YouTube Gold: Chuck Berry Live

He wasn’t as big a star in 1965 as he had been a decade earlier but Chuck Berry still put on an amazing show.

There’s a never-ending argument about who the central figure is in rock and roll history. Little Richard had an argument (and he made it fairly often). Bo Diddley was a key figure. Jerry Lee Lewis was the original Bad Boy and Elvis was the King.

But really it’s hard to put anyone above Chuck Berry.

Born in St. Louis in 1926, Berry idolized band leader Louis Jordan and imagined himself in a similar role.

But music changed sharply in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s and rock and roll emerged from New Orleans and spread across America. No one did it quite like Berry.

In 1965, when The Beatles and the British Invasion had pushed the original founders aside, Berry was still touring, albeit more quietly.

Berry is in rare form here as he performs Roll Over Beethoven on Belgian TV. His stage presence is magnetic.

Even today, his influence is towering and he has many imitators. No one, however, has ever managed to match his genius.