St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1940s when Chuck Berry lived there during his teenage years
"I made records for people who would buy them. No color, no ethnic, no political--I don't want that, never did."
~ Chuck Berry
"Back In The U.S.A." is another one of those jubilant songs from rock's early era that I first heard in the form of a cover version. August 1, 1978 Linda Ronstadt's single "Back In The USA" was released -- from her album titled Living in the USA.
I heard it, and felt that it was great -- and then I had to discover Chuck Berry and all his music, and he was the writer of that song -- released in 1959 on Chess Records, it was a hit for him then, and again for Ronstadt 19 years later.
What was most surprising and exciting to me when I heard the Chuck Berry original recording was the presence of a sort of chorus of voices singing behind and against the main lyric, going
Uh-huh-huh,
Hoo - hah!
and
Uh-huh-huh,
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
or
Uh-huh-huh,
Oh - yeah!
This added component is like a party: it expands the song's energy and deepens its groove and mystery; love it.
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You-Tube it --
There's a video on m.youtube in adblock, uploaded by
PowerBigMeat
that sounds really good --
and <PLAY>
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