(Credits: Far Out / Tidal)
Mon 17 November 2025 23:00, UK
When the rebellious world of rock and roll first emerged onto the airwaves back in the 1950s, swathes of musical authority figures dismissed its popularity as little more than a teenage fad. Yet, here we are, 70 plus years later, and rock still prevails, thanks in no small part to the songwriting excellence of progenitive stars like Chuck Berry.
In spite of his numerous groundbreaking songwriting efforts, from the era defining ‘Johnny B. Goode’ to The Beatles’ favourite ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, Berry is rarely categorised among the great songwriters of the rock and roll age. Instead, the Missouri-born rockstar holds the accolade of being one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time, amassing a reputation that is virtually inseparable from his cherry red Gibson and his duck-walking playing style.
After all, the many iconic riffs which emerged from the blurred fingertips of Chuck Berry as he raced up and down the fretboard formed the basis for virtually all future rock guitarists. Everybody from Keith Richards to Eddie Van Halen were indebted to the rockstar at some point or another, even if his songwriting talents were woefully outweighed by his guitar playing abilities. Still, Berry’s songwriting talents should not be totally ignored.
Sure, there are a few unavoidable similarities between almost every one of Berry’s major hits, which do culminate in a sense of his work being overly formulaic and repetitive, particularly in comparison to some of his 1950s peers. Nevertheless, those Chess-era singles captured the energy and attitudes of the rock age better than most, and a lot of them still maintain a sense of cultural cachet to this day. It is fair to say, then, that Berry knew a thing or two about songwriting.
To his credit, Berry always seemed to keep his ear to the ground with regard to what other songwriters were doing, too. Anyone else in his position on the upper echelon of rock would be forgiven for burying their head in the sand and focusing solely on their own output, but the guitarist seemingly paid close attention to the up-and-comers of the music industry – if only to pursue legal action against them for plagiarising his work.
Even during the late 1950s, when Berry’s cultural relevance was arguably at its peak, he took the time to look around at what other people in the industry were doing. In doing so, he ended up discovering some of his favourite songs of all time: “‘Wake Up Little Susie’ – that song has terrific lyrics,” he shared in a 1973 interview. “I used to ponder on it for hours, it was a wonderfully put together song.”
That classic track of the rock and roll age was actually penned by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1957, but it was the Everly Brothers who commanded the pop charts with their recording, topping the US singles charts and peaking at number two in the UK. Seemingly, it was the kind of song that couldn’t help but stick in Berry’s head, perfectly balancing emotional weight, mainstream appeal, and a sense of artistic integrity, too.
Another songwriting triumph which Berry cited in that interview was Marty Robbins’ gunfighter ballad, ‘El Paso’, released in 1959. “I’ve been trying to work something out on that song,” the guitarist revealed. “It has such a beautiful storyline, and that Mexican influence in the music. I love it.”
Berry had his own flirtations with Mexican influence over the course of his career, but he couldn’t seem to accumulate the same atmosphere as that of Robbins’ classic, despite Robbins himself hailing from Arizona. Regardless, Berry’s view on those two songwriting masterpieces certainly says a lot about his own writing sensibilities, even if those wordsmith skills often played second fiddle to his guitar mastery.
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