Screening of Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll and Q&A with Darrell McNeill of Santa Barbara Black Culture House

Santa Barbara Black Culture House, in partnership with the Santa Barbara Public Library, will be presenting a free screening of Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N Roll, a documentary celebrating the life and legacy of Charles Edward Anderson Berry, immortalized simply as “Chuck,” one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n roll music.

Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N Roll, released 40 years ago, captures Berry mid-career when he turned 60 in 1986. A gathering of stars featuring Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Etta James, Robert Cray, Julian Lennon, and led by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, perform a concert tribute to Berry at The Fox Theatre in his native St. Louis, MO. The concert was documented and edited with interviews and additional historic footage by Santa Barbara’s own Oscar-winning filmmaker Taylor Hackford.

McNeill will lead a discussion and Q&A about the film and Chuck Berry’s life and legacy. “Rock ‘n roll originated in the Black community,” he says, “It started as rhythm and blues. But in the late ‘60s rock shifted focus exclusively to White artists, while Black artists were excluded from the genre. Rock icons of that day worshipped the ground Berry walked on, but their US fans had little interest in the elder statesman. Artists who professed Berry’s influence played stadiums while he was lucky to play large theaters.”

Darrell M. McNeill is a proud native New York Brooklynite. He works principally as a producer, musician, composer, arranger, contractor, promoter, critic, and journalist, a self-described historian and ethnomusicologist. He is director of operations for the Black Rock Coalition (BRC), a grassroots 501c3 advocacy, promotion, and production nonprofit for artists of color who defy the music industry’s stereotypical constructs regarding Black music. He has written one book: a 33 1/3 series book about the album “The Isley Brothers: 3+3.”

Disclaimer(s):

This screening and all 2026 Santa Barbara Black Culture House events are made possible through grants from the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, The Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts, and sponsorship by the Black Rock Coalition. All Santa Barbara Black Culture House events are free and open to the public.

Participants in this event may be photographed by Library staff. These photos may be used in promotional or educational publications, including in print, social media, and presentations. Please see staff if you do not consent to having your photo taken. Staff will obtain individual, signed photo releases of photographs that contain only an individual as opposed to a group.