NYT on

Chuck Berry. Excellent article, in the same vein as last week's Bo Diddley piece.

There is no doubt Berry is one of the most influential figures in all of popular music, not just rock music. He's still active at 76, like many other entertainers of that era (and the criticism of the Rolling Stones still performing live seems ludicrous in this light).

Speaking of Berry and the Stones, note the part where Berry treated Keith Richards like shit on a couple of occasions. Deplorable considering Richards idolized Berry. Berry conveniently "forgets" those occasions.I think if I stuck a lighted match down somebody's shirt I'd remember it. I think if I punched somebody out or kicked him off the stage, I'd remember it.

The stories about Berry get worse, including imprisonment for violating the Mann Act, tax problems, and on and on. The worst, which was described in excruciating detail by Spy magazine, was the lawsuit filed in 1990 by several women who claimed Berry had videotaped them while they were in the restroom of a restaurant he owned. Supposedly Berry had a fetish politely known as "coprophilia." I could have spent my entire life enjoying Berry's records and had never known about that. Unfortunately I read about it, and it affected my view of Berry. He later settled out of court. And of course he's known to be very greedy, insisting on payment before a show.

Berry is a great talent, a great songwriter, but he's not Mr. Congeniality. No pun intended considering the previous paragraph, but Berry can be a turd. I certainly wouldn't want to have anything to do with him. I'll just stick with listening and enjoying his many great songs.