The moment Keith Richards fell out with his hero Chuck Berry: “This battle of colossal egos”
Never meet your heroes, particularly if they are as short-tempered as rock and roll progenitor Chuck Berry. The Missouri-born guitarist was essential in establishing the blistering sounds of rock and roll riffs, inspiring countless future artists in the process. One such artist was Keith Richards, who was captivated by the skills of Berry during his adolescence, spurring him to pick up a six-string and eventually become one of rock’s leading guitarists alongside The Rolling Stones.
During their early years, in particular, The Rolling Stones regularly paid tribute to their influences, covering works by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and, of course, Chuck Berry. Without the trailblazing influence of these figures, The Stones might never have existed. Nevertheless, the band came together in 1962, and once they began to write their own original material during the mid-1960s, they quickly became one of the biggest rock and roll bands on the face of the Earth.
Amassing a global audience and a discography of truly iconic rock songs, The Rolling Stones were a force to be reckoned with by the end of the 1960s. Indeed, their intense level of success largely eclipsed many of the early rock stars they had been paying homage to. To their credit, however, the Stones routinely cited their sources of inspiration, paying near-constant tribute to figures like Chuck Berry.
Eventually, this led Berry to cross paths with Keith Richards, although their initial meeting went less than swimmingly. Recalling the event to Rolling Stone, Richards remembered, “We saw him play in New York somewhere, and afterwards I was backstage in his dressing room, where his guitar was lying in its case. I wanted to look, out of professional interest”.
This turned out to be the wrong move. “As I’m just plucking the strings, Chuck walked in and gave me this wallop to the frickin’ left eye,” the guitarist remembered. While Berry’s reaction might have seemed harsh at the time, Richards later reconciled, saying that if somebody had been touching his guitar, he would have been similarly unamused. However, subsequent meetings between the pair didn’t do much to improve their relationship.
During the 1980s, Richards thought up the idea of putting on a tribute concert to honour Chuck Berry on the rock star’s 60th birthday. The celebration, which took place over two nights at the Fox Theatre in St Louis, saw Berry share the stage with a litany of iconic figures, including Etta James, Linda Ronstadt, Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon, and Keith Richards, among various others. Accompanying the gigs was the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, directed by Taylor Hackford.
Alongside concert footage, Hackford’s film also shows a lot of rehearsal sessions for the show. In a particularly memorable scene from the film, Berry is seen lamenting Keith Richards and supporting musicians for not doing things his way. “We’re going to play this the way Chuck Berry plays this,” he declared, adamant that he should be the leader in this battle of colossal egos, which played out like an outtake from This Is Spinal Tap.
Throughout the film, Richards’ frustration over Berry’s refusal to listen and Berry’s frustration over Richards’ difficulty in taking notes becomes unavoidable. Richards might have organised the concert to pay homage to his hero, but by the end of the project, the pair were probably sick of the sight of each other. Still, Richards always maintained the incredible influence that Berry imparted upon him, even if they never became the best of friends.
