John Lennon Named This Rock 'n' Roll Legend 'The Greatest Influence on Earth'
John Lennon credited Black artists, especially Chuck Berry, as The Beatles’ biggest musical influences. Lennon highlighted Liverpool's exposure to Black music, unlike much of Britain and Europe. "Berry is the greatest influence on earth," Lennon declared, naming Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard.
It’s no surprise that The Beatles drew inspiration from musical legends before them, from the Everly Brothers to Elvis Presley. But as talented as the Fab Four were, even John Lennon couldn’t deny the impact of one artist — the one he crowned the “greatest influence on earth.” For Lennon, hearing blues, R&B, and early rock ’n’ roll, music rooted in African American culture, was one of the most transformative experiences of his life. Of course, second only to meeting his wife, Yoko Ono.
While visiting JET’s new Chicago offices in 1972, Lennon looked back on his Liverpool childhood and the iconic musicians who influenced the path of his music.
“Liverpool is a seaport city and many Blacks live there. The ugly scars of an earlier, racist-colonial period in England still mar the ports. Slave rings are still anchored to the front of the docks there,” he said. “But it was usually hipper, this port city, than most of the country. We’d been hearing funky Black music all our lives, while people across Britain and Europe had never heard of it.”
Lennon explained that his musical tastes were inspired by the sailors and travelers passing through Liverpool. “I grew up with blues music, country and western music. The sailors came in, brought folk music, -all kinds. I was at college and listened to the music.”
When The Beatles first arrived in the United States in 1964, Lennon said they were surprised by how little recognition Black artists received, despite their massive influence on rock and roll.
“The amazing thing about America was (in 1963-64) people asked ‘where is the influence-who influenced us?’ And all the musicians we named were Black but, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. We didn’t know anything about the race records business then. Music to us was music.”
Whenever people in the U.S. asked who inspired their sound, Lennon made sure to give credit where it was due.
“And we were talking about all these Black people and the questioners’ faces fell. They said, ‘Oh, you don’t go for The Beach Roys, Jan & Dean?’ And we said, ‘C’mon man, that’s rubbish’ One thing we always did was to tell where we got our music from.”
So who, according to Lennon, earns the title of the greatest influence on music? “Berry is the greatest influence on earth. So is Bo Diddley and so is Little Richard. There is not one white group on earth that hasn’t got their music in them. And that’s all I ever listened to. The only white I ever listened to was Presley on his early music records and he was doing Black music.”
Chuck Berry’s influence on Lennon, and The Beatles, was undeniable. Take “Come Together,” the song borrows the lyric “Here come old flat-top” and echoes the rhythm of Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.”
Berry’s fingerprints are also all over “Back in the U.S.S.R.” In 1968, speaking on Radio Luxemburg, even Paul McCartney admitted, “Chuck Berry once did a song called ‘Back In The USA,’ which is very American, very Chuck Berry.”
Source: Isabella Torregiani/parade.com
