"...just like ringing a bell."

Over the past 20 years, it is generally our tradition to spend New Year's Eve by ourselves, usually in the back of our camper van, some where in America, consuming crackers, cheese, caviar and cheap champagne. This year, however, we did something entirely different.

While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, “Maybellene.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

While stranded in Manhattan during the recent blizzard, we learned that Rock and Roll legend Chuck Berry was to be performing in NYC on New Year's Eve at B.B. King's Blues Club on 42nd Street. Sometime back, I saw that he had performed there and, after getting over the surprise that he was still alive, was disappointed that I had missed the performance.




I decided that I would not let this opportunity pass and bought a pair of tickets. This would be our first NYC concert together since we saw Elephant's Memory as part of another show in 1969. It would also be my first time in the Times Square area on New Year's Eve. Although we had each (together and separately) been in Manhattan several times in the past for a New Year's Eve celebration, it has been many years.




Sarah had been in Times Square for the ball drop in the early 60s with her then boy friend. She says that he kissed her at midnight and so did several strangers. I've never been to Times Square for the ball drop, but I saw the giant conch come down over Sloppy Joe's in Key West on New Year's Eve, 1998 with Sarah and the kids.


We chose the early show so that we could be home before midnight which allowed us to be in a near empty train rather than be packed in with inebriated youngsters. It also allowed us to have our private traditional celebrating of crackers, cheese, caviar and cheap champagne.

Since I had laid in a supply of several kinds of caviar before I knew about Chuck being in town, I had an obligation to eat it so that those fish did not die in vain.

Although the snow had been removed from the roadways, there were still mounds of snow at many intersections. 'Puddle Jumper' Sarah and I hoofed it from Pennsylvania Station along Ninth Avenue, stopping for dinner at a restaurant along the way. We had reservations, but ate there anyway. (That's a play on words.) By the time that we got to 42nd Street, the street was closed off by barricades and crowds; because we had tickets, Sarah and I got a personal escort from a policeman for the block & a half from Ninth Avenue to the club.





Chuck opened with Roll Over Beethoven and finished with something else; both were loud and good. Johnny B. Goode and Maybellene were there, too, as were other favorites.




Chuck Berry is one of the founders of Rock 'n' Roll and few of the big names from that time are still alive, much less still performing.

Unfortunately, Chuck is on the wain; he missed some chords and forgot some lyrics; he apologized several times. But he is doing pretty well for 84. He went through the motions of his signature 'duck walk', but didn't actually get very low.

Chuck has been 'duck walking' for more than 50 years (1956), so we can cut him some slack. If I get to 84 and am able to do as well as he did, I would consider myself fortunate. And the audience did not mind his errors; they love him and that's all that matters. Chuck then (video); Chuck now (video); not too shabby.

Outside of the theatre the crowds were building up. Cops were all over the place. Firetrucks were at the ready. I am sure that people there had a great time but there was no way that I would start queuing up at 3 p.m. to see something at midnight. That is something my bladder would refuse to do.


We wended our way back south to Penn through barricades and crowds heading north and made our train with time to spare.

Back home we broke out four kinds of cheese, several kinds of crackers, two kinds of caviar and two bottles of cheap wine. Sarah has been on a crème fraiche kick lately and saw a recipe for an hors d'œuvre of crème fraiche, lox and caviar ("a salmon purse"): She tried it last night; she didn't think that it was better than the caviar or lox separately. I didn't like it, but I don't like Sarah's nova lox; I prefer belly lox, but didn't want to take it out because I like the roe more. (Sarah recommends crème fraiche with lox on a potato latka for a tasty Chanukkah treat.)

At midnight I popped the cork. Unfortunately, I waited too long to buy the champagne, so I could not get the really cheap stuff and had to settle for something that I did not like as much; at least it had bubbles.

Okay, so it wasn't entirely different.

Breakfast for 1/1/11 had three kinds of caviar: Salmon, taramosalata (carp), and chicken.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year.