Chuck Berry is the music of my childhood.

      Above all things I am grateful for in my life, I am most grateful for my mother who instilled in me a inherent love of all things culture related. Film, Novels, classic T.V. shows and most importantly music. I was born in 1983, which makes me older than most of the kids I go to college with, but that just makes me more culturally advanced than they are. HaHa. Anyway my mom didn't have me until she was 42. So when I was growing up, I was listening to and learning all about the music of her generation. She graduated high school in 1959, so she experienced first hand Rock and Roll music from its inception, which was great  because I loved learning about the 50's, 60's and 70's.  On top of that my mom had a great record collection that spanned all kinds of genres of music. Whenever she was cooking or it was the weekends she would always play her old vinyls for me. And I would always go through and look and them and just pick randomly from them to listen. I remember listening to Dion and the Belmont's, Runaround Sue, Teenager in Love. I can still see that cover of Alone with Dion with the girl with pink gloves reaching around him. Classic. But the one I remember  hearing first when I a kid was this two record set featuring Chuck Berry. It was bright yellow and it had Chuck doing his duck walk, guitar in hand  across the front cover.It was called the great Twenty Eight.We had these two large old speakers from the 80's and an Onkyo record player. And when I put that needle down and Maybellene came on, I was blown away. I felt that I were their live in person listening to him play. It was awesome!! Watching Hail Hail Rock and Roll the other day in class It was a nostalgic trip to my childhood even though it wasn't music of my own generation it was still apart of my childhood. I guess that's the testament to his music in that is possesses a simplistic timelessness to it that is devoid of pretension. When he talked about writing these songs to appeal to those who go to school, fall in love, and likes cars he appeals to everybody. That's why when I was a kid the first tape I ever got to play in my Walkman was the best of Chuck Berry, the second was the best of the Coasters, cause Yakety Yak was cool. But Chuck Berry will always be the father of rock and Roll, beholden to no one.