Chuck Berry—another name of rock“n”roll

主題語境：音樂與藝術 篇幅：358詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1If you tried to give rock“n”roll another name, you might have called it Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry was 29 years old in 1955. He'd been playing mostly blues and R&B standards in a St.Louis club for several years.

2On a Friday night in May 1955, he drove up to Chicago to catch a show by the blues great Muddy Waters. After the performance, he casually asked Muddy Waters,“How do you get in touch with a record company?”“Why don't you go and see Leonard Chess on 47th?”Muddy Waters replied.

3So early Monday morning, Berry went to Chess Records and positioned himself in a store across the street. When Leonard Chess arrived, Berry ran over and made a pitch.Chess was impressed by the young man's selfconfidence and told him to come back with a tape of his own material. Berry returned the following week, bringing with him the other members of the club and four new songs.“We set the band up, and we played all four of them,”Berry said.“We don't know what they were saying,but they listened.”

4Berry thought they were listening to Wee Wee Hours, a blues song. After all, Chess Records was known around Chicago as a blues label.But Leonard Chess was fascinated by Ida Mae that Berry had adapted from a traditional country tune called Ida Red.

5Chess was sure the new song could be a hit, but he didn't like the name. It was too rural. But nobody could think of a name. They looked around and saw a shoe box with“Maybellene”printed on it. Leonard Chess said,“Why don't we name it Maybellene?”Then Maybellene quickly rose to No. 1 on the R&B chart. Two weeks later, it hit No. 5 on the allimportant pop chart. In the years following Maybellene, Chuck Berry produced an astonishing string of hits,such as Roll Over Beethoven,School Days and Sweet Little Sixteen.

6In 1972,Chuck Berry finally scored a numberone hit on the pop chart with an even more rural name,My Ding?A?Ling.

Reading Check

Detail 1.What can be known about Chuck Berry?

A.He was born in 1955.

B.He gave R&B another name.

C.He once worked in a St.Louis club.

D.He went to Chicago to perform often in his twenties.

Vocabulary 2.What does the underlined word“pitch”in paragraph 3 mean?

A.Performance.

B.Argument.

C.Invitation.

D.Selfintroduction.

Detail 3.Which song was adapted from a traditional country tune by Berry?

A.Wee Wee Hours.

B.Ida Mae.

C.School Days.

D.My Ding?A?Ling.

Detail4.Which of the following might be related to the song Maybellene?

A.A department store.

B.A shoe label.

C.A blues label.

D.A song of Beethoven.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Useful expressions

get in touch with 與……取得聯系

be impressed by 對……印象深刻

the following week 接下來的一周

listen to 聽

be fascinated by 對……著迷

after all 畢竟；終究

produce an astonishing string of hits 創作一系列驚人的流行歌曲

Ⅱ.熟詞生義

1.Chess was sure the new song could be a hit,but he didn't like the name.切斯確信這首新歌會大受歡迎，但他不喜歡這個名字。

hit n.風行一時的流行歌曲（或唱片）

e.g.She played all her old hits.她演奏了她所有曾轟動一時的老曲子。

2.It was too rural.它太具鄉土氣息了。

rural adj.似農村的；有鄉土氣息的

e.g.That coat is quite rural.那件外套很具鄉村特色。