Riding Along in his Automobile!

A couple months ago I wrote a piece that included a bit from Fred Rothwell's book, "Long Distance Information," where he describes his brief encounter with Chuck Berry. When I wrote that post, I thought of this picture, which I'd seen months before on myspace, but I couldn't find it.

Rothwell had just missed getting a ticket to a show in London. Then:

“[I]n the corner of my eye I spotted a long cherry red Mercedes hidden in the shadows of the flyover. The limo had dark glass but the side window was down and through it the familiar face of Chuck Berry could be seen busy videoing the façade, no doubt very pleased with the ‘Sold Out’ sign.”

Rothwell ponders what to do or say, (“I got my chance, I ought to take it”) when suddenly “the glass slid down noiselessly to reveal a smiling Mr. Berry. ‘How come you are in the right place at the right time?”’ he asked.

My thanks to Jan, in Germany, for searching his files for this great shot of what looks like a very Euoropean car. I hope that all of you in Europe see some great shows later this month (and that you tell us all about them!) (I know those fingers are going to limber up over the course of the tour-- you're very lucky, you know.)  And I hope that for some of you the window slides down and that you meet the maker of rock and roll as we know it!  (But please-- use your seatbelt Mr. Berry!) (They unlatch pretty well nowadays.)