CBID - cover versions keep coming

CBID is never complete as new records and CDs appear and some old rarities are discovered. This section presents interesting additions and corrections to CBID.

Today: A new set of Berry covers I have gathered lately, to be added to the chapter on Chuck Berry covers in Volume 3. It never ends!

DEBORAH ALLEN (USA)

Singer, songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee, born in 1953. She figured on the country charts for the first time back in 1980, and although she hasn’t had that many hits she’s a prolific songwriter with songs recorded by Tammy Wynette, Rita Coolidge, Fleetwood Mac, Diana Ross, Tanya Tucker, Janie Fricke, Tracey Ullman to name but a few.

Run Rudolph Run (2:54) 2013

CD: Rockin’ Little Christmas [Relativity Entertainment 9532] • USA, 2015

Deborah has a voice for rockin’ tunes and it fits perfectly on this Berry classic. This CD it seems was first released in 2013 on Weblast! Records but no more info available.

ADOLPHUS BELL (USA)

Born 1944 in Luverne, Alabama. A one-man-band who traveled around in the southern states for years playing his ’59 Gibson, harmonica, bass drum and high hat, singing soul, blues and old time r&b/rock’n’roll songs. He died in 2013.

Johnny B. Goode (2:21) 2004

CD: Mississippi Rubberleg [Music Maker Relief Foundation MMCD-175] • USA, 2015

Very simple and honest version, a little unusual really. But the bass drum is a bit annoying in the long run.

BLUE LINE (USA)

no biographical info.

Johnny B. Goode (2:47) 1974

45: Fanfare Studios FM-74062 • USA, 1974

Record label out of El Cajon, California. Record produced by Hal Trimble.

T. GRAHAM BROWN (USA)

Country artist born in Atlanta in 1954 and has a long career, going back to the 1980s when he had a lot of hits on the country charts, including 3 no.1’s and 8 top 10s. "I Tell It Like It Used To Be" from 1985, "Hell And High Water" 1986 and "Don’t Go To Strangers" 1987 have all become classics.

Run Rudolph Run (3:05) 2015

CD: Christmas With T. Graham Brown [Mansion Entertainment 5490] • USA, 2015

ROY CAGLE And SNUFF RIDGE (USA)

See Volume 3, page 1110 for biographical info.

Carol [Oh Caroll] (2:07) 1970s
Memphis, Tennessee [Memphis] (2:16) 1970s
Sweet Little Sixteen (1:53) 1970s
Thirty Days [30 Days] (2:08) 1970s

LP: Roy Cagle And Snuff Ridge [Chris Records SS-312] • USA, 1970s

‘70s country rock. Interesting to notice that out of 12 tracks 4 are Berry’s. The problem I see is that the songs are actually all too short. Why?

EMMYLOU HARRIS & The Hot Band (USA)

See Volume 3, page 1233 for biographical info.

You Never Can Tell [C’est La Vie] (4:14) 1976 (live)

CD: Hot Night In Roslyn (Iconography ICON-046] • USA, 2014

Recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast from My Father’s Place, Roslyn, New York, 14 September ’76. Featuring Albert Lee (guitar), Rodney Crowell (guitar, vocals), Hank DeVito (pedal steel guitar), Glen D. Hardin (piano), Emery Godry Jr. (bass), John Ware (drums). Talking about a hot band !!!

SHARI KANE & DAVE STEELE (USA)

Wife and husband from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Acoustic blues with guitars, mandolin and National steel slide guitar. They both had their own career when they met in 1991, started performing together in 2010 which led to the recording of "Four Hand Blues", a well acclaimed album release in 2011.

Thirteen Question Method (3:07) 2015

CD: Feels Like Home [Kane-Steele 22077] • USA, 2015

Nice to see they included an obscure Berry number as the opening number for their second CD, and it really swings with Dave handlings the lyrics. The album also contains songs from the likes of Robert Johnson, Lonnie Johnsen, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt a.o.

DINAH LEE (New Zealand)

Born Diane Marie Jacobs in 1943. Regarded as the most famous and popular Australasian female singer of the ‘60s. She was frequently featured on TV back then and had several records released on the Viking label from New Zealand, the first in 1964. On her early singles she was backed by fellow New Zealanders, Max Merritt & His Meteors (see page 1361). She is still active in 2016.

Johnny B. Goode (3:26) 2011
Johnny B. Goode (4:21) 2011 extended version
Johnny B. Goode (5:01) 2011 extended version

CD: Johnny B. Goode Tonight [TFM Productions] • Australia, 2011

Recorded at studio 301 in Sydney, Australia in late 2010. Actually a straight copy of the Peter Tosh version from 1983. Nothing more nothing less. But not bad to record such a song/version in 2011. And it seems to have been very popular.

MIKE McDONALD (Canada)

Can’t find out anything about this artist at all, except that the album was released in Canada, so I would assume that he’s Canadian. There’s a clip on YouTube of him performing at an outdoor concert in Pender Harbour, British Columbia, Canada.

Johnny B. Goode (4:39) 1983

LP: In The Heart Of Country [Sunshine SSLP-4030] • Canada, 1983

Would you believe, I have never heard this classic performed as a ballad. But it is exactly what it is, a ballad, even the refrain sounds very unusual in this particular arrangement. There is a plain echo on the voice which make it even more weird. No guitar riffs or guitar solo. Piano is the main instrument but just as an accompaniment.

BUCK OWENS (USA)

See Volume 3, page 1402 for biographical info.

Johnny B. Goode (3:22) 1989 (live)
Johnny B. Goode (reprise) (0:51) 1989 (live)
Memphis, Tennessee [‘Memphis’] (2:45) 1989 (live)

2-CD: Live In San Francisco 1989 [Rockbeat B00V4RGZPM] • 2015

This album was recorded in January ’89 at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco, not long after he had been to the studio and finished his new album encouraged by Dwight Yoakam. Buck decided to try and do a little gigging again and this live album is a good proof that he had lost none of his qualities. He reassembled The Buckaroos consisting of Terry Christofferson (steel guitar), Jim Shaw (keyboards, vocals), Doyle Curtsinger (bass, vocals) and new member Jim McCarty (drums). Plus of course Buck himself on guitar and vocals. Had this album been released at the time it would have been a smash!

SWING CREW (USA)

Check out pages 1364 (Midwesterners) and 1602 (Richard Wiegel) in volume 3 and page 1852 (Midwesterners) in volume 4.

Run Rudolph Run (2:59) 2002
Guitar Boogie [Christmas Boogie] (2:56) (instr) 2002

CD: Season’s Greetings From The Swing Crew [The Swing Crew, no cat no.] • USA, 2003

Acoustic set with Richard Wiegel (The Midwesterners) on vocals and guitars and Dennis Relfsteck on
vocals, upright bass, fiddle and saw(!). However, the most interesting here is that Richard got the idea to use Berry’s instrumental boogie and turn it into a Christmas boogie medley. In the interludes Richard is playing several classic Christmas melodies. Quite unusual but very interesting to listen to. And both songs are credited to Chuck Berry, Isalee Music BMI. Not bad.

TRIP DADDYS (USA)

See volume 3, page 1574 for biographical info.

Maybellene (2:02) 2003

CD: Doublewide [Trip Daddys 37126] • USA, 2003