Chuck Berry, 1926-2017

Prior to buying The Great Twenty-Eight as a new release in 1982, I thought of Chuck Berry as the guy responsible for the novelty hit “My Ding-a-Ling.”  The compilation rectified that misleading impression.  The euphoric aggressiveness of Berry’s earth-shaking songs was of a piece with a few of my other favorite albums of 1982, including the Clash’s Combat Rock and George Clinton’s Computer Games.

I attended my first Berry concert a year or two later.   It was terrible.  He was clearly going through the motions.  Yet I didn’t give up.  My persistence paid off the third or fourth time I saw Berry.  Lou Whitney and his cohorts in the Skeletons and the Morells acted as Berry’s backing band at Parody Hall in Kansas City.

Fondly remembered in these parts as ”the best bar band ever”, the quality of Whitney’s group clearly surprised Berry.  The legend became increasingly elated as his exceptional pickup band survived each of his challenges.  Against his contrary inclinations, Berry went all-in on that memorable night.  I never saw him try half as hard again.  Berry died yesterday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Lou Whitney

Chuck Berry still maintained a heavy tour schedule when I became old enough to sneak into nightclubs.  What a disappointment!  The first two times I caught him, the legend was clearly going through the motions. 

Ever the glutton for punishment, I once found myself at Parody Hall to give the man another go.  Berry's demeanor shifted from contempt to delight upon recognizing the expertise of the pickup band.  That outing remains the only time I've seen Berry give a damn.  Lou Whitney and his cohorts in the Skeletons/Morells were the men responsible for inspiring Berry.

I spent several nights dancing to Whitney's bands during the next few years.  On the two or three occasions I spoke with him, he was funny and gracious.  Whitney died this week.  C.J. Janovy wrote a nice piece about the beloved Missourian. 

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Eric Benét at KC Live

I couldn't have imagined the sexually-charged mayhem I was about to experience when I entered Kemper Arena to see Marvin Gaye in 1983.  I've since been part of dozens of similarly fevered audiences.  It never gets old.  Sunday's free Eric Benét concert on the KC Live stage in the Power & Light District was one of the best of the type I've attended.  As Halle Berry's ex-husband crooned ballads like the sensitive "Sometimes I Cry" and the sultry "Chocolate Legs", many in the audience of 9,000 screamed deliriously.  While earsplitting, their shouts and the fine work of Benét's five-piece band competed with the canned music that blared from many of the adjacent taverns and restaurants, an inexcusable insult that's plagued concerts in the district since 2008.


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I reviewed the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's concert at the VooDoo Lounge.

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In the previous There Stands the Glass post I lamented the lack of truly great new music.  The Architects may have rescued me.  At first listen, Border Wars (Episode II) sounds magnificent.  RIYL: The Clash, rock and roll lifers, Sham 69.

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Here's Ces Cru's amusing video for "Jimmy Stewart".

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Lou Whitney, one of the greatest living Missourians, is ailing.  Here's 75 minutes of prime Morells.  (Via D.W.)

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The video for Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood's "Juicy Lucy" is solid.

(Original images by There Stands the Glass.)