VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Chuck Berry is an icon, legend, and master whose legacy resonates a full 65 years after his first release. For any music collector, aficionado or fan of rock and roll, this is absolutely essential viewing.” —Chuck Foster, FilmThreat
John Lennon famously said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’” The first-ever Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee crossed the mid-’50s racial divide armed with nothing more than his guitar, business savvy, and well-crafted songs such as “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Little Queenie,” “Rock and Roll Music,” and “Johnny B. Goode.” Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is the first-ever feature length documentary devoted to the life of singer/ songwriter/ guitarist widely considered the “Granddaddy of Rock and Roll” (1927–2017), known for hits like “Maybelline,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode” and many others.
Award-winning filmmaker Jon Brewer (BB King: The Life of Riley; Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark) melds archival performance footage and ruminations on Berry’s influence from other music greats (Keith Richards, Nils Lofgren, Steve Van Zandt, Joe Perry, and Alice Cooper among them) with an exploration of the legendary guitarist’s personal life (including the first-ever interview with Themetta “Toddy” Suggs, his wife of 68 years) and experience as a Black artist traversing the American racial landscape of the 1950s onward.
Despite his iconic status, and reverence for his talent by rock’s heroes John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Steve Van Zandt, Joe Perry, Alice Cooper, all featured, Chuck Berry was at heart, a family man. He was a prolific craftsman of words and chords; an undisputed and stunning combination of talent and charisma.
