Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll

“Chuck Berry was the greatest creative force in the birth of Rock & Roll – that’s a fact. That’s why we all came together in 1986 to celebrate him in my film, CHUCK BERRY: HAIL! HAIL! ROCK ’N’ ROLL: Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Etta James and Bruce Springsteen. But Chuck was complicated – in fact, he was the most difficult ‘movie star’ I’ve even worked with. It was like trying to ride a Brahma Bull – you can try to ride him, but he’s going to buck you off. Keith Richards and I soon learned that we would have to ‘wing-it,’ if we wanted to get anything on screen. But still, I loved chuck, because he was the ‘real deal, an original genius who created a true American Art Form – why shouldn’t he be difficult. Not only did he invent the most famous guitar licks in rock & roll history, he had also a unique talent as a songwriter – his compositions were miles above anything else written in that decade. John Lennon, Jagger & Richards, Bob Dylan all said that they wouldn’t have been here without CB.” (Taylor Hackford)