JAGUAR
AND THUNDERBIRD
CHUCK
BERRY
SONGWRITER:
CHUCK BERRY
COUNTRY:
U. S. A.
ALBUM: CHUCK
BERRY ON STAGE
LABEL: CHESS
RECORDS
GENRE: ROCKABILLY
YEAR:1963
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.
Chuck Berry on Stage is the first live album
by Chuck Berry,
released in 1963 by Chess Records. Although promoted as a live
album, it is a collection of previously released studio recordings (except for
5 songs..."All Aboard", "Trick or Treat", "I Just Want
To Make Love To You", "Still Got The Blues", and a previously
unreleased alternate take of "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man") with
overdubbed audience sounds to simulate a live recording. One
track on the album labelled "Surfin' USA", is "Sweet Little
Sixteen", originally released in 1958, the melody of which was used in The Beach Boys' 1963
hit "Surfin' USA". Chuck's cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want
To Make Love To You" was later re-recorded and released on the very rare
Chess LP CH60032 Chuck Berry in 1975.
Chorus: Slow down,
little Jaguar
Keep cool, little
Thunderbird Ford
Ten miles stretch on
an Indiana road
T'was a sky blue Jaguar and a Thunderbird Ford
Jaguar setting on ninety nine
Tryin' to beat the Bird to the county line
Just a half-a-mile from Ludenville
There had a speed sign sitting at the top of the hill
It said : "35 miles, and stay in line"
But the Jaguar and Thunderbird never read the sign
Chorus
Ludenville was a real
small town
Had a hundred and two
And nine acres of ground
Some stool pigeon put the sheriff wise
Told him "Park down in Ludenville
And catch 'em guys"
Sheriff laid down, half hid in the weeds
Parked for eight days, didn't nobody speed
All of a sudden, dust rose on the road
Said "Here come the Jaguar and Thunderbird Ford"
Chorus
Sheriff doubled
clutched second, put it in third
Took right after the Jaguar and Thunderbird
He knew he'd get a bonus and a big fat fine
If he caught 'em 'fore they crossed that line
Sheriff never drove his car a hundred and flat
But if he aimed to get 'em
He'd have to do more than that
Crest of the hill, is about a mile behind
There wasn't but two mor miles to the county line
Chorus
Old Sheiff was
countin' on the downward grade
With the tall wind pushin', he had it made
Thunderbird saw the Jaguar gainin' speed
And waved "Goodbye, Jaguar" and pulled in the lead
Jaguar said "You ain't won the race yet"
And pulled back around the Bird like a sabre jet
Sheriff's front bumper was a yard behind
When the T-Bird, Jaguar crossed the line
Slow down little
Jaguar,
Keep cool little
Thunderbird Ford
(repeat and fade).
Postagens
