My “Chuck Berry syndrome” radio shows with Joe Jones

In college, the guys at the radio station used to do a lot of talking about music. We had an immense collection going back a long time with a lot of 78s. This was the early 70s and rock ‘n roll was rolling along. Joe Jones, my classmate, was our soul expert. He was born in New Orleans and knew a lot about jazz, but soul and early rock ‘n roll played by the likes of Chuck Berry were his favorites. We’d share playlists and sometimes work together on a few. One cool mix I enjoyed doing was “Street Fighting Man”, starting with Rod Stewart, then slipping into the Stones version at the break. Joe and I put together a couple of lists where we’d play a rock song recorded by a white group and then play the original by a black group. I learned a lot from Joe. We used to laugh at the covers and search back further for blues songs. Mississippi John Hurt was fun to explore. Sometimes when I hear a Stones song, or Clapton, I think of Joe and how he taught me about the roots of this stuff. And I remember the time seeing Chuck Berry in the mid 60s, how he danced, sweated a lot, how the rock ‘n roll audience was a mix of races…Joe passed a way a few years ago, but I hear him singing when I listen to Sam Cooke…and Joe could really sing...