuvre is right: the people of Europe are losing interest in rock. But where does this weariness come from? Undoubtedly, it's the overflow of possibilities, the overflow of computer trickery, that we're experiencing in our time. Rock only made sense when the average musician couldn't make an album at home on his own, but had to work like crazy, innovate, and then convince a label.

Read also | Philippe Manœuvre: «I fight for music all the time!»

Beyond these considerations, Chuck Berry's death is that of all our fathers. Because, yes, rock is part of our musical identity. In the same way that, believers or non-believers revelation conditions us, the revolution of rock and roll conditions us, whether we like this style of music or not.

So I mourn the death of the old black man all the more, because it brings with it the death of rock. It's the end of an era; our children won't be listening to it anymore. Johnny B. Goode. And there aren't many of us left who do. But rest assured: sometimes the minority is right.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@gmail.com