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 Chuck Berry grew up in a middle-class family in St. Louis and began working as a musician in local nightclubs in the early 1950's. Influenced by the guitar stylings and showmanship of Texas bluesman T-Bone Walker, he was performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio by early 1953. As Wikipedia tells it: "[Chuck ]Berry's calculated showmanship, along with mixing country tunes with R&B tunes, and singing in the style of Nat King Cole to the music of Muddy Waters, brought in a wider audience, particularly affluent white people."  (June 2013/1)  |