Chuck Berry - Toronto Rock N Roll Revival 1969

There was no shortage of historic rock music festivals in 1969, from the unforgettable highs of Woodstock to the crashing lows of Altamont and everything in between.

Meanwhile, interest was steadily building on another front. A full-fledged 1950s rock and roll revival was brewing, and the idiom’s pioneers were experiencing a renaissance. Suddenly, they were no longer viewed as over- the-hill relics, but still-vital sources of real rock and roll.

Combining the two contrasting demographics at one event was a rare sight to behold, but the Toronto Rock’n’Roll Revival 1969, held that September 13 at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium, represented that unlikely hybrid. Over the course of 12 jam-packed hours of live music, it came off without a hitch.

Booked by festival producers John Brower and Kenny Walker were contemporary rock stars Chicago, the Doors, Alice Cooper, and Tony Joe White, and Motown sax blaster Jr. Walker and the All Stars, as well as an amazing array of first-generation rock and rollers that legitimized the festival’s “revival” claim: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry. From the way they tirelessly rocked the stadium in front of an estimated 20,000 concertgoers, those pioneers clearly felt they had something to prove to a younger generation.

The festival almost didn’t happen. The plug was nearly pulled due to weak ticket sales until Los Angeles gadabout Kim Fowley, already in Toronto to do advance promotion for the show, came up with the inspired idea to invite John Lennon and Yoko Ono to emcee, thinking Lennon would be stoked to be on the same card with his heroes Berry, Richard, and Vincent.

Chuck was a special favorite of John’s. He would make that abundantly clear in 1972 when Lennon told TV host Mike Douglas, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’” His Beatles had trumpeted their allegiance to Berry by including remakes of his “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Rock & Roll Music” on their early albums. Over the course of their many appearances on BBC Radio, they cut five more of Chuck’s classics.

To everyone’s surprise, John and Yoko replied that they wanted to perform rather than act as hosts, and proceeded to bring a jaw-dropping band with them consisting of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. Once incredulous fans in Toronto and nearby Detroit caught wind of their upcoming appearance and confirmed it was no idle rumor, the race was on to secure tickets. Happily, the show was a go, and as things turned out, it

spawned a live album for the duo’s Plastic Ono Band, Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

Some of the road-tested ‘50s rockers brought their own musicians for the occasion (Jerry Lee had his trusty guitarist Kenneth Lovelace at his side). Others utilized informal bands comprised of local musicians that were on hand as opening acts. In Berry’s case, the long, lean, and lanky duck walk- er from St. Louis traditionally employed pickup bands from one gig to the next as he barnstormed the U.S. and beyond, so that was standard operating procedure for him. Backing Berry at this festival was the rhythm section from the Toronto band Nucleus--bassist Hughie Leggat and drum- mer Danny Taylor (the five-man group released a self-titled album on Mainstream the same year)-- along with rhythm guitarist Ron Marinelli.

As a mammoth, noticeably young crowd (no pompadours or poodle skirts were in evidence, nor bald spots or beer guts) filled the field as well as settling into the grandstand and bleacher seats around the outskirts, a visibly joyous Berry, wielding his trademark red Gibson ES-355 guitar, yelled “Olé!” and “Peace!” a few times before kicking off his set with his 1957 classic “Rock & Roll Music.” Chuck’s good vibes and winning smile were infectious; drummer Taylor sported

a similarly wide grin on his face. Although Berry sounded fine storming through his opening selection, at its conclusion he giddily informed the audience, “I think we’re tuned up!” That indicated that he was ready to officially start the show.

Although he’d been recording for Chicago’s Mercury Records since the autumn of 1966 (not that you could tell it from perusing the contemporary charts, devoid of his product during this period), Berry stuck exclusively with his classic Chess label repertoire until the closing number, knowing full well those were the seminal hits that the crowd universally expected.

A red-hot sun had convinced many of the males in the crowd to remove their shirts by the time Chuck launched into “School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell),” saving a little room for Marinelli to step up for a brief solo but handling the rest of the guitar duties himself. A glorious ex- tended medley of “Johnny B. Goode,” “Carol,” and “Promised Land” allowed Berry to unleash all of his signature stage moves over the course of three Berry classics: his duck walk, the splits (nearly
to the point where his guitar was touching the ground—despite being 43 years old, his long legs were as limber as those of a rocker half his age), and hopping from one side of the stage to the oth- er while he peeled off killer solos.

