CBID - new Chuck Berry tribute albums and songs

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: Chapter 14 in Volume 2 describes tribute songs and albums. Here are some additions to this:.

ROSMAITY BROTHERS (Germany)

Fabian and Christoph Rosmaity, guitar and bass respectively featuring Christian Bleiming (piano) and Alex Lex (drums). The brothers have been playing together for over 20 years.

Let It Rock (1:50) / Thirty Days (2:27) / Carol (2:55) / You Never Can Tell (2:56) / Roll Over Beethoven (2:38) / Wee Wee Hours (4:22) / Johnny B. Goode (2:49) / No Particular Place To Go (2:36) / Nadine (4:02) / Sweet Little Sixteen (2:52) / Little Queenie (3:02) / Maybellene (2:34) / Worried Life Blues+ (3:06) / Promised Land (2:21) / Rock And Roll Music (2:42) – 2016

CD: Berry Pickin’ - A Salute To the Genius of Chuck Berry [The Rocket Sound Lab] • Germany, 2016

I do appreciate that the guys took the time and recorded an album with 14 Berry songs and one related. Unfortunately they almost sound like the originals, updated that is. The tracks that really work are the two blues oriented songs. Interesting to hear “Worried Life Blues” the Berry way. It’s okay to record ones favourite Berry song(s) but since they have been recorded by almost who’s who in the music business it’s therefore important to get a personal and different approach, like they did with “Wee Wee Hours”.
See also The Ballroom Rockets.

RICHARD THOMPSON (UK)

See Volume 3, page 1181 under Fairport Convention for more info.

Guitar Heroes (7:40) – 2015

CD: Still [Propel Records PRPCD131] • UK, 2015
CD: Still [Fantasy Records FAN-37274 02] • USA, 2015

Here Thompson pays tribute to his guitar heroes. One of them being Chuck Berry, others being Django Reinhardt, James Burton, Hank Marvin (The Shadows) etc. In one verse he sings about Berry and imitates his guitar style.

RONNIE WOOD & His Wild Five (UK)

Ronald David Wood, singer, songwriter, guitarist, author and radio personality, born in 1947. Today best known as a member of The Rolling Stones since 1975, but also as a member of Faces and The Jeff Beck Group.

Tribute To Chuck Berry (2:04) 2018 (live)
I’m Talking About You [as "Talking About You"] (3:07) 2018 (live)
Mad Lad+ (3:13) 2018 (instr) (live)
Wee Wee Hours (4:46) 2018 (live) feat. Imelda May
Almost Grown (2:50) 2018 (live)
Back In The USA (3:58) 2018 (live)
Blue Feeling (3:52) 2018 (instr) (live)
Worried Life Blues+ (5:28) 2018 (live)
Little Queenie (4:27) 2018 (live)
Rock And Roll Music (2:17) 2018 (live) feat. Imelda May
Johnny B. Goode (3:34) 2018 (live)

CD: Mad Lad – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [BMG 538527702] • UK, 2019
LP: Mad Lad – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [BMG 538527711] • UK, 2019
Box-set Deluxe Edition: Mad Lad – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [BMG 538542250] • UK, 2019
CD: Mad Lad – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [BMG 4050 538527704] • USA, 2019

The box-set above contains the LP (180G vinyl), CD and album cover art print. Nothing fancy really. Playing time of around 40 minutes is way too short today. But I like the music and Imelda May lifts the result on the two tracks she’s involved in. She also sings backup vocals on “Almost Grown”. Irritating that the running time of the tracks are completely missing.
The tribute is okay but nothing to brag about, and Ronnie is no quality singer but he’s a tremendous guitar player. The Berry sound is all in there.
Interesting to notice the two instrumentals, especially “Mad Lad” since it becomes the very first cover of this. Although not written by Berry it is credited to him on the album. “Blue Feeling” was done by The Trashmen in 1966 (page 1568).
On YouTube you’ll find Ronnie and Imelda doing “Johnny B. Goode” on BBC’s Later with Jools Holland show. There’s also videos of Ronnie playing “Mad Lad” and Ronnie and Imelda with “Wee Wee Hours”.
Apart from Imelda May Ronnie is helped by the likes of Ben Waters (keyboards), Dion Egtved (bass) and Dexter Hercules (drums). Augmented by Antti Snellman on tenor saxophone and Tom Waters on alt saxophone. Also Amy Mayes and Denise Gordon are doing backup vocals on some tracks. All tracks were recorded at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne Minster, Dorset in 2018. It doesn’t say when, though. Produced by Ronnie Wood.

MIKE ZITO And Friends (USA)

Mike Zito, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer from St. Louis, Missouri, born in 1970. Since 1998 when his first CD “Blue Room” came out he’s released some 15 albums.

