10 Greatest Classic Rock Songwriters

In the early 50's, rock was treated as a fad that would quickly fade. With mindless party lyrics like "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "Rock Around the Clock," songs didn't rely on any narrative to get by. When Chuck Berry came along, rock lyrics began rolling in the correct direction.

Berry's writing was incredibly innovative for the time by building up the rock congregation from track to track. The stories in Berry's songs from "School Days" to "Johnny B Goode" were always short anecdotes about the modern teenage lifestyle. From fast cars to teenage romance, Berry covered topics that defined what the rock and roller ethos would become. In doing so, Berry took the struggles of adolescence and framed it in a way where everyone could appreciate it. By getting straight to the point, Chuck Berry turned his simple songs into well-arranged lyrical vignettes.

With all of the great poetic rockers that have come after, Berry's writing looks rather quaint in hindsight. However, without the work of Chuck Berry, rock as we know it these days would not look anything like it does. Rock and roll had existed before, but Chuck Berry taught all the rockers the secret to writing songs.