CHUCK BERRY - MAYBELLENE

MAYBELLENE

CHUCK BERRY

SONGWRITERS: CHUCK BERRY; RUSS FRATTO & ALAN FREED

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: MAYBELLENE

LABEL: CHESS

GENRE: ROCKABILLY

YEAR: 1955

Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Born into a middle-class African-American family in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart.

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star, with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand. He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 1962 for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines. After his release in 1963, Berry had several more hits, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine". But these did not achieve the same success, or lasting impact, of his 1950s songs, and by the 1970s he was more in demand as a nostalgic performer, playing his past hits with local backup bands of variable quality. In 1972 he reached a new level of achievement when a rendition of "My Ding-a-Ling" became his only record to top the charts. His insistence on being paid in cash led in 1979 to a four-month jail sentence and community service, for tax evasion.

Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance." Berry is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music". Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.

"Maybellene" was one of the first rock and roll songs. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune "Ida Red". Berry's song told the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing a man driving a V8 Ford and chasing his unfaithful girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe DeVille. It was released in July 1955 as a single by Chess Records, of Chicago, Illinois. Berry's first single and his first hit, "Maybellene" is considered a pioneering rock and roll song. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of it, "Rock & roll guitar starts here." The record was an early instance of the complete rock and roll package: youthful subject matter; a small, guitar-driven combo; clear diction; and an atmosphere of unrelenting excitement.

The song was a major hit with both black and white audiences. It has received numerous honors and awards. Soon after its initial release, cover versions were recorded by several other artists. The title is misspelled "Maybelline" on several releases.

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

Oh Maybelline, why can't you be true?

You've started back doing the things you used to do

As I was motivatin' over the hill

I saw Maybelline in a coup de ville

A Cadillac a-rollin' on the open road

Nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford

The cadillac doin' 'bout ninety-five

She's bumper to bumber rollin' side by side

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

Oh Maybelline, why can't you be true?

You've started back doing the things you used to do

Pink in the mirror on top of the hill

It's just like swallowin' up a medicine pill

First thing I saw that Cadillac grille

Doin' a hundred and ten gallopin' over that hill

Offhill curve, a downhill stretch

Me and that Cadillac neck by neck

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

Oh Maybelline, why can't you be true?

You've started back doing the things you used to do

The Cadillac pulled up ahead of the Ford

The Ford got hot and wouldn't do no more

It then got cloudy and it started to rain

I tooted my horn for a passin' lead

The rain water blowin' all under my hood

I knew that was doin' my motor good

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

Oh Maybelline, why can't you be true?

You've started back doing the things you used to do

The motor cooled down, the heat went down

And that's when I heard that highway sound

The Cadillac a-sittin' like a ton of lead

A hundred and ten a half a mile ahead

The Cadillac lookin' like it's sittin' still

And I caught Maybelline at the top of the hill

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

Oh Maybelline, why can't you be true?

You've started back doing the things you used to do.