Chuck Berry

“The Rolling Stones... The Rolling Stones have a reflection to my music; I wouldn't deny it. I think that's honest.”

“I added and deleted according to the audiences' response to different gestures, and chose songs to build an act that would constantly stimulate my audience.”

“The Big Band Era is my era. People say, 'Where did you get your style from?' I did the Big Band Era on guitar. That's the best way I could explain it.”

“It's not me to toot my horn. The minute you toot your horn, it seems like society will try and disconnect your battery. And if you do not toot your horn, they'll try their darnedest to give you a horn to toot, or say that you should have a horn.”

“Rather than have joy, I would rather be absent of pain.”

“Listening to Nat Cole prompted me to sing sentimental songs with distinct diction.”

“You know, your ears record. You might can sing a song once you hear it.”

“I don't want the bottom, so I have to sacrifice the top.”

“Remember that my view, the only true view I can see with, is through the black eyes that I have.”

“I wanted to play blues. But I wasn't blue enough. I wasn't like Muddy Waters, people who really had it hard. In our house, we had food on the table. We were doing well compared to many. So I concentrated on this fun and frolic, these novelties.”

“Music is science. Everything is science. Because science is truth.”

“Charlie Christian played amplified guitar with Benny Goodman's quartet. He was the greatest guitar player that ever was. But he never looked up from the guitar. But I put a little dance to it. They appreciate seein' something along with hearin' something.”

“I didn't connect with the kids. I was in the studio. I never saw the kids. I hoped they liked it, of course. And then I'd go write some more. And then I'd go buy me a home. Very American.”

“I think my interviews were much better than what some of the writers wrote. I just wanted the truth out.”

“People said I was king, but I was never king, and I say I'm the prime minister.”

“My singing days have passed. My voice is gone. My throat is worn. And my lungs are going fast.”

“What the heck is a king? I'm a cog in the wheel.”

“Rock 'n' roll accepted me and paid me, even though I loved the big bands... I went that way because I wanted a home of my own. I had a family. I had to raise them. Let's don't leave out the economics. No way.”

“I always want to play the songs that people want to hear.”

“That's the misconceptions that people have, that Chuck Berry went to jail. They're just totally wrong. It might have said something in the large papers in the bigger city headlines and things. But, you take a look at any of the local papers, and you will see that I was acquitted. I never went to jail.”