Then Berry threw the eager crowd a curve, warning them something was up with a sly “Let’s go across the tracks!” before counting off a low- down reprise of his former Chess labelmate Muddy

Waters’ immortal blues “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man.” Drenched in sweat, he jokingly told his adoring Canadian crowd, “I might run for prime minister!” That was very unlikely, but as he cut loose with a barrage of bent notes on his axe and twisted his lithe frame like a pretzel, there’s no doubt he had a lot of potential voters in his back pocket.

Taylor had joined the shirtless brigade from his drum stool when Chuck blasted into “Maybellene,” his debut hit for Chess back in 1955. The band got the bouncy, country-tinged groove exactly right; one reason Berry seemed to be in such a good mood was surely the ad hoc trio’s surprisingly
tight backing. Chuck didn’t pull his clever “Too Much Monkey Business” out of the bag too often, but there it was midway through his set, full of

tongue-twisting wordplay, with a slashing guitar break inserted for good measure.

“Nadine (Is It You?)” was Chuck’s first come- back hit in 1964 after being released from prison, its great success proving Berry could pick up right where he left off and then some. It’s not a typical Berry rocker as far as tempo or construction, but its lyrics are vintage Chuck—strongly hinting that he’d had plenty of time to hone them to a razor’s edge while in stir.

There were two distinct sets of lyrics for “Reelin And Rocking”—the clean ones Berry had recorded for Chess in 1957, and the R-rated narrative he’d left on the cutting room floor. By the time of his Toronto show, he’d pretty much settled on the earthier lyrics whenever he performed the ditty

in concert, so the huge “Recommended as Adult Entertainment” sign that someone in the crowd held up for his bemused benefit fit the moment perfectly. Afterwards, Berry amusingly protested, “I don’t do any dirty songs,” adding, “It starts out clean!”

Gazing out over the assembled throng, Chuck must have spied plenty of scantily clad female fans that beautifully suited the charming storyline of his 1958 smash “Sweet Little Sixteen,” and he gave it a winning presentation. Berry didn’t wax many heart-tuggers, but his ‘59 single “Memphis, Tennessee” certainly qualifies; it’s like eavesdrop- ping on a touching phone conversation draped over a danceable beat.

As things turned out, “My Ding-A-Ling” turned out to be Chuck’s only pop chart-topper in 1972, but that was still three years in the future when he performed it in Toronto. Contrary to popular belief, Berry didn’t write the singalong novelty; New Orleans bandleader Dave Bartholomew co- penned and first waxed it in 1952. Then it was time for another blues, this one of Chuck’s own making. “Wee Wee Hours” was the original flip of “Maybellene,” a lights-out theme that acted as a perfect cooldown for what must have been a parched assemblage by then.

The only time Berry gave a nod to his Mercury catalog was at the beginning of his farewell medley. “Goodnight Well It’s Time To Go” was Chuck’s unique interpretation of a 1953 doo-wop classic by the Spaniels from Berry’s first Mercury long-player that displayed his mastery of sever- al languages, especially French. But the guitar master couldn’t exit on such a mellow note, not this sweaty day. So Chuck reverted to his theme “Johnny B. Goode” one more time as the ultimate rousing finale.

Without a doubt, Berry gave it all he had that scorching day, and the assemblage let him know how much they appreciated his effort as he left the stage. You can relive his triumphant performance with this collection, which will take you back to the days when the rock ‘n’ roll revival was hurtling along at full throttle and its pioneers were just hitting middle age, anticipating decades of good rocking yet ahead of them. What a wonderful era it was.

- Bill Dahl

SOURCES
The Chuck Berry Database website: http://www.crlf.de/

ChuckBerry/cbdb/musician/185-LEGGATHUGHIE.html 45cat website: htpps://www.45cat.com

Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles 1955-1990, by Joel Whitburn (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc., 1991)

Wikipedia website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Toronto_Rock_and_Roll_Revival