Camryn+F.

As you research your selected guitarist, you will need to note some specific information from his or her life and career. Include the following in your final writing: Details for your written assignment: ,
 * Introduction
 * Biography
 * Discography
 * Legacy
 * Conclusion

Your Guitarist Name: Chuck Berry

Write your essay here! : Potentially the most renowned rock-and-roll guitarist of all time, Chuck Berry was truly the father of the style that we know today. Mixing the blues that he grew up to with the slowly growing upbeat sounds that would later be named "rock-and-roll", Berry created the basis for one of the most popular and most lasting styles of music today. The impact he made on America's music has left an unforgettable legacy.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Chuck Berry was raised into knowing music. It became familiar to him through his family's involvement in their church choir, the blues and country tunes he heard on the radio, and several classes he took. Taking a special interest in blues when he was young, he decided to perform his version of "Confessin' The Blues" by Jay McShann while in junior high. This performance for his classmates inspired him to teach himself basic guitar chords and licks, building the basis for his future. After serving a few years in prison for an armed robbery, he received an invitation to play at a club in 1952. Berry began to perform regularly, attracting tons of people with his high energy and creative sound. In 1955, he managed to get an audience after a concert with Muddy Waters, Berry's musical idol. Waters told him to go to Chess Records for help with his career. Following this advice, Berry had his first hit, "Maybellene", out by Chess Records later the same year. Berry again encountered legal trouble, spending some more time in jail. After he was released, he continued with his thriving musical career, publishing many top hits and a few singles. One of Berry's, and the world of rock-and-roll's, most popular songs is "Johnny B. Goode", released in 1958. This song was based on Berry himself, and is considered one of the most widely recognized rock-and-roll songs ever written. "Maybellene", the first single he released with Chess Records in 1955, was a country-style song initially entitled "Ida Red." The Chess brothers advised Berry to make some more alterations and change the title, creating a classic tune. As one can tell form some of the guitar patterns and chords used in his songs, Berry had a lot of influence from the blues style he grew up with. Similar in sound to blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, he combined these popular sounds with a more upbeat and energetic approach, creating the sound we all know as rock-and-roll today. Chuck Berry created a legacy of music unlike any other musician. To quote John Lennon, "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry.'" He created the genre of music that has become the classic sound of American music. Guitarists such as Eric Clapton, George Thorogood, and Albert Lee continue to emulate his unique sound, and vocalists like the Beatles, Green Day, the Sex Pistols, the Beach Boys, and the Clash "evoke the vitality in his lyrics." He was very fittingly one of the first musicians inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, but has been renowned for his great accomplishments for much longer than that. Starting from rock-bottom, Berry has become a rock-and-roll legend. From a lucky break with the Chess brothers, however, he has risen to be the father of what is now classic American musical culture. From all his problems with authority, we can see the connection between his music and the sense of independence and rebellion that he so obviously characterizes. Chuck Berry is a musician that has made himself impossible to forget about, and the legacy he has left on the world of rock-and-roll makes him one that nobody would ever want to forget. Next time you hear something that makes you think of rock-and-roll, thank Berry for making the style what it is.

Works Cited

Sources : Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. sample: "Carol Kaye." //Contemporary Musicians//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. "Selected Websites on Carol Kaye's Life and Works." //Gale Biography in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.

Horn, Gregory D., and Horn Gregory D. "Chuck Berry." //Musicians And Composers Of The Twentieth Century// (2009): 1. //Biography Reference Center//. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
 * Your Source List:**

George, Lipsitz. "Berry, Chuck." //Britannica Biographies// (2012): 1. //Biography Reference Center//. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

"Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll: Chuck Berry Invents Rock Guitar with a Gibson." //Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll: Chuck Berry Invents Rock Guitar with a Gibson//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Guitarist Research Notes Table
//cells will expand as you enter your findings// || What do you like about his/her style? || Eric Clapton, George Thorogood, Albert Lee Rock and roll is my favorite style of music, and Chuck Berry more or less invented it. I love the signature sound of the guitar, bass, and drums that characterizes rock and roll form all other genres of music. Guitarists like Berry made the music that I've grown up to, proving that their music truly is classic and lasting. ||
 * ** Information Feature ** ||= **Your Findings**
 * The guitar style I am researching is: || rock and roll- "//Berry is an early architect of the rock-and-roll sound. To the three-chord Delta blues on which he grew up, he ingeniously added the drive, rhythm, and spirit that have come to define rock and roll."// ||
 * The artist I am researching is: || Chuck Berry ||
 * This guitarist lived from _ to __ || October 18, 1926-present day ||
 * Define and describe the guitar style you are researching. || He was more of a pioneer of rock and roll than anything else. He started originating what we now classify as that style. He mixed blues that everyone at the time was familiar with, with the slowly growing new type of music, rock-and-roll. It has evolved into something somewhat different than what Chuck Berry started playing, but still recognizable as the style he developed. ||
 * What kind of musical training did the guitarist have? || He started liking blues while in school and performed for his classmates, then became much more interested and taught himself the basic chords. ||
 * What types of music influenced this artist? || blues, but with a more upbeat rhythm instead of the normal woeful sound ||
 * Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching. || Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Hogan, Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker ||
 * Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles? || blues, rock-and-roll ||
 * What type of guitar does this musician play? || ES-5 Gibson, then later was one of the first to use an ES-335 Gibson ||
 * What are some interesting facts about your guitarist’s childhood? || music was familiar to him from participation in his family's church choir, music on the radio, and classes he took ||
 * What did this guitarist do before he became famous? || grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, going to school and working in his father's carpentry business, within a year after his first release from prison, he was married and starting a family, then began performing at a couple different clubs ||
 * List two interesting facts about the guitarist’s life. || He was arrested twice; he never received formal musical training ||
 * List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important. || "Johnny B. Goode" released April, 1958, possibly Berry's most famous song, widely considered a rock-and-roll classic; "Maybellene" released July, 1955, his first single for Chess Records ||
 * Who is playing this style of music today?
 * What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music? || was one of the first to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, “Johnny B. Goode” and “Sweet Little Sixteen” are some of the most popular rock-and-roll songs in history. Berry was "a giant of twentieth century pop" even though he got into legal trouble, his rebellious nature gave life to his lyrics, Eric Clapton, George Thorogood, Albert Lee, and others play in his guitar style today, the nature of his lyrics are similar to that of the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and Green Day ||