St. Louis Blues+ (3:19) 2019 - Charlie Berry III
Rock And Roll Music (3:08) 2019 - Joanna Connor
Johnny B. Goode (3:49) 2019 - Walter Trout
Wee Wee Hours (5:25) 2019 - Joe Bonamassa
Memphis, Tennessee [as “Memphis”] (3:05) 2019 - Anders Osborne
I Want To Be Your Driver (2:55) 2019 - Ryan Perry
You Never Can Tell (4:00) 2019 - Robben Ford
Back In The USA (3:02) 2019 - Eric Gales
No Particular Place To Go (2:50) 2019 - Jeremiah Johnson
Too Much Monkey Business (3:13) 2019 - Luther Dickinson
Havana Moon (4:21) 2019 - Sonny Landreth*
Promised Land (3:29) 2019 -Tinsley Ellis*
Down Bound Train (4:03) 2019 - Alex Skolnick
Maybellene (2:55) 2019 - Richard Fortus
School Day (3:02) 2019 - Ally Venable
Brown Eyed Handsome Man (2:16) 2019 - Kirk Fletcher & Josh Smith
Reelin’ And Rockin’ (4:01) 2019 - Tommy Castro*
Let It Rock (2:26) 2019 - Jimmy Vivino
Thirty Days (2:56) 2019 - Albert Castiglia
My Ding-A-Ling(+) (3:16) 2019 - Kid Andersen* **

CD: Rock’n’Roll – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [Ruf Records RUF-1269] • Germany, 2019
LP: Rock’n’Roll – A Tribute To Chuck Berry [Ruf Records RUF-2059] • Germany, 2019

The LP contains 15 tracks, but you can download the 20 tracks for free. The following songs are NOT on the 180 gram audiophile vinyl pressing: I Want To Your Driver / No Particular Place To Go / Down Bound Train / School Day / Brown Eyed Handsome Man.

Some of the artists are already in the covers* or soundalikes** sections, or like Jimmy Vivino in the Johnnie Johnson discography (Vol. 2). So what should one say about such a gigantic release, I mean 20 tracks, 20 different guitar players and singers! This album might help younger people to get to know Berry’s music. In that sense the album is very important and a rockin’ goode one.
“Memphis” is true to Berry’s original, not the same but simple in structure and sound. However, most of the others are filled with musical instruments, sometimes a little too much. Chuck’s grandson follows very much the arrangement his grandfather did in 1965. Well performed. Luther Dickinson makes it swing on “Too Much Monkey Business” and even includes the final lyrics with I don’t want your botheration, get away leave me be… which is so often forgotten. “You Never Can Tell” is without the identical piano playing but remember this is a guitar based album. “Down Bound Train” is strange and even more “scary” than Berry’s own, think 63 years difference. “School Day” is quite goode, one of two females on the album, and Ally Venable is doing a very decent job of it.
The worst will have to be “Wee Wee Hours” and Joe Bonamassa. That guitar playing destroys the whole tune. After just a few seconds when I heard it I said what the f…? I have played the album a few times but skip this track every time. What were they (Zito and Joe) thinking? A reviewer said it was a highlight(!), well in that case we are living in two different worlds. Maybe because that kind of guitar playing to me it’s just noise.
On the contrary, check out Mike Zito and Walter Trout on YouTube performing “Johnny B. Goode” in a garage!!!
Again the running time on each track is missing. That’s an European problem on many releases.
Of course an artist wants to cover a Berry tune that most people know so it’s interesting that songs like “I Want To Be Your Driver”, “Havana Moon” and “Down Bound Train” were chosen, but why Ding-A-Ling? Although his biggest hit, unfortunately, it doesn’t give Berry nor Andersen the best of credits.
The Mike Zito band is as follows on all tracks: Mike Zito (vocals, guitar), Lewis Stephens (keyboards), Terry Dry (bass, percussion, vocals) and Matthew Johnson (drums, percussion, vocals). Recorded at Marz Studios in Nederland, Texas, December 2018 – July 2019. Produced by Mike Zito.
Twenty Berry songs covered and you think where are “Sweet Little Sixteen”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Little Queenie”, “Bye Bye Johnny”, “Carol”, “Around And Around”, “I’m Talking About You” and “Nadine”? Well that gives you an idea of how many classic rock’n’roll songs Berry created.
However, again on YouTube you can see and hear Mike Zito and Joe Louis Walker doing five and a half minutes of “Around And Around” at the Casselberry Craft Beer & Blues Fest 2019 in Casselberry Florida.
I like the front cover and also the image of Berry on top of the St. Louis skyline and the Gateway Arch painted by Rip Kastaris. A beautiful touch to the memory of Chuck Berry.

Late addition and a little enlightening on the “Wee Wee Hours” track.
On the Guitar World (magazine) site there’s an indept interview with Zito explaining what went on in preparing for this album. Regarding the Joe Bonamassa version of “Wee Wee Hours” he had this to say:

We started to work on these basic tracks at the end of 2018 and the beginning of January 2019 My group cut basic rhythm tracks and then e-mail them to the guitarists in question and have them add their parts. Joe Bonamassa texting him: “Hey man, I’m getting ready to record this track. Do you want me to play it tradional or do you want fire and fury?” I said, I want fire and fury, by all means. And he just blew the doors off.

Well now we know why it ended up sounding like it did. I still don’t like it, but that’s not the point here. They got it how they wanted it and that’s what counts.