Ultra Rare Berry 45 on eBay - not

Yesterday I got two emails about a certain Chuck Berry 45rpm single which would not be in my discography and therefore would be ultra-rare.
Doug pointed me to an eBay auction which sells this telling "only two known to exist". See here: eBay item 200525623767
And concurrently reader Peter asks "I have a single I can't find any mention of in the discographies I've looked at." Go figure ...

One comment first: I do have a huge collection of Berry records and I count myself as one of the experts on Chuck Berry recordings, but the one and only expert on Chuck Berry RECORDS is Morten Reff. So if you ever need to know something about a strange record you find, go and look at Morten's "Chuck Berry International Directory" available in a book shop near you.

The record in question is a 45rpm single having the blue CHESS label of the original 1950's records. It's A side is 'Rock and Roll Music', but in contrast to the original CHESS 1671 which has 'Blue Feeling' on side B, this record contains 'House of Blue Lights'. That songs was unissued in the 1950's and first surfaced on "Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Vol. 3" in 1973. So is this a rare misprint with only two known to exist? And having a complete original CHESS label printed? No way!

Thus you open Morten's "Chuck Berry International Directory, Volume 2" and there it is, right on the first page. This variant of CHESS 1671 is part of a series of bootleg records which came out in the early 1970s, certainly after 1973. It looks like a real CHESS release, but it isn't. It's from some doubtful source we don't know about.

The record IS rare. We don't know how many were pressed, but definitely more than two. Count for yourself: Peter has one, I do, Morten does, and the eBay seller does as well. So that's at least four

If you are collecting Berry records and if you don't have this one, you might consider buying it. The initial price asked seems to be a bit high, but that's up to you.

Those who are interested in this bootleg 45rpm single should also notice the only other interesting single from this bootleg series. CHESS 1700 'Carol' containing 'County Line' on the flip side instead of 'Hey Pedro'. This record is for sale on eBay for months and did not find a buyer yet. Look here: eBay item 290216887081