The Chuck Berry hit that sent Joni Mitchell crazy
The entire concept of rock and roll as we know it today was birthed in the mind of Chuck Berry. Although other trailblazers like Little Richard and Elvis Presley may have paved the way for what rock would sound like, the idea of the guitar hero and songs about the love of rock and roll was the cornerstone of Berry’s career, inspiring legions of guitarists to pick up instruments of their own and learn how to play them. Then again, Berry’s brand of rock and roll didn’t just impact the Johnny B Goode’s of the world.
As rock became a significant trend in the late 1950s, Joni Mitchell also started paying attention to the latest dance craze. Although Mitchell may be known more now for her deep character portraits, she initially got into Berry’s music because of how much it made her want to dance.
When discussing her first experience with rock and roll, Mitchell describes the feeling as electrifying, recalling on her website, “When rock ‘n’ roll hit, I went crazy for dancing. The weekend dances were too far apart for all who caught the fever, but on weekdays, in the summer, you could always find kids hopping around to ‘Tutti Frutti’ or ‘Johnny B. Goode’ on the patio by the jukebox at the Avenue H swimming pool. For those people who never heard a (so-called) ‘race record,’ rock ‘n’ roll seemed to come out of nowhere”.
Although Mitchell may have loved the music, the idea of the “race record” did at least turn a few white fans off who had disapproving parents. Since Berry wouldn’t get played in a handful of white households, Elvis Presley would come along to deliver rock and roll to the masses, sporting gyrating hips that were controversial for being sexually provocative.
What most mistook the genre as edgy and dangerous from artists like Berry, Mitchell saw it as nothing but kind-hearted fun. Looking to make her audiences feel the same way, Mitchell began writing her own material, operating on the fringes of rock and roll with her delicate odes to the scene like ‘Woodstock’ and ‘California’.
Although Berry may have wanted to get the crowds moving, Mitchell wanted to move something in the listener’s heart as well. Although there were songs in her catalogue that were catchy enough to play on the radio, like ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ or ‘Both Sides Now’, records like Blue painted an intimate picture of what her life was like detailing the fallout of a breakup and the relentless energy that comes with feeling alone.
Even though Berry and Mitchell’s writing styles come from two different worlds, it’s easy to see where Berry’s influence overlapped. Considering how fast his songs were, Berry was interested in writing rock and roll tales of adolescence, documenting the days when all that mattered was going out dancing with your significant other.
While Mitchell started in a similar place, her songs took Berry’s model and brought in a mature mindset. Though her material would still be standalone stories, albums like Hejira and The Hissing of Summer Lawns were the logical extension for where rock and roll could go once it grew up.
