CBID - St. Louie to Frisco - the UK-way

CBID is the Chuck Berry International Directory, a 2.200 page pile of Chuck Berry records information published in four volumes between 2008 and 2013. For details see the bibliography section of this site.

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: Cassette tapes contributed to a large part of worldwide sales of prerecorded music throughout the 1970s to 1990s. The first commercial MCs were produced by Phillips/Mercury in 1966. Most MCs were duplicates of LP albums, which is why collectors typically go for the original. This one here is an exception.

UK

FROM ST. LOUIE TO FRISCO
MC: Mercury CMP-7029 • 1968

Side 1: Louie To Frisco / Ma Dear / Misery / I Love Her, I Love Her / Little Fox
Side 2: Soul Rockin’ / I Can’t Believe / The Love I Lost / My Tambourine / Rock Cradle Rock / Oh Captain / Mum’s The Word

Now here is a rarity. It’ s the first time we write about a certain cassette, since it was only issued like this in the UK. Why they chose to ignore an LP is anyone’s guess. I have collected Berry records since the mid ‘60s and have never seen a copy. I actually wondered if what I heard back then was just a fabrication, since it never showed up anywhere. UNTIL 14 days ago (mid September 2018) it suddenly turned up on eBay in all its glory(?). I should have loved to see my face when I spotted it. I bid so high (bidnapper - £ 171,-) that absolutely no-one would beat me. I ended up paying £ 26,- + postage for a cassette which is really somethin’ else, all things considered.
I have written the sequence of the songs as they are a little bit different than on the LP because of the length of the individual songs. As you can see the MC cover is just an extract from the original album cover. The stereo sound is the usual Mercury without depth.
Anyway, my UK Berry collection is finally complete(?) except for a few promos. Not bad after over 50 years.