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One of the most memorable experiences of my life was playing in the Chubby Checker band opening up for Chuck Berry. 

We actually opened for Chuck twice while I was in the band. As a matter of fact, while I was in the Chubby Checker band we were always the headliner except for four times. Twice we opened for Chuck Berry, once for Little Richard, and once for The Beach Boys.

One of the times opening for Chuck was on May 5th, 2011 in Pala, California. We were rapping up the the soundcheck for our show when Chuck Berry’s band started heading toward the stage to set up their gear, to do their sound check.

I noticed two Fender Dual Showman Guitar Amps that were there for Chuck Berry. I was very familiar with those amps because years earlier I worked for a backline rental company in Florida that had one in stock. The only one who used that amp was Chuck Berry. We had the amp in stock just for him for when he came to town to perform. 

Check Berry was known for touring alone and hiring a pickup band (local hired band). That was the case for this show too. The one steady thing was that Chuck did have a bass player that he played with for many years during his career. His name is Jim Marsala and he was on this gig.

When Jim arrived to the stage and Chucks amp was being set up, I noticed that the backline techs were a little confused on how to set up the two dual Showman amp’s together. I offered my services to help since I had done it before a few times. 

I happened to still have my guitar out from Chubby’s sound check. Once the amps were hooked up I pugged my guitar in to make sure that they were working properly. 

As I was playing, Jim said why don’t you plug this guitar in. He was pointing a Chuck Berry’s guitar case. After I put my eyeballs back into my head I kneeled down and opened up the case. It was like opening up a treasure chest. There it was, Chuck Berrys famous Gibson Stereo guitar. 

It didn’t take long before that guitar was out of the case and in my hands. I plugged it into the amp and everything sounded great.

By this time the whole band was set up. The drums, Jim on the bass, and instead of a second guitar, there was a keyboard player. Jim said to me, why don’t you play the sound check with us. 

This was crazy. I was playing Chuck Berry’s guitar, into Chuck Berry’s amp, playing with Chuck Berry’s band. It was kind of like I was Chuck Berry. We ran through the whole set. Jim Marsala was the Musical Directer. He was guiding me, and most importantly the rest of the band through the songs. It was an amazing feeling. 

The Chubby Checker set went off great. I remember being so inspired that night. I was playing with Chubby Checker, and if that wasn’t amazing enough, The King of Rock and Roll was about to go on stage just after us. 

Chubby mentioned many times through out his set about how important Chuck Berry was to him and to rock and roll music. Chubby said that the guitar style that he uses in his band was always Chuck’s style.

That gave me extra motivation to play as good as I could, hoping that Chuck could hear from wherever he might be backstage. 

Once our set was done. I couldn’t help but take part in the turnaround to get Chuck’s amp in place and ready to go. He didn’t have a guitar tech. I actually tuned his guitar, and made sure his wireless was working properly.

I then carried the guitar over to Chuck himself and placed it over his shoulders, and around his neck. Chuck plucked a few notes to hear that it was on. He was very pleased and he thanked me.  

Of course the show was amazing. The crowd just went crazy for Chuck. He has so many classic songs. 

To cap off this incredible night, we all hung out backstage after the show. I got a chance to talk with Chuck for a little while. We shook his hand, and took some cool pictures.

That was really one of the most memorable times in my life. I was really on a high for about a week straight after that. Here I am 10 years later and I’m still on a high from the fact that I was kinda like Chuck Berry one night. “Roll Over Beethoven.”