Editing Chuck Berry (section)

===1955–1962: Signing with Chess: "Maybellene" to "Come On"===
[[File:Maybellene - Billboard ad 1955.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' advertisement, August 6, 1955]] 
In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters who suggested he contact [[Leonard Chess]], of [[Chess Records]]. Berry thought his blues music would interest Chess, but Chess was a larger fan of Berry's take on "[[Ida Red (song)|Ida Red]]".<ref name=pc5>{{Pop Chronicles |5|5 |Leonard Chess}}.</ref> On May 21, 1955, Berry recorded an adaptation of the song "Ida Red", under the title "[[Maybellene]]", with [[Johnnie Johnson (musician)|Johnnie Johnson]] on the piano, [[Jerome Green]] (from [[Bo Diddley]]'s band) on the maracas, Ebby Hardy on the drums and [[Willie Dixon]] on the bass.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rothwell |first=Fred |title=Long Distance Information: Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy |date=2001 |publisher=Music Mentor Books |isbn=978-0-9519888-2-4 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hs4ZAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> "Maybellene" sold over a million copies, reaching number one on ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' magazine's rhythm and blues chart and number five on its Best Sellers in Stores chart for September 10, 1955.<ref name="Chuck Berry"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.die-rock-and-roll-ag.de/html/chuck_1955-56.html|title=Chuck 1955–56|publisher=Die-rock-and-roll-ag.de|access-date=October 7, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002113531/http://www.die-rock-and-roll-ag.de/html/chuck_1955-56.html|archive-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref> Berry said, "It came out at the right time when Afro-American music was spilling over into the mainstream pop."<ref>NBC Evening News, March 18, 2017</ref>

When Berry first saw a copy of the ''Maybellene'' record, he was surprised that two other individuals, including DJ [[Alan Freed]], had been given writing credit; that would entitle them to some of the royalties. After a court battle, Berry was able to regain full writing credit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/05/son-dj-alan-freed-hall-of-fame-no-longer-want-ashes |title=Son of DJ Alan Freed says Rock Hall of Fame no longer want his cremated remains |date=August 5, 2014 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Sean|last=Michaels|access-date=February 4, 2021 |quote= |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031721/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/05/son-dj-alan-freed-hall-of-fame-no-longer-want-ashes |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/14/arts/the-man-who-knew-it-wasn-t-only-rock-n-roll.html |first=Bernard|last=Weinraub |title=The Man Who Knew It Wasn't Only Rock 'n' Roll|date=October 14, 1999 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 4, 2021 |quote=Mr. Jackson, who wrote the Freed biography, said that two members of the virtuoso group the Moonglows told him that Mr. Freed had no involvement with their big hit ''Sincerely'' yet took a writing credit for it and received the royalties. Maybelline .... Mr. Berry went to court eventually and succeeded in having Mr. Freed's name removed as co-writer. |archive-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208223102/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/14/arts/the-man-who-knew-it-wasn-t-only-rock-n-roll.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the end of June 1956, his song "[[Roll Over Beethoven]]" reached number 29 on the ''Billboard''{{'}}s Top 100 chart, and Berry toured as one of the "Top Acts of '56". He and [[Carl Perkins]] became friends. Perkins said that "I knew when I first heard Chuck that he'd been affected by country music. I respected his writing; his records were very, very great."<ref>Perkins, Carl; McGee, David (1996). ''Go, Cat, Go!''. Hyperion Press. pp. 215, 216. {{ISBN|0-7868-6073-1}}.</ref> In late 1957, Berry took part in [[Alan Freed]]'s "Biggest Show of Stars for 1957", touring the United States with the [[Everly Brothers]], [[Buddy Holly]], and others.<ref name="SchinderSchwartz2008">{{cite book |last1=Schinder |first1=Scott |last2=Schwartz |first2=Andy |title=Icons of Rock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q-ET5tnh0MUC&pg=PA86 |url-status=live |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=86 |access-date=February 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627144301/http://books.google.com/books?id=q-ET5tnh0MUC&pg=PA86 |archive-date=June 27, 2014 |isbn=9780313338465}}</ref> He was a guest on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[The Guy Mitchell Show|Guy Mitchell Show]]'', singing his hit song "Rock 'n' Roll Music". The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the US Top 10 hits "[[School Days (Chuck Berry song)|School Days]]", "[[Rock and Roll Music (song)|Rock and Roll Music]]", "[[Sweet Little Sixteen]]", and "[[Johnny B. Goode]]". He appeared in two early rock-and-roll movies: ''Rock Rock Rock'' (1956), in which he sang "You Can't Catch Me", and ''[[Go, Johnny, Go!]]'' (1959), in which he had a speaking role as himself and performed "Johnny B. Goode", "[[Memphis, Tennessee (song)|Memphis, Tennessee]]", and "[[Little Queenie]]". His performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen" at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] in 1958 was captured in the motion picture ''[[Jazz on a Summer's Day]]''.<ref name="DenisoffRomanowski1991">{{cite book|last1=Denisoff|first1=R. Serge|last2=Romanowski|first2=William D.|title=Risky Business: Rock in Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kT0fKUCTUC4C&pg=PA104|access-date=February 6, 2014|year=1991|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=9781412833370|page=104|archive-date=June 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627144243/http://books.google.com/books?id=kT0fKUCTUC4C&pg=PA104|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Chuck Berry circa 1958.jpg|thumb|upright|Berry in a 1958 publicity photo]]
The opening guitar riff of "Johnny B. Goode"<ref name="LOUIS JORDAN, THE JUKEBOX KING">{{Cite web|url=https://www.courttheatre.org/about/blog/louis-jordan-jukebox-king/|title=Louis Jordan, the Jukebox King &#124; Five Guys Named Moe|first=Emily|last=Lovett|date=July 25, 2017|publisher=Court Theatre}}</ref> is similar to the one used by [[Louis Jordan]] in his "[[Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)|Ain't That Just Like a Woman]]" (1946).<ref name="LOUIS JORDAN, THE JUKEBOX KING"/> Berry acknowledged the debt to Jordan and several sources have indicated that his work was influenced by Jordan in general.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/chuck-berrys-music-helped-define-the-modern-teenager/|title=Chuck Berry's influence on rock 'n roll was incalculable|date=March 18, 2017|newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]]|first=Hillel|last=Italie|
access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Flanagan">{{cite book |last=Flanagan |first=Bill |title=Written in My Soul: Conversations with Rock's Great Songwriters |date=1987 |publisher=RosettaBooks}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://observer.com/2017/03/surprising-factors-that-made-chuck-berry-music-eternal/|title=3 Surprising Factors That Made Chuck Berry's Music Eternal|website=Observer|first=Tim|last=Sommer |date=March 31, 2017}}</ref>

