The first song Alice Cooper remembers hearing
Alice Cooper has made a name for himself as one of the most distinctive acts in rock over the last five decades, coming to be known as the godfather of shock rock. His unique voice and elaborate performances have led him to sell millions of records as well as multiple Grammy nominations and earned him an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But where did Alice Cooper’s initial love for music come from?
During a past interview with NME, Alice Cooper revealed that Chuck Berry track ‘Maybellene’ was the first song he remembers hearing. Growing up in Detroit, he recalls: “My parents were very much into music. My dad was a big band guy. I remember my uncle coming over and putting a 45 on, and it was Chuck Berry. I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard.”
‘Maybellene’ was released as a single in 1955 and later featured on Berry’s third album, Chuck Berry Is on Top. It was Berry’s first hit, borrowing from the traditional song ‘Ida Red’, Berry charts an affair and a car chase. The track has since been covered by a number of artists, including Elvis Presley and Paul Simon. One of the first rock and roll songs ever released, Berry came to be referred to as the father of the genre. Like Cooper, his unique performance and style pioneered a genre and garnered him great success and acclaim.
Cooper continues to explain that Berry became “the basis of everything that we do and the greatest lyricist of all time”. Cooper was particularly in awe of Berry’s writing ability, as he explained: “He could tell a story in three minutes. That’s how I learned to write.” Perhaps Cooper’s love for story-telling translated into his prop-filled stage show.
Sonically, the two artists differ. While Berry’s classic rock and roll also incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, Cooper’s sound took the guitar in a heavier, more glam rock direction. Despite this, without Berry originating the genre, Cooper’s sound wouldn’t exist.
The track he names as the song that changed his life, however, is The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’: “It was the first song by The Beatles I ever heard, and it literally changed something in my brain. It inspired what Alice Cooper became,” he said.
Following the original British boyband, Cooper also shouts out their counterparts from the States, naming the first album he bought as The Beach Boys’ 1964 release All Summer Long: “I was a big Beach Boys fan because we listened to Top 40 radio all the time on our little transistor radios and the Top 40 was the king of everything. The Beach Boys were America’s Beatles – they could do no wrong. Everything they did was great.”
With Cooper’s musical induction firmly rooted in rock and roll pioneers, it’s no surprise that he adapted this sound in his musical output. He took classic rock and added the shock factor, reshaping the genre into something new.
