The King

I have no problem with the thesis that Chuck Berry invented rock 'n roll:

When, inevitably, he passes away, the obituaries will note a vast artistic legacy, albeit with a stunted artistic career; the blunt ones will limn a stunted man, as well. But they might also mention that, if Chuck Berry did not invent the music synonymous with his name, he sensed something large in it, and, in a way no one else did, put that sense into words. In his hands, rock became something mythopoeic, and for a not-insignificant number of years, this exalted perception of itself reigned. Most of the significant artists of the last half-century or more didn't just make rock and roll records; they made records that in one way or another hinted at something bigger. It was something Chuck Berry told them they could do.