In his own words: Chuck Berry on life, fame and rock 'n' roll

This weekend, the rock 'n' roll world lost one of its greatest founding fathers. Chuck Berry passed away in his home at the age of 90, and tributes from around the globe have been pouring in. 

"Chuck Berry was rock's greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock 'n' roll writer who ever lived," tweeted Bruce Springsteen, who once played in Berry's backup band, on Twitter.

"I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us," wrote Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, whose music was deeply influenced by the rock icon. "He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers. His lyrics shone above others & threw a strange light on the American dream. Chuck you were amazing & your music is engraved inside us forever."

Both on stage and off, Berry was as colourful as they come — so to mark his passing, we've gathered some of his most unforgettable songs, and excerpts from interviews. 

On his first musical memories

"Mother and daddy were of the Baptist faith and sang in the Antioch Church choir. The choir rehearsed in our home around the upright piano in the front room. My very first memories, while still in my baby crib, are of musical sounds -- the assembled pure harmonies of the Baptist hymns, dominated by my mother's soprano and supported by my father's bass blending with the stirring rhythms of true Baptist soul. I was always trying to crawl out of my crib and into the front room to where the rhythm came from. Long before I learned to walk I was patting my foot to those Baptist beats, rocked by the rhythm of the deacons' feet focused on the tempo of the times. Oh! But the feeling it generated still stirs my memory of back when. Hallelujah!" (Source)

On writing "Sweet Little Sixteen"

"I was playing in Kansas City, staying in a four-story brick-faced hotel. It wasn't high-class. I was a star, but still this was the sort of place we had no choice but to stay in those days. You had to strain to throw open the windows. I sat there on the bed and wrote out the verses: 'Sweet little sixteen, just got to have about half a million framed autographs — sweet little sixteen, tight dresses and lipstick, sportin' high-heel shoes? Sweet little sixteen, with the grown-up blues.'" (Source)

On writing about cars, fun and love 

"My music, it is very simple stuff ... I wanted to play blues, but I wasn't blue enough. I wasn't like Muddy Waters, people who really had it hard. In our house, we had food on the table. We were doing well compared to many. So I concentrated on this fun and frolic, these novelties. I wrote about cars because half the people had cars, or wanted them. I wrote about love, because everyone wants that." (Source)

On the origins of his famous "duck walk" 

"Well when I was a kid I used to scoot under the table, and whenever company would come around you know or my sisters or parents would tell me, go under the table and I'd do it because it was entertainment for the family or aunts or whatever. And one time at the Paramount when I first did it, you know, Brooklyn Paramount, I did it in the act during an instrumental and it got a big ovation and so I coined it as one of the things I should do in the act. And since I've been doing it." (Source)

On "My Ding-A-Ling", the goofy novelty song that topped the charts in 1972 

"A lot of people like that song. And I LOVED that song because that little, weenie song made my wallet so fat and happy." (Source)

On the greatest singers of all time 

"There are two. Nat [King Cole] and Frank Sinatra. Believe me, 'cause I am emotional and I think they arose more emotion in me than any other. Now if I may add, Muddy Waters, Lewis Jordan, Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, you know music, these are the inspirers of mine. These are the ones who influenced me. They still live in my book; in fact I'm playing them every day. They call it rock, you know." (Source)

On playing "white music"

"The music played most around St. Louis was country-western and swing. Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of the country stuff on our predominantly black audience. After they laughed at me a few times, they began requesting the hillbilly stuff." (Source)

On meeting his idol, Muddy Waters

"It was the feeling I suppose one would get from having a word with the president or the pope. I quickly told him of my admiration for his compositions and asked him who I could see about making a record ... He had a look of amazement that he later told me was because of the businesslike way I talked to him." (Source)

On his performance rider, known as one of the shortest in the biz 

"I require two things: a Lincoln Town Car at the airport and a Fender Bassman amp." (Source)

On which song is his favourite 

"Every one of them is tops with me. Everyone of my songs is very good. Every one of my children, the same way." (Source)

On joy and pain

"One of my realizations is that if you revel over joy, you're going to ache over pain and get killed over hurt. Your span of feelings are going to go just as far one way as the other. So when something real good comes to you, take it and chew on it. Then when something bitter gets in there, you won't feel too bad chewing it and smiling, because the other one wasn't that good, so this won't be that bad. That's mathematical, and I think Einstein would have agreed." (Source)

Chuck Berry performing "Johnny B. Goode" in Toronto, 1969:

— Jennifer Van Evra, q digital staff