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was a high-profile established star with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had opened a racially integrated St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand, and invested in real estate.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite news|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3664/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Chuck Berry > Biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 18, 2010}}</ref> But in December 1959, he was arrested under the [[Mann Act]] after <!-- questionable (POV/encyclopedic tone?) -->allegations that he had had sex with a 14-year-old [[Apache]] waitress, Janice Escalante,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chuck-berry-goes-on-trial-for-the-second-time|title=Chuck Berry goes on trial for the second time - Oct 28, 1961|publisher=History.com|access-date=March 18, 2017|archive-date=April 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401134006/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chuck-berry-goes-on-trial-for-the-second-time|url-status=live}}</ref> whom he had transported across state lines to work as a hatcheck girl at his club.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88104308|title=The Long, Colorful History of the Mann Act|publisher=NPR|first=Eric|last=Weiner|date=March 11, 2008| access-date=February 18, 2010|archive-date=April 21, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421165121/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88104308|url-status=live}}</ref> After a two-week trial in March 1960, he was [[convict]]ed, fined $5,000, and sentenced to five years in prison.<ref name="Collis2002">{{cite book |last=Collis |first=John |title=Chuck Berry: The Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AgUAQAAIAAJ |access-date=February 6, 2014 |date=October 30, 2002 |publisher=Aurum |isbn=9781854108739 |page=102 |archive-date=May 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526212743/https://books.google.com/books?id=0AgUAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> He appealed the decision, arguing that the judge's comments and attitude were [[Racism|racist]] and prejudiced the jury against him. The appeal was upheld<ref name=trial/><ref>{{cite book|last=Higginbotham|first=Aloysius Leon |title=Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |page=150|isbn=978-0-19-512288-6}}</ref> and a second trial was heard in May and June 1961,<ref name="BEHM">{{harvtxt|Pegg|2003|pp=123–124, 129}}.</ref> resulting in another conviction and a three-year prison sentence.<ref name="pegg">{{harvtxt|Pegg|2003|pp=144–157, 161}}.</ref> After another appeal failed, Berry served one and one-half years in prison from February 1962 to October 1963.<ref>{{harvtxt|Pegg|2003|p=161}}.</ref> He continued recording and performing during the trials, but his output had slowed as his popularity declined; his last single released before he was imprisoned was "[[Come On (Chuck Berry song)|Come On]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/chessupto1966.html|title=Chuck Berry Collector's Guide&nbsp;– The Chess Era (1955–1966)|publisher=crlf.de|access-date=June 3, 2010|archive-date=October 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016132054/http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/chessupto1966.html|url-status=live}}</ref>