Maryport Blues Festival 2008 - 4 (Press Release)

The legendary, CHUCK BERRY, one of the most influential figures in popular music and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music will headline the Friday night at the Maryport Blues Festival on Friday July 25th.

Chuck Berry is the most important rock & roll artist; a great songwriter, guitarist and performer. John Lennon said "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

But Chuck Berry's roots are in the blues, and he played in blues bands, before travelling to Chicago in 1955 to meet Muddy Waters and Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Berry thought his blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording, entitled "Ida Red" that got Chess's attention. Chess had seen the blues market shrink and was looking to move beyond the rhythm and blues market, and he thought Berry might be that artist who could do it. So on May 21, 1955 Berry covered "Ida Red" (renamed "Maybellene") with Johnny Johnson, Jerome Green (from Bo Diddley's band) on the maracas, Jasper Thomas on the drums and blues legend Willie Dixon on the bass. "Maybellene" sold over a million copies, reaching #1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart and #5 on the Hot 100. The rest is history.

Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2000 in a "class" with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Angela Lansbury, and Clint Eastwood. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Chuck Berry #5 on their list of The Immortals: The First Fifty. He was also ranked 6th on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included three of Chuck Berry's songs (Johnny B. Goode, Maybellene, Rock & Roll Music), of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.

At maryport, Chuck will supported by DARLIN INGRID BERRY-CLAY- Vocals and harmonica, CHARLES BERRY Junior -guitar, JAMES MARSALA -bass, JEAN MICHEL BIGER - Drummer , DANIEL T. ROSSING -Piano

Thank you

Maryport Blues Festival Committee
www.maryportblues.com [email protected]