Chuck Berry, one of the forefathers of rock and roll was born October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Although he discovered a love of music from the Baptist church where his father was a deacon, he got into trouble with the law as a teen for armed robbery and spent three years at the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men at Algoa where he formed a band that was so good the jailers let them play outside the facility occasionally.
When he was released, Berry traveled north to Chicago where he met Muddy Waters. If this sounds made up, just remember the old adage: sometimes truth is better than fiction. Chuck told Muddy he wanted a record deal and the blues icon told the 21 year-old to go find the Chess brothers, founders of the legendary label, “and tell ’em Muddy sent you.”
Leonard and Phil Chess signed the 6’2″ brown-eyed handsome man and in their first recording session cut “Maybelline.” The tune went to #1 on the R&B charts and sold 1 million copies.
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