Watch the first trailer for Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll documentary

A new official Chuck Berry documentary, Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll, is coming to video-on-demand platforms, DVD and Blu-ray this month, and now the official trailer can be viewed online.

The film is directed by Jon Brewer, whose credits include B.B. King: The Life of Riley, Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story and Guns N’ Roses: The Most Dangerous Band in the World.

The new doc features fresh commentary about the electric guitar legend from the likes of Gene Simmons, George Thorogood, Alice Cooper, Nils Lofgren, Gary Clark Jr and Steven Van Zandt, as well as archival footage of Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bo Diddley, Little Richard and others testifying to Berry's greatness.

Brewer discussed Berry's impact as a guitarist in an interview with Below the Line, saying, “He was quite aggressive with his guitar. It was almost like a percussion instrument, the way he played it. It came over in a different way than a normal guitar player.

A new Chuck Berry doc is being released

(Image credit: Cardinal Releasing)

“It wasn’t the licks – there was some sort of kick in it that made you move. He had that tremendous get up and move accompaniment with the guitar.”

George Thorogood takes it further in the documentary, saying of Berry, “He is the most important guitarist in rock history.”

Or, as Gene Simmons puts it, “Chuck Berry was Chuck Berry. The definition of Chuck Berry is… Chuck Berry.”

You can watch the official trailer for Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll above, and for more information, head to Cardinal Releasing.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.