You Never Can Tell - Review

Last year we reviewed the four-CD box Johnny B. Goode - His Complete 50's Recordings made by Geffen Records/Hip-O-Select. It contains all recordings made by Chuck Berry for the Chicago-based Chess label between 1955 and 1960. Now the manager of the Chess archives Andy McKaie and UK Chuck Berry expert and author Fred Rothwell have put another log on the fire.
You Never Can Tell is again a four-CD box, packed with everything Berry recorded for Chess between 1960 and 1966. Just like the first box it is basically complete and extensively featured. This includes a detailed booklet containing rare photos and complete session details as well as reproductions of classic album covers. Each CD looks like a Chess label from that time. Pretty!
While Berry had a lot of hits during the 1950s, the 1960s did not start to his taste. In March 1960 Berry was in court for the first time because of a story with an underage prostitute. The trials lasted until early 1962.
During this time, Chess was unable to overplay the bad press with good records. Even though the sessions in 1960 and 1961 produced some interesting material, today we know those only through the Rolling Stones: Bye Bye Johnny, I'm Talking About You or Come On are just examples. In addition to such goodies many fillers were recorded which were then put on the Rockin' At The Hops and New Juke Box Hits albums.
Between February 1962 and October 1963 Berry sat behind bars. While in England the Beatles, the Stones and many other Beat groups recycled Berry material, there was nothing new from the master himself. The Chess brothers looked through the tapes in there archives and created from the remaining bits an album called On Stage enhanced with fake applause. Because of this there is next to none unreleased material from that period. Just an alternate take of Go Go Go and an instrumental version of Brown Eyed Handsome Man can be heard for the first time in this set.
Completely unknown however was what follows next in chronological order: Immediately when released from prison, Berry entered stage again. In October 1963 four shows performed in Detroit were recorded for Chess. Because of the fake live album released just a few months before and presumably because of some sound problems these recordings remained in the vault, though. From these tapes McKaie and Rothwell collected the highlights and show us how an early 1960s Berry concert must have sounded like. Along with a very good backing band Berry runs through his greatest hits. The audience is in full swing and sings along all the lyrics even though the originals must have been oldies already even then. Unfortunately Berry's voice is hoarse and probably in Leonard Chess's view not good enough for release. Not necessarily Rock'n'Roll but interestingly from a historical view are Berry's comedy inserts where he entertains the audience telling jokes, similar to many other entertainers of that time.
Back in the studio, Berry produced hit after hit: Within four months he records the classics Nadine, You Never Can Tell, The Promised Land, No Particular Place To Go. Leonard and Phil Chess kept every note Berry played. This includes two lengthy jam sessions with Bo Diddley released on a Checker album Two Great Guitars.
Early 1965 Berry tours England and while there he records several songs with his tour band "The Five Dimensions" including a fantastical cover version of the St. Louis Blues. All these recordings have been published contemporary, though some only in the UK, not in the U.S. The only segment unknown was the ending of an instrumental called O Rangutang which we all knew in shortened form only until it accidentally surfaced on a British re-issue in 1998.
To our surprise this CD set presents three songs from a completely unknown session of July 1965: Shake Rattle & Roll, Honey Hush and an instrumental version of Wee Wee Hours can be heard here for the first time. The same holds for an alternate take of His Daughter Caroline from the last session in April 1966. Because there have been no mixed tapes from these songs, Andy McKaie and Pete Doell mixed new masters from the session multi-tracks making them sound like classic Chess mixes. Well done!
In June 1966 Berry left the Chess label after having worked with them for eleven years. After some years with Mercury Records he returned to Chess in 1969. As also the Mercury tapes and the later Chess recordings are today owned by Universal, we already look forward for a third box, maybe in 2010. Until then I recommend to every Rock'n'Roll fan to use this set to learn about a lesser known side of Chuck Berry: many Blues numbers, lots of standards, but also many originals we usually know from cover versions today.