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Chuck Berry To Headline Elvis Festival

January 10, 2005 | Other
Rock n' roller Chuck Berry, known for his hits "Johnny B. Goode" and "Roll Over Beethoven," will headline the 2005 Elvis Presley Festival on June 3-5 in Tupelo.

Berry will perform Friday, June 3, and the headliner on Saturday, June 4, will be country singer Tracy Byrd. The festival will feature Mississippi native Steve Azar and Lee County native Paul Thorn.

Gary Bailey, festival chairman, said fans should expect changes this year, including a carnival and a different stage configuration. "The festival is expanding this year," Bailey said. "We're kicking it up a notch."
Source:Google
William S. Burroughs wrote on January 10, 2005
Chuck Berry!!! wow he´s great isn´t he? He must be like 101 years old, I love the man. Elvis loved his music to.
Carl wrote on January 11, 2005
Elvis, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee lewis, Buddy Holly, etc., were all doing the same kind of music and had a similar background and roots. There was never really any animosity between them. They respected each other. Granted sometimes egos got in the way and there was resentment that Elvis became so much bigger than everyone else. But there is no question that Chuck Berry always admired Elvis and his music. Berry said that they both were releasing the same kind of music. And Berry snuck references to Elvis and Perkins and Jerry Lee in his songs. In Roll Over Beethoven, he quoted from Blue Suede Shoes: "Early in the morning I'm giving you the warning, don't step on my Blue Suede Shoes." In Rock and Roll Music, there is the line: "and the folks dancing got All Shook Up." And Sweet Little 16 is just a Jerry Lee Lewis piano blowout! That is a great tribute to the Killer by Berry. Berry also liked Elvis' idea of using a backup group, the Jordanaires. Chuck got the Moonglows to act as his Jordanaires. Chuck also had his Graceland, Berry Park. So I think Berry admired Elvis a lot and in many ways wanted to be like him. He definitely followed Elvis' career and paid homage to Elvis. Chuck even wore Elvis sideburns and an Elvis pompadour in the late 1960s. So we all knew that Elvis and Berry admired each other. I remember Berry saying in an interview that he wanted to meet Elvis personally several times but it never worked out. Berry also never met one of his idols Nat King Cole, although he could have. Berry said that he admired Cole so much that he just couldn't get the nerve to meet him face to face. I am sure this played a part in his not meeting Elvis. I think he didn't want to seem like he was in awe of Elvis. This is great news because Berry and Elvis admired each other. And I think Berry wanted to show his appreciation and admiration by playing the Elvis Festival.
Teacher wrote on January 11, 2005
Chuck Berry is 78 years young.
Ton Bruins wrote on January 11, 2005
Saw Chuck a couple of years ago in Rotterdam in a show called The Three Legends together with Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Chuck was great and the best.
William S. Burroughs wrote on January 11, 2005
Thanks for the info teacher, yes Charles Edward Anderson Berry is a 78 years young man; I didn´d said he was 101 years old in a bad way, I was just figuring out that he´s the world oldest rock and roller, and yet he still has more vitality, carisma and rock and roll nowdays than Little Richard and Jerry Lee together who are only 69 kids. He even has more vitality than Jagger and Richards, at least Chuck don´t fake his playig on stage like them. I mean the Stones may still have a lot of vitality but they lost they rock and roll long time ago. Chuck Berry is so cool, he´s my second favorite from all the 50´s rockers, guess you know who´s my number one cause Im writing in this web page... I once read a story about Elvis and Sammy Davis Jr dancing across the stage during one of Berry´s concerts in the 70´s, does anyone here knows something about that?, I would like to know more on that. Bye
hillbillycat wrote on January 14, 2005
Chuck has more vitality, carisma and rock n roll than little richard and jerry lee together...dream on...seen them all, Jerry lee is the greatest by far, he is rock n roll, little richard is superb if not just a little camp, something that cant be said about the killer, chuck still prefers to play the blues than rock n roll.