Chuck Berry briefly used the name ‘Chuck Berryn’ in the early 1950s to avoid being recognised by members of his father’s Baptist church while playing rock and roll in St Louis. The article argues that this little-known alias helps explain his earliest recording appearance, before his breakthrough at Chess Records made him a foundational figure in rock music.

On 13 August 1954, Berry played guitar on four songs recorded with Joe Alexander and the Cubans at Premier Studios in St Louis; two were issued locally on Ballad Records, including the calypso-style ‘Oh Maria’. The single attracted little attention, but later record collectors linked its credited guitarist, ‘Chuck Berryn’, to Berry, who signed with Chess after Muddy Waters directed him there in 1955 and then abandoned the alias permanently.