Quote:
Originally Posted by OtayBW
I don't often agree with my friend Adam, but on this, I definately agree. IMO, there would be no Chuck Berry as we knew him, or his influence on early rock and roll, without T-Bone Walker. Chuck not only adapted T-Bone's style and phrasing - especially including some of his signature licks (e.g., staccato note bends) - but he also took his stagecraft. When I listen to Chuck Berry, I'm hearing T-Bone.
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Agreed. And the Taylor Hackford film is very good on how much he borrowed from his piano man, Johnnie Johnson--which explains some of the unusual voicings of Chuck's guitar...
But where he went with the sound--that was a different thing.
I was reading the obit in the Times--it was news to me that it is Willie Dixon playing the bass on Maybellene--and it is that driving bass line that makes that song. (I saw Willie touring with the All-Stars years later and had no idea that he was there at the beginning of Rock and Roll...)