Song of the Day 5/17: Linda Ronstadt and Chuck Berry, “Back in the USA”

There’s quite a backstory to this live performance from 1987 in St. Louis, Chuck Berry’s hometown, at the first of two concerts to celebrate his 60th birthday.

“Back in the USA” wasn’t one of Berry’s biggest hits. He wrote it in 1959, after returning from an Australian tour, but it made it only to No. 37 on the Hot 100. Linda Ronstadt’s 1978 remake reached No. 16, so it made sense to invite her to the party.

According to Bruce Pegg’s biography “Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry,” Ronstadt rehearsed with the band playing in the key of C. But at the show, Berry kicked off the song in the key of G, forcing everyone else to adapt on the fly. Production assistant Mark Slocombe said, “Linda Ronstadt’s such a pro, you really don’t hear her strain or muff it. But … she was so pissed off when she walked off that stage she went right through the Green Room, right out the stage door, climbed into her limo and never came back for the second show.”

The concerts were filmed for the movie “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and Slocombe said the producers “had a hard time getting her to sign the release because she was so pissed off.”

Anyone coming back to the USA now understands exactly how she felt.