I have performed with Chuck Berry over 30 times. I have the utmost respect for this man. He suffered so that rock and roll could survive. He was cheated out of royalties, setup and imprisoned, and falsely slandered in the press.

It is hard to imagine a world without rock and roll; yet in the 1950’s, the establishment tried to kill it, wipe it out as if it never existed. Some people couldn’t understand how “white kids” could love “black” music. The answer is actually very simple. At that point in history a band needed 20 string players, a percussion section, a full horn section and a vocal group to perform “pop” music. Chuck Berry came along with a piano, bass, drums, his guitar and vocals with a new, exciting, rebel sound. His music moved and inspired the young generation. It was unrefined and righteous. No strings were needed. Maybe a raspy saxophone every once in a while, but rock and roll was simple and pure and hit you hard right between the eyes.

A world without rock and roll is a world without color. It’s a world without true expression. Rock and roll’s raw honesty can make your heart race, get you tapping your foot, send you into a rage or soothe the savage beast. 

Time and time again I have been asked by reporters to say bad things about Chuck Berry, and I won’t. To me, it would be like telling family secrets about your favorite Uncle.

In January of 1980, we were scheduled to perform at the Mecca, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The show featured Chuck Berry and Little Anthony and the Imperials. We were hired to perform a twenty-minute opening set to warm up the crowd, take a few steps back and perform as the band for Little Anthony and the Imperials, and then Chuck Berry. I was to be the MC.

As the show started, Lou Valpano, the producer, explained to me with a smile on his face that Chuck Berry wasn’t anywhere to be found at the airport. He asked us to keep playing until he gave me a signal, and then I was to announce Little Anthony.

We started performing and the crowd of about 10,000 people started to rock.

After about one hour, I looked off stage and saw Lou giving me the “stretch” sign, so we kept going; the crowd was still into it. Thirty minutes later, the same thing, “stretch.” Two hours, two and a half hours…I was beginning to worry that the crowd would turn on us, but they kept going right along with the show.

At three hours I was almost out of songs; the star of the show wasn’t there and I was starting to believe that I was going to be shot in Milwaukee. I looked off stage one more time, and I saw Berry and Valpano smiling at me. I walked over to them during a piano solo and they told me to introduce Little Anthony after we finished playing the tune.

Little Anthony and the Imperials did their forty-minute show which brought the audience to a higher level. Chuck Berry came on and performed for about 90 minutes. It was incredible. The crowd stood on their feet the whole time, clapping and singing to every song. I can particularly remember the volume of the audience on “Hail, Hail Rock and Roll,” and “My Ding-a-ling.”

My band was on stage for over five hours…and loved every minute of it. Imagine the fans at that show. They never knew that there was anything wrong or that anyone was late. They paid their $12.00 and got over five hours of entertainment…what a deal! (That’s right, $12.00; that would not even cover the tax on today’s ticket prices.)

What we learned after the show was that John Lennon and Chuck Berry were together the night before. They ended up at the St. Louis airport together and Berry was trying to convince Lennon to come to Milwaukee, play guitar with him and sing a few tunes. Berry missed his first flight trying to talk Lennon into flying with him to Milwaukee, but at the last minute Lennon went back to Yoko in New York and Berry caught the next flight out. I probably missed my opportunity to perform with John Lennon by the flip of a coin.

Berry assured me that the opportunity would come again for us. For the next eleven months I would actually have dreams about Lennon and I standing together playing guitars and performing with Chuck Berry. Lennon would smile at me in these dreams, and we would all go out after the shows and talk music. The dreams seemed so real.

Alas, eleven months later, on December 8^th of that year we lost John Lennon in New York. My dreams stopped right after that.