Episode #67 | 11.24.20
Chuck Berry: Systemic Racism, Sexual Depravity, and the Invention of Rock ‘N’ Roll
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In this episode
Chuck Berry was imprisoned numerous times. He was a victim of violent, systemic racism and accused of horrific acts of sexual depravity. He also invented rock ‘n’ roll. Chuck Berry was as complex a character as he was influential as a musician. Throughout his career he found himself in numerous dust-ups with authorities. Some of it justified, most of it not. And through it all, whether he cared or didn’t, Chuck Berry made great music. Literally some of the greatest music ever made.
Sources
Chuck Berry: The Autobigraphy, by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry’s Memoir Grabs You Like a Song, NY Times
The Story of Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene,” NPR
Chuck Berry, AAEP Ohio State University
From Butter Churns to Baseball Bats, Louisville Slugger Museum
Louisville Slugger Bat Dating Guide, KeyMan Collectibles
Working in the Traditional At-Home Dark Room, by Ross Collins
“Rock and roll,” Collins Dictionary
The Chuck Berry I Knew, St. Louis Magazine
Why Can’t We Be Honest About Chuck Berry?, The Outline
Chuck Berry Taped Women, Suit Charges, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Chuck Berry Farting on Women, Pornhub
Chuck Berry sentenced to four months prison for tax evasion, Famous Daily
Sweet Tunes, Fast Beats, and a Hard Edge, New York TImes
Jet Lag Magazine #7 September 1980, St. Louis Punk Archive
Chuck Berry Actually Kinda Sorta Liked Punk Rock, NBC News
Chuck Berry was more than a rock icon--he was also a huge pervert, New York Post
Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, Especially Sex, Spy Magazine Feb 1993
Chuck Berry sued by ex-pianist, The Telegraph UK
The Perversions of Chuck Berry, Vice
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Score by Jake Brennan.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak