The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

Saturday, October 15. 2016

Happy Birthday! Chuck Berry turns 90

As you know, this site is about the music of Chuck Berry. It is not about Chuck Berry as a person, his life, his family affairs or other gossip. So this blog entry is an exception. I have been asked by a German magazine to write a piece to honor Berry's 90th birthday and to cover his record releases in Germany. Courtesy of Rock'n'Roll Musikmagazin here's a translation of what I wrote.

On October 18, 2016, the first of the classic rock and rollers turns 90. This is amazing, because the music business is notoriously known not to be the healthiest living environment. But we can see from the example of Keith Richards (72) that some people survive almost any dose of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
But for Berry, the music business was just that: a business. This may be because unlike Richards and most other colleagues he had long grown up when his first recordings emerged. At that time Berry had already completed training as a beautician, worked a few years as a janitor and spent his first sentence behind bars. He arose from a musical black middle class family. After work he played with local bands in St. Louis to earn some extra money for himself, his wife and his little children. It was about money and therefore they played what the audience wanted to hear: sometimes Blues, sometimes Jazz, often dance music, but also many standards, country and ballads. What was important was the show, so Berry was not only a stand-up comedian, he also hopped with his guitar duck-walking across the stage, did the splits and other gymnastics.
To increase his income, he thought records sales would be helpful. So he went to Chicago to audition for record companies, and ended up at Chess Records, where on 21 May 1955, the first single Maybellene (Chess 1604) originated. Leonard Chess, boss of the company and a tough businessman, managed to get Maybellene onto the radio and on the top spot of the Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts. Now the money could flow.
However, the money did not flow in Berry's hands. The majority of the royalties ended up at music publisher Arc Music, which belonged to Leonard Chess and the brothers Gene and Harry Goodman. From the author's portion Berry also got only one-third as Chess had registered two uninvolved business partners as co-authors, Russ Fratto and Alan Freed. And the check for record sales would not have been very high either, as Chess musicians were usually paid by the hour.
But Leonard Chess knew how to make money. Therefore Berry stayed with the label. He quickly enforced better conditions for himself. Inspired by the success of the first records he became his own manager and learned to read and to formulate contracts properly. By the late '50s Berry had achieved a dozen hits on the Billboard charts and also got a better share of the revenue.
But record sales were primarily a marketing tool. You earned the big money from performances, of which in excess of 200 were completed each year. Again Berry was quite a businessman. As early as 1956 he separated from his band-mates. On the one hand their alcohol escapades prevented him from retaining control. Secondly, the band had to be paid, and that amount was taken from his pay. So henceforth Berry went on tour alone. The guitar in hand luggage, the audio equipment provided by the organizers and any vagabond band as a rhythm machine. Payment to be made before the show in cash and off the stage after exactly 60 minutes. Encores? I'm not paid for encores. The scene in the "Rock'n'Roll All Star Jam" DVD featuring a TV concert from 1985 is characteristic. During the grand finale to Rock And Roll Music Ron Wood, guitar in hand, chases Berry, who persistently denies his participation.
So no drugs, no sex, only rock'n'roll and only as a business? Not quite. The sex bit shook the well-planned business model over and over again. Many female fans were willing but not always discreet. In 1959 a disgruntled employee brought a criminal charge against him for sex with a minor and he went to prison for one and a half years found guilty of child abuse. In later times pornographic photos and videos, whether real or not, were leaked and published in exposé type magazines. Even as late as in 1990, during a raid on Berry's house, the police found secretly recorded videotapes from the ladies room of his restaurant, which cost him a suspended sentence and a multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement with the victims. Not by chance Berry's biggest selling record is about how he plays around with his Ding-A-Ling. No wonder Queen Silvia of Sweden, an activist against child abuse, had no desire to hand over Berry the Polar Music Prize awarded to him in 2014 for his lifetime achievement.
Berry's prison stay in the early '60s virtually destroyed his career. Meanwhile at exactly this time, with the help of his music, many new rock careers started. The Stones, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and thousands of other groups played the Chuck Berry song book from start to finish and sold his compositions by millions. Johnny B. Goode alone was not only played on stages, but also issued on records by nearly 600 artists. There are nearly 400 cover versions of Memphis, Tennessee, with just under 300 covers for both Roll Over Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen.
Berry had a few hits himself such as Nadine and Promised Land during the mid-'60s, especially in England. But he quickly moved into playing oldies for the most part. This was true for both his concerts as well as his later records which often consisted of well known standards. Even his new songs, often not bad, were based on well-known melodies, supplemented by intelligent lyrics.
The lyrics in particular contribute in a large part to Berry's later success. While the music of his records has always been a mix of the familiar, blues, country, jazz, ballads, the lyrics were always original. Berry could easily tell in the two minutes of a single a complete, amusing and catchy story. Nowadays, it's not without reason that Berry is mainly praised by his colleagues for his lyrical poetry.
In the '50s with Leonard Chess, Berry had a business partner with whom he could work well for their mutual benefit. After the end of the beat wave he lost his business acumen. He had always given quick money preference over artistic performance in concerts and so a large check lured him in 1966 to Mercury Records. Five albums with poor sales and four unsuccessful singles later, the planned fifth single was sent only to DJs and Berry remorsefully rejoined Chess. However, Leonard Chess had died and the company had become part in a large business group. Although Berry now had professional musical partners, the Woolies and the Billy Peek Band, who accompanied him both on records as well as tours, there was only a short period in 1972 when he scored a few hits again. Live and on these records, he played his oldies. The latest Chess record appeared in 1975. A brief new start in 1979 at Atlantic was unsuccessful. As soon as the Atlantic album was finished, Berry spent another six months behind bars, this time for tax evasion.
Until a few years ago from time to time Chuck Berry could be seen on a stage, assuming a Russian oligarch wagged enough cash. Since his 70th birthday and up to October 2014 he performed once a month at the Blueberry Hill in St. Louis together with his children. For Ingrid and Charles Jr. these appearances were likely to be considered as elder-care, for Chuck Sr. they were perhaps the only concerts he played for love rather than money.
Unlike the US and many European countries, in Germany the number of Berry records published during the 1950s was pretty low. There have been just five, maybe even only four singles on Deutsche London. It is questionable whether You Can't Catch Me (DL-20085, 1957) was ever released; at least I don't know of anybody who ever saw this record. If you know better, contact me! Even Johnny B. Goode was unissued in this country. During the '60s you could only get Berry's music in Germany on import records, mostly from Funckler in Holland, where from 1963 to 1965 a total of 17 singles called the "Chuck Berry Song Series" were released. Likewise the Funckler LPs were available in this country only as import copies.
In 1966 German Vogue tried the single Lonely School Days (DV-14547). There were hints that Vogue also wanted to release some English albums licensed from Pye Records and was probably hoping for additional new releases. However, due to Berry's change to Mercury it seems that this project was abandoned. On the other hand Mercury released no Berry singles onto the German market at all, just some of the LPs. It was only in 1972 that Mercury jumped on the oldies train and published some Berry oldies, though re-recordings from the late '60s.
From 1970 on Berry's work was marketed in Germany through Bellaphon. The people from Frankfurt were very active, publishing all the new American albums, but also oldies and rarities. This included seven Chuck Berry singles that Bellaphon brought to the German market between 1972 and 1976, of which My Ding-A-Ling (Bellaphon BF-18138) even got into the lower ranks of the Musikmarkt single charts.
Even in the GDR there was an album: Chuck Berry (Amiga 8.55.835, 1981) containing 16 Mercury recordings.
Chuck Berry's musical oeuvre is pretty much fully documented. The 16-CD collection Rock And Roll Music - Any Old Way You Choose It (Bear Family BCD 17273 PL), published two years ago, contains virtually every note ever issued on album or single. If you like it even more detailed, HIP-O-Select as part of the Universal Music Group between 2008 and 2010 released three sets of 4 CDs each containing Berry's Chess material, including a lot of alternate takes and outtakes.
For the true collector among Berry fans even this is not enough, though. While there are discount samplers almost monthly, in which the same material is released in ever new combinations, sometimes there are also interesting segments to discover. There might be a Oldies Collection enhanced with old interviews, or there is an unknown recording on a bootleg. Recently a CD gave us an old radio spot and a security announcement, which Berry had recorded for an airline.
A workgroup of international Berry collectors at irregular intervals write on my website http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry about newly issued old recordings, new cover versions or new live CDs containing mostly acoustically or artistically uninspiring, but often historically interesting concert recordings.
Collectors are primarily concerned with ancient rarities, such as Alan Freed's private publishing of a soundtrack LP or record covers never seen in stores. Of particular interest is the research about who played what on which Berry song. Here new information arises month after month. Even the two year old discography from the Bear Family Box is already outdated, because in the course of an old court case recording contracts with names and data became known. This case, of course, was also about money. Berry was sued by Johnnie Johnson, who died in 2005, for a share of the royalties because as a partner and pianist Johnson said he not only provided the piano accompaniment for many hits but also the melodies themselves. The case was decided and completed in 2002 in Berry's favor. Private documents submitted by the parties could be recently forensically evaluated. So now we know, for example, that Johnnie Johnson did indeed played the piano on Johnny B. Goode and that on Roll Over Beethoven there really is a trumpet to be heard.
Chuck Berry's musical heritage remains exciting, even 90 years after his birth. In 1978 Berry was given a big Birthday cake on the stage of the Düsseldorf Philipshalle, by a topless blonde. Today we do well to wish him health. Happy Birthday, Crazy Legs Berry!
The author would like to thank Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill Restaurant & Music Club, and his daughter Hope Edwards, photographer and designer, for kindly providing the images [to the original article].

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Announcements at 17:37 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Wednesday, October 5. 2016

A Collector's Dream: Chuck Berry Vinyl Rarities for sale

[UPDATE: All records listed here have found new homes at fellow collectors. Enjoy!]

Dear Chuck Berry collectors!

A friend of mine and fellow collector asked me to offer a selection of his Chuck Berry Vinyl records to the readers of this site. He says that he ran out of space and decided to stick with digital copies of these. So here is a stack of records most of us had only dreamed of a couple of years ago. These are some of the most sought-after records in every Chuck Berry collection. And here is a unique chance to get those you are missing.

All records below are very rare. They are in extremely nice condition, some even look unplayed. If you are interested in one or more of these, contact me at cbguide@crlf.de. The records are at my location, so I may be able to answer all your remaining questions. Shipping is from Germany to wherever you live. Records are sold for any reasonable amount as the seller asked me to find collectors by heart first before the remainder of the stack will show up on eBay during the upcoming months. If you need one of these, hurry up!

Now here's the list of records for sale - a collector's dream:

Trade Mark Of Quality S-206 (single LP)
John Lennon (featuring Yoko Ono & Chuck Berry) - Telecasts
the very first Chuck Berry bootleg was initially produced in the early 1970s. The copy for sale is a later pressing using the original JL-517 matrix number. It has completely unrelated labels. [sold]

Driving Wheel LP 1001 (single LP)
Six Two Five
The legendary concert for the BBC is probably one of Berry's best live performances ever. This is the early version of this rare bootleg. [sold]

reelin' 001 (single LP)
America's Hottest Wax
probably the most interesting of all Berry bootlegs, this record had 14 studio recordings from the Chess vaults, most of which had not been released at the time this bootleg became known. For sale is the later version of this bootleg having the printed blue cover. [sold]

Radiola MR-1087 (single LP)
Rock 'n' Roll Radio
this was the earliest record which contained the 1956 live performance from the Camel Rock'n'Roll Dance Party. Read more about this concert and record here.

A&M Records AMLM 66500 (2-LP set)
American Hot Wax
Dutch Pressing with German-language promo print "Unverkäufliches Muster"
This record contains Berry's rare 1977 live performance for the Paramount film about Alan Freed.

East World WTP-90072 (single LP)
Chuck Berry Tokyo Session
this Japan-only album contains a live concert from 1981 for which no official CD version exists. A true Chuck Berry rarity. [sold]

Barca London L28N-1005 (single LP)
The Day Of R&B
the second Japan-only album containing a Japanese live concert this time from 1982 and only in excerpts. In addition the record has Sam Moore of Sam & Dave as well as the Japanese band RC Succession. [sold]

Vinyl Gang Productions (2-LP set)
Chuck Berry / Keith Richards / The Rolling Stones - Let It Rock!
recorded in 1982 at the Ritz in New York, three of the four album sides contain a typical Berry show. During the last numbers Ron Wood (not Keith Richards) steps in to help. The fourth side has eight Berry covers sung by the Stones. This concert is available on this bootleg Vinyl only. [sold]

Papa Records DS011 / Diamond Sounds LC1187 (single LP)
Keith Richards - Still On The Road
one of a thousand Keith Richards bootlegs, but a special one for the Berry collector as it contains two lengthy tracks from the 1986 birthday concert which did not make it to the film and soundtrack album. In addition there are two tracks of Keith jamming with Eric Clapton, another two with Lonnie Mack and a demo recording. The bootleg is numbered and on multicolor Vinyl. [sold]

Driving Wheel C7788 (single LP)
Chuck Berry's Rock 'n' Roll Party with The Flying Saucers
I haven't seen this bootleg offered for years, but here is one! This show was recorded in 1977 in Hamburg, Germany and has never made it to a CD release. [sold]

Checkmate 1955 (single LP)
Chuck Berry - Let It Rock
another Vinyl bootleg full of Berry material. With twenty tracks in total this combines several of the unreleased versions from America's Hottest Wax with some other rare recordings which were hard to get at that time. Also included is the Dutch "My name is Carlos Berrino" interview. Also of interest is the eight-page booklet which came with this record. [sold]

Radio Station Record (single LP)
Retro Rock - Chuck Berry
Airdate: week of June 21, 1982
This Clayton Webster production is one of the earliest Chuck Berry radio show records. The music, nine Berry titles in total, are taken from the Toronto concert.

Radio Station Record (single LP)
Dick Bartley's Solid Gold Scrapbook: Profile: Chuck Berry!
Airdate: October 17, 1986
close to Berry's 60th birthday, Dick Bartley produced this Chuck Berry special in which he combined twelve Berry recordings, one of which is the rare Oh Yeah, with Berry covers recorded by the Beatles, Buddy Holly, the Stones, the Beach Boys, and Elvis.

Radio Station Record (single LP)
Solid Gold Scrapbook: Profile: Chuck Berry!
Airdate: October 19, 1987
a year later, Dick Bartley created another Chuck Berry special containing again twelve Berry classics and covers recorded by the Beatles, the Stones, the Beach Boys, Johnny Rivers, and Elvis.

Radio Station Record (single LP)
Solid Gold Scrapbook: A Chuck Berry Birthday Salute
Airdate: October 18, 1988
in 1988 Unistar added an interview to their annual Chuck Berry birthday shows. This is the first show which contains four interview segments plus 15 Berry hits.

Radio Station Record (4-LP set)
Dick Clark's Rock Roll & Remember
Show: 352, airdate: November 5-6, 1988
a Chuck Berry special containing 16 Berry classics, several Berry-related songs plus 12 interview segments, eight of which are talk by Chuck Berry, the remaining contain talk from Frankie Avalon, Toni Tennille, Ray Charles, and James Taylor. The Berry interview snippets are from the Unistar interview. This is the show which contains most parts of this interview. [sold]

Radio Station Record (single LP)
Solid Gold Scrapbook: A Chuck Berry Birthday Salute
Airdate: October 18, 1990
a full hour of Chuck Berry consisting of 16 Berry recordings plus three interview segments which are from the Unistar interview as well.

Radio Station Record (3-LP set)
Cruisin' America with Cousin Brucie
Airdate: April 22-24, 1988
contains a ten-minute Chuck Berry In Concert segment edited from the On Stage and London Sessions albums

Reel 'n Rock JN 5705
Go, Johnny Go!
Australian reprint of the classic and ultra-rare promotional record containing the soundtrack of the Hal Roach film. There are two Berry songs and two by the Cadillacs, one each by Eddie Cochran, Jackie Wilson, Ritchie Valens, Harvey of the Moonglows, the Flamingoes, and Jo Ann Campbell plus various unreleased songs from the movie sung by Jimmy Clanton and Sandy Stewart.

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Buy and Sell Berrys at 11:18 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Monday, September 5. 2016

NEW: The Chuck Berry Database

Starting today, the Chuck Berry Database is online. You'll find links to the database on top of all pages of the main text as well as in the menu to the right of this article. Or simply click HERE.
What is the 'Database'? The Chuck Berry Database contains the full and most accurate information about the musical works of Chuck Berry. This includes the full session data such as date, location or recording takes. It includes the full musicians listings for each song and recording. It has release information which tells you where to find a specific recording. And much more!
The database is much more than a full listing. It not only gives a chronological overview. Concurrently it cross-references all the data which allows you to query for instance all the different recordings of Johnny B. Goode. Or to find out which recordings Willie Dixon played bass on.
The database is an international joint work by Fred Rothwell, England, by Morten Reff, Norway, and by myself, located in Germany. Also collaborating were Thierry Chanu, France, Arne Wolfswinkel, the Netherlands, and Claude Schlouch, France, plus there was help from record collectors and readers of this page world-wide.
It was a tremendous work to collect all the data in the database and to take it to a structure which allows you to get answers to almost any question regarding the music of Chuck Berry.
The database project started in the late 1970s, early 1980s. I had a first access to computers and wrote a summary from all the session and recording data which I found on records and in books. By the end of the 1980s I had my own personal computer and database (dBase 2 running on CP/M). All the session data available then was put into the database with the goal to publish it as a book at some time. Over many years the project stalled as I was busy with family and work.
Then I learned to know Fred and Morten. Both were working on similar projects, and both had much more data and knowledge than I had. From then on we exchanged letters, later emails and combined our research. In the end, Fred published his "Long Distance information - Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy" which was much more than a sessionography with lots of well-written comments about each recording. Morten published his four-volume "The Chuck Berry International Directory". Again this was much more than just a discography. It was THE complete and commented discography about all of Chuck Berry's records published world-wide. And I created the "Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry" on the Internet with hundreds of pages, this blog and much more.
Since the release of Fred's book, further recordings surfaced. When Fred wrote the sessionography for the huge 16-CD Bear Family box, readers learned about many additions over the previously published data. And when you look at the database now, you will find even more data and a lot of changes over those two print-versions.
The Chuck Berry database contains what Fred, Morten and I believe is the most up to date and most accurate report of Chuck Berry's recorded legacy. Whenever new information comes up, such as a new record or some new recording details, we will integrate it into the database soon. Therefore this will be the ultimate Chuck Berry sessionography.
If you have wishes for future extensions of the database or if you have reliable data that is missing or incorrect here, don't hesitate to contact us! Until then: Enjoy!

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Announcements at 16:11 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Friday, July 8. 2016

CBID - The FAST Singles From Belgium

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: Chuck Berry singles on FAST, which is from Belgium indeed.

BELGIUM

Refering to pages 393 & 400, plus 2089 & 2094, because when this Fast label first turned up in the late ‘90s, the labels of 1056 and 1068 proclaimed Made In Holland (that’s why it was placed under Netherlands in Vol.1) which it turned out not to be. Information received after the publication of Vol.1 came from a guy in Belgium who said Fast was actually a Belgian label. As far as we know only 3 releases exists.

Let It Rock / Too Pooped To Pop+

Fast 1056 • 1960

Black label with silver print. The A and B sides are switched here as Too Pooped To Pop was the A-side on the original Chess single, however, it really became a double-sider on the Billboard charts.

Bye Bye Johnny / Worried Life Blues+

Fast 1068 • 1960

Black label with silver print. B-side credited to Chuck Berry Music, probably because the original Chess single didn’t have any credit on this track.

Almost Grown / Johnny B. Goode

Fast International 1081 • 1960

This release has blue labels with silver print and has added International. Misspelling of Johnny as "Johny B. Goode". And this label don’t have Made In Holland as printed on the other two.

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 14:20 | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Monday, June 20. 2016

Chuck Berry live in New York 1956

Anthony Chanu asked me:

Did you notice that the live version of Roll Over Beethoven on the first HIP-O-Select set is different from the version used on the early Radiola album?

No, I didn't. But it reminded me that I always wanted to write something about this recording and its releases. Time to do so.

Live recordings of early performances of the 1950's Rock'n'Rollers are extremely rare. Even though the artists played hundreds of gig each year, no audience tapes or concert recordings were made. In contrast to the 1970s and onwards, where visitors recorded and saved almost every concert, in the 1950s there was no portable personal audio recording equipment available. Even record companies had no intention to tape the raw public performance instead of using a clean and controlled studio environment. Too much effort, too bad quality.

Due to this, the only surviving performance recordings from the 1950s stem from radio and TV broadcast as well as from movies. Movies and TV broadcast however usually had the artists lip-syncing to a playback of their hit records meaning these are not live performances even if some audience is heard.

The only surviving true live performances by Chuck Berry recorded in the 1950s are from the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 and from New York, 1956. The Newport recordings were made because some of it was used for the movie "Jazz on a Summer's Day". The story behind the New York recordings is even more interesting:

Between March 24 and September 25, 1956, Alan Freed hosted a series of 26 shows on CBS radio. Each show ran half an hour and was called “The Camel Rock'n'Roll Dance Party”. Most of the shows were recorded in New York and produced by WCBS, CBS' New York radio station. The shows from May to mid-June were recorded in Hollywood and produced by KCBS instead because Alan Freed was filming in Hollywood then.

Chuck Berry, who was in New York for filming his segment of Alan Freed's "Rock, Rock, Rock" movie, contributed to the twenty-second show which was broadcast on Tuesday, August 28, 1956. Along with him were The Flamingos and Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. It is not clear when and where the show was recorded. It may have been broadcast “live” as most other 1950s radio shows were. Since there is a loud audience to be heard, the venue must have been a smaller theater. Most likely it was CBS-TV Studio 50, now the Ed Sullivan Theater, on Broadway or the theater in CBS' Studio Building at 52nd Street.

Many of the original tapes from the Camel Rock'n'Roll Dance Party as used for broadcast have been made available to the public in 2015. You can listen to them at archive.org.

In addition the AFRTS (United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) created transcription records from the broadcasts. These transcription records were then sent out to AFN radio stations worldwide for broadcast to US military in foreign countries. (This image shows a sample AFRTS record label. If you have a label scan of this or any other Rock'n'Roll Dance Party transcription, please email it to the address given under Copyright to the right.)

The AFRTS transcriptions were edited over the original broadcast. Most importantly all the advertising spots and the name of the show sponsor "Camel Cigarettes" were removed from the recording. This cut off almost five minutes from each show. In addition AFRTS added a different out cue to the show. The transcription records containing the edited shows were produced in small quantities for the AFN stations abroad. A few of them survived until the 1970s, even though their unusual format of 16-inch diameter required special turntables to play.

The AFRTS versions of most of the shows are available from the Old Time Radio Catalog as Audio-CDs.

Snippets of these shows taken from the AFRTS disks have found their way to commercial albums and CDs since the 1970s. The first record I know of was Radiola's Rock'n'Roll Radio (Radiola MR-1087) published in 1978. Roughly at the same time a series of five albums called Alan Freed's Rock n' Roll Dance Party (WINS 1010-1014) came out with the same and additional segments from the AFRTS records. The Flamingos' performance of the August 28 show was to be found only on the WINS release, while both Berry and the Teenagers were on both. A CD release containing 27 tracks was published by Magnum Force in 1991 as Rock And Roll Dance Party (Magnum Force CDMF 075).

The August 28 show starts with Bern Bennett announcing Alan Freed. Freed then opens the show and introduces his house band led by Sam "The Man" Taylor which start a four-minute instrumental called Pretzel. Next follows a lengthy Camel spot introduced by Freed as "the Camel song". After the advertisement The Flamingos sing A Kiss From Your Lips and, as Freed proudly declares, their upcoming next release The Vow. After this another Camel spot explains in detail while one has to smoke only the sponsor's cigarettes.

"And now back to our Camel Rock And Roll Dance Party. And here's the guy that is just the greatest: Chuck Berry and Maybellene!" In less than two minutes Berry runs really fast through his first record. Of the band only the drummer is heard with a short solo. "Wow!" sighs Freed and directly announces the next number: "Chuck Berry and his current bagel, right back to our Camel mike with Roll Over Beethoven!" Again we hear mostly Berry playing both lead and rhythm on his guitar. During the mid-song solo, the crowd hollers and shouts "Go! Go! Go!" indicating that we probably miss seeing Berry duck-walking across the stage. At the very end of the song, one of the sax players cannot step back any longer and adds some answering licks. With "Chuck Berry, just fabulous!" Freed ends Berry's performance.

And the show returns to promoting Camel cigarettes. After that Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers perform I Promise To Remember and Why Do Fools Fall In Love followed by another spot featuring the Camel song. The show ends with Sam Taylor and the Big Band going crazy on another instrumental called Look Out! Alan Freed once again praises Camel and finishes the show.

As said, the AFRTS edits of the show exclude all the Camel spots as well as all mentions of the sponsor in Freed's announcements. So here it goes "right back to our (cut) mike with Roll Over Beethoven." Maybellene is about 2:00 minutes long and Roll Over Beethoven clocks at 3:10 approximately.

But on HIP-O Select's release of the 4-CD set Johnny B. Goode - His Complete '50s Chess Recordings (HIP-O-Select B0009473-02, 2008) this song only runs for 2:44 minutes. And if you listen closely, you will notice that after the solo almost a complete verse is missing and replaced with a segment from the beginning of the show. Why?

I asked Fred Rothwell who helped compiling the CD sets. He told me that Andy McKaie of Universal Music had found one tape in the MCA archives containing both the two 1956 live songs and eight unusual Chess studio recordings with artificial audience dubbed. Even though the live songs we not Chess recordings they decided to include them on the set. And this edited version is as it was on the tape.

At that time no-one noticed that this was a damaged or repaired track. Fred said that he later became aware of this and when he compiled the recordings for the Bear Family boxset Rock And Roll Music - Any Old Way You Choose It (Bear Family BCD 17273 PL, 2014) the correct and complete track from the AFRTS transcription record was used.

Eight unusual Chess studio tracks with audience dubs and the two Camel show tracks on one tape? This made me remember one of the stranger LP albums I have in my collection: Alive And Rockin' (Stack-O-Hits Records AG9019, 1981).

This album had the two 1956 live tracks plus eight rarities which at that time were otherwise only known from the American Hottest Wax bootleg (Reelin' 001): previously unreleased versions of Rock And Roll Music, 21 (here called Vacation Time), Reelin' And Rockin', Sweet Little Sixteen, and Childhood Sweetheart along with the undubbed version of How High The Moon plus the previously unknown songs I've Changed (here called just Changed) and One O'Clock Jump (here as Chuck's Jam). All eight tracks were "enhanced" with fake audience on the Stack-O-Hits release. Yes: How High The Moon which was released in 1963 with audience noise and finally came to light in its original form on the Reelin' bootleg, was re-destroyed with different audience noise.

Fred confirmed that these are exactly the eight tracks from the mysterious tape in Universal's archive. And yes, the album also contains the edit of the Camel show live recording of Roll Over Beethoven. So this is not new, we only never recognized it.

Does this mean that Chess had created another fake live album and released it on the Stack-O-Hits label? Certainly not. In 1981 the Chess archives were owned by All Platinum Records and all they did with it was a hit sampler called The Great Twenty-Eight.

So who was Stack-O-Hits Records? Probably no-one at all. Stack-O-Hits was one of a dozen names used by a company called "Album Globe Distribution" (hence the AG catalog number). A.G. was known "notorious for its quasi-legitimate and downright illegal releases. Every record they issued used a different label name, but all have an AG prefix followed by a 4-digit number". (quote from discogs.com)

While the album's liner notes praise Berry to have "directly and primarily influenced artists from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Rod Steward, to Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin and so many more", they completely lie about the origins of the recordings contained:

Stack-O-Hits is pleased to be able to bring you this fantastic live performance by Chuck Berry, recorded in his prime, performing not only a selection of his biggest hits, but a taste of gut bucket Chicago Blues and high-flyin' jazz as well. Don't let this get by -collectors take note- these performances are released for the first time here on Stack-O-Hits Records.

The only "first time" here was that we didn't knew the modified recordings before. The eight studio tracks were stolen from the Reelin' bootleg and edited to sound "live". The two true live recordings were taken from the Radiola or WINS release. Or more probably they might stem from a broken tape copy of the AFRTS transcription record as this would explain why Roll Over Beethoven was edited (repaired?).

How the master tape of Alive And Rockin' came into the MCA archives for Andy McKaie to find it there, stays a mystery. Does anybody know whether other Album Globe bootlegs were re-released by MCA or Universal?

Thanks to Fred Rothwell for help with this article!

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Chuck Berry Live Tapes at 13:38 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Thursday, June 16. 2016

CBID - a 2016 Chuck Berry single

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: two singles I have just got hold of. One is a new release from England and the other is something I have just bought on eBay.

Too Much Monkey Business / Brown Eyed Handsome Man

Mabel’s Record Co. 45-M 103 • 2016

Interesting to see a new vinyl release in 2016 of this classic 1956 Berry single. The only negative thing about this is the small centre hole as the use in jukeboxes will be minimal. The sound quality is goode.

IRAN

Too Much Monkey Business - Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders / (Sibony - Xavier Cuqat / La Paloma - Freddy / Tom Cat - The Rooftop Singers)

Iranian Record Distr.Co. 1493/1494 • 1965

Record label out of Teheran. This is NOT a Chuck Berry record so you probably wonder why this is included here. The thing is that I bought it on eBay for believing it was actually Chuck Berry himself on there. But it turned out not to be. It was a cover version by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders from 1964. All the four songs are really cover versions, so it’s not Xavier Cugat, Freddy or Rooftop Singers performing either. As you will see there’s nothing on the label saying these are cover versions. The record did cost me around $22.00 so it was an expensive expierence.

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 11:49 | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Wednesday, April 13. 2016

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

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 10:00 | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Tuesday, April 12. 2016

CBID - yet another Canadian Chess single

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: Another of these Canadian re-issues on Chess Golden Treasures:

CANADA

Nadine / O’Rangutang (instr)

Chess Golden Treasures [Quality] CHGT-323X • 1981

Here is another "new" single from Canada which we didn’t have before. See pages 273 and 1993 for other records from this series.

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 14:05 | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Saturday, March 5. 2016

Was Mercury 72963 a regular release? Update

In November 2013 we finally gave up. For decades Morten Reff and I had tried to find a regular copy of Berry's fifth single for Mercury It's Too Dark In There / Good Lookin' Woman (Mercury 72963). While you can buy white-label promotional (WLP) copies of this single easily, we never even saw a regular copy with the commercial Mercury label.
The regular red Mercury label. This one:

Yes, it exists! Who else but reader (or shall I say contributor) Thierry Chanu found this absolute rarity!
This is the only copy of Mercury 72963 having a regular company label we know of. It came to him in the paper sleeve of the promotional copies, Thierry remembers.
So this still does not answer the question whether It's Too Dark In There / Good Lookin' Woman was ever sold in stores. It still may be that even this copy was sent out by Mercury as a promotional item. Until I see other red label copies offered in used-record shops or on the Net, I continue saying that this single was announced only but never sold. Convince me ...

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Chuck Berry Rarities at 17:46 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Saturday, February 20. 2016

Sheik of Chicago - new CD presents unreleased Chuck Berry material

The year 2016 starts with a new CD containing Chuck Berry recordings previously not released. Well, some. Well, not officially released. Well, and whether this CD is an official release is also questionable. Well, at least it looks like one.

Chuck Berry - The Sheik of Chicago (Smashing Pumpkin Records PMK-1126, 2016) comes in a cheap printed cardboard sleeve which claims to be printed in the E.U.

The CD has a playing time of almost 80 minutes consisting of a complete 1988 concert, segments from a 1981 concert, three nice short spots, and a tribute song to Chuck Berry by Joe Stampley.

The 1988 concert was recorded on New Year's Evening at the Palladium Theater in New York City. This concert had been broadcast through various U.S. radio stations and therefore this is a high-quality professional recording. The recording has been known from both audience tapes and more-or-less privately made bootleg CDs for a long time. One of these called Live at the Palladium even uses the same cover image.
While it's a high-quality recording, the performance is everything but high-quality. As he did for most of his career, Berry again uses a band he obviously has never seen before. Bass and rhythm guitar are inaudible, piano and drums are just bad. Chuck's daughter Ingrid helps out with harmonica and second vocal on a few numbers. She even gets to sing lead vocal on two blues numbers like we know from other concert recordings. All in all this concert is certainly not something you want to buy this CD for.

Following the 1988 concert are segments from a 1981 concert recorded in Reseda, California. This is much better but only 12 minutes long. Berry collectors and readers of this site know this performance for a long time. It has never been officially released for public sale. But it exists on Vinyl. These three songs have been included on a LP record sent by Westwood One to radio stations nation-wide to be broadcast as part of their In Concert radio series. Here it has been mastered digitally very well without any crackles and it's nice to have on CD now.

The first part of the former paragraph also holds for the next track. Berry's 20-seconds radio spot for the YMCA as recorded in 1967 was available on Vinyl before and has been discussed in detail on this site's section on Radio Station and Promotional Records. Here however, the transfer to CD did not go well. There are crackles, the beginning is fuzzy, and the overall sound quality is bad. However, as this recording is very rare we must be glad to be able to listen to it at all.

Jumping from 1988 to 1981 to 1967 next are two Chuck Berry recordings made in 2004. Both are speech recordings Chuck Berry did for Independence Air. The airline company Independence Air started flying in 2004 and filed bankruptcy in 2005, thus not being too successful. Besides trying to be cheap (always not a good idea) they also tried to be funny. This included that the in-flight safety announcements were spoken by comedians and other celebrities (see this old press-release).
Chuck Berry's safety announcements, to be used on their Bombardier CRJ200 (CL-65) jets, are spoken over a rock'n'roll instrumental (non-Berry). In 2004 you could download all the safety announcements from the flyi.com website. If you didn't, you now find it here on this new CD.
In addition the Pumpkin CD also includes a 30-seconds radio (?) commercial for Independence Air. In fact this is the only recording from this CD I did not know of and had before. I have not been able to find out where this spot was used and how it was distributed in 2004.

The last and 22nd track of this new CD is not a Chuck Berry recording at all. This is the song Sheik of Chicago, released in 1976 by Joe Stampley on EPIC. This Berry tribute is certainly one of the better ones and even made it to Billboard's Country Top 100.

If you are wondering about the nice and professional looking cover image, this has been cut from a contemporary (i.e. 1988) advert for Christian Brother's Brandy displaying Berry (click to enlarge).

Overall this is not necessary a CD we have been waiting for. It does include some rarities though. Thus if you don't have the radio station albums and the Independent Air MP3s, get yourself a copy.

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in Chuck Berry Recordings at 13:21 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Friday, February 19. 2016

Cover and label variants of Chess LP-1485 Greatest Hits - Update

[Update: Reader Thierry Chanu provided us with two more images extending this post of September 2015.]

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: After we have seen that there were three different versions of the cover of Chess LP-1480 Chuck Berry On Stage it is time to explain that the same variants (initial print, sticker, and final print) can also be found with Chess LP-1485 Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits.

USA

CHUCK BERRY'S GREATEST HITS

Chess LP-1485 • April 1964

This is another of those Berry LPs that has come out with countless of label variants, 8 to be exact, and three different front covers, four if you count the el.stereo one numbered LPS-1485. The first cover didn’t have the titles in black on a yellow sticker or printed in yellow in the bottom right-hand corner (see images). And it’s not easy to tell for sure which label was the first, but I would guess it was the old black label with the vertical silver Chess logo (again see all the various images).

And it was also the first occasion that “Maybellene” was spelt with an ‘i’. And take notice of the different spelling, Featuring the original hits on the sticker, contra the later printed version Featuring the hits.

Here are the four covers of Chess LP-1485. As with all images on this site you can enlarge it by clicking.

And here's a selection of labels I have found with this Greatest Hits album.

Reader Thierry Chanu added two more images: Here's another minor variant of the label plus the original DJ COPY label. As with the On Stage album, the very first records produced and sent to Deejays came in the non-sticker sleeve and had the multi-color label.

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 11:26 | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Thursday, February 18. 2016

CBID - Chess LP-1498 in silver - explained

In December Morten Reff reported here about a strange copy of the Fresh Berry's album having a silver label.
He wrote:

A couple of weeks ago I bought a copy of this well-known album having a label I have never seen. It’s a silver Chess label. I have not seen any other Berry LPs on Chess with this kind of label colour. The copy I got is the mono issue. The question is, was it also available as a stereo issue?

Reader Thierry Chanu was able to explain this unusual label:

This is one of the rarest original US issues ....... only four copies known!!!
It is the first US "DJ COPY" for this record. If you look at the label carefully, especially the side one, (use daylight and/or clean glasses) you will notice the "DJ COPY" writing.
CHESS seems to have used this bad silver paper in 1965 very briefly. Here's the label of a Ramsey Lewis Trio album on ARGO.

And to answer Morten's question: There is no stereo issue for this silver label. The company's DJ COPY/WLP records were only in mono at this time.

Morten agreed. When you look very closely at the label you may see the text DJ COPY stamped below the matrix number. Here is a detail of the silver label as well as the full standard white-label promo (WLP) DJ copy of this album.

When asked how he knows of only four copies of the silver label album, Thierry told me that this is from his own experience monitoring record offers for more than thirty years. He has seen this silver label copy offered only four times so far, one being Morten's.
Thanks, Thierry!

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in CBID Updates at 16:38 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Wednesday, January 13. 2016

Fresh Berry Information

Eagle eyed (and eared) blog correspondent Arne Wolfswinkel has done some serious checking of the Berry discography posted as a PDF file here on this blog and found some errors requiring amendment.

Deep Feeling / School Day session
Close listening and playing the songs at double speed has revealed that there is no bass on Deep Feeling or School Day. Instead, there are two guitars on the recordings, the second being Hubert Sumlin playing rhythm guitar beneath Berry's lead fills. As previously noted there is no bass on the two takes of La Juanda but the bass is back, played by Willie Dixon, on Blue Feeling (and the slowed down version of the tune, Low Feeling)

Sweet Little Sixteen
The version of Sweet Little Sixteen on The Chess Box (CH6-80001), despite what the box-set notes tell us, is not the speeded up version released as the single Chess 1683 but is take 14 before it was tweaked to make the single sound brighter and the vocals higher.

Vacation Time
Arne points out that Vacation Time on the Hip-O Select B0009473-02 box-set is preceded by a studio announcement '14A remake of 21' and not 13A as listed in the discography. However, listening yet again to the studio tapes there is a version of Vacation Time preceded by the following studio dialogue 'A remake of 21. I hope this god damn thing sells records Chuck, it's cost us a fortune. Here we go 13A'. I thought this was the issued version of Vacation Time but can only conclude there was a further take (14A) which became the issued cut. I believe that where an A appears in the take number, this indicates an overdubbed cut where the basic track is enhanced generally by additional guitar but sometime additional vocals. The differences between these takes can be very slight and I guess this is a case in point.

Too Pooped To Pop
Arne points out that there is a sax present on Take 4A of Too Pooped To Pop, issued on the Hip-O Select B0009473-02 box-set, as well as on the Chess 1747 single cut. On checking the studio tape again I can confirm that sax is present on all the takes. Of the 13 takes only 4 are complete takes (4A, 8A and 9A plus the master take, the number of which is unknown). Again, this is an A take overdub session with identical instrumental backing, including the backing vocals, but with variations in Chuck's overdubbed lead vocals.

Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Again Arne spots that on the August 3 1961 instrumental version of Brown Eyed Handsome Man tenor saxes are present. This, in effect, means that the saxes are present on all the cuts at this session. The backing track for both the instrumental and vocal versions is identical with just the guitar overdub substituted for Chucks vocal on the former.

The Promised Land session
There was an error regarding the line-up for this session. The PDF lists Ellis 'Lafayette' Leake and/or unknown: guitar/piano when it should be Ellis 'Lafayette' Leake and/or unknown: piano, unknown: guitar. The and/or regarding the pianist comes from an eye witness report by Guy Stevens in Jazzbeat magazine #4 dated April 1964 in which he says Leake had to leave the session halfway through and was replaced by a young studio pianist who may or may not have been Paul Williams who played on Chuck's following session a month later.

Many thanks Arne, keep 'em coming!

Posted by Fred Rothwell in LDI Sessionography - Updates at 13:25 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Sunday, December 20. 2015

CBID - Chess LP-1498 in silver - and another Canadian re-issue

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 silver label of Fresh Berry's plus another Canadian re-issue

USA

FRESH BERRY'S

Chess LP-1498 (mono) LPS-1498 (stereo) ? November 1965

A couple of weeks ago I bought a copy of this well-known album having a label I have never seen. It’s a silver Chess label. I have not seen any other Berry LPs on Chess with this kind of label colour. The copy I got is the mono issue. The question is, was it also available as a stereo issue?

CANADA

Roll Over Beethoven / Maybellene

Quality Gold Collection GC-382X ? 1986

Refering to page 1993 regarding especially the year of release, as the label on the above single also says 1982.

Posted by Morten Reff in CBID Updates at 11:07 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

Monday, October 19. 2015

Chuck Berry Rarity Discovered: 1986 Live Recordings on a 1992 Keith Richards Bootleg

When Fred Rothwell's Long Distance Information: Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy (Music Mentor Books, 2001) was published in 2001, it contained the complete knowledge about Chuck Berry's recordings known at that time. While there have been further releases of old studio recordings and some newer live recordings since then, for all experts Fred's book was complete when published.
It was kind of a sensation when in 2012 Morten Reff found a 1977 record containing recordings not included in Fred's book. And so is what I discovered some weeks ago:

I found a 1986 recording of Chuck Berry which was released on CD in 1992. And which was not in Fred's book. And not known to me or the other Berry collectors.
The CD is not an official one but a bootleg, though factory-produced. While the front cover says "I've been loving you too long", according to the back cover and the CD print this bootleg is called "Bloody Red Rooster". The artist is Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards playing with other artists such as Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis. The recordings have been taken from various shows.
Two songs feature Richards on guitar with Chuck Berry on vocals. They are named "Johnny Be Good" and "I'm Gonna Wrong" in the track listing, while the correct titles are "Johnny B. Goode" and "It Hurts Me Too".
The Berry recordings stem from the opening concert of the Chicago Annual Blues Festival of June 6th, 1986. This was one of the rare occasions where Berry was backed by a really good band consisting of Matt 'Guitar' Murphy, Lafayette Leake on piano, Thomas 'Tiaz' Palmer on bass and probably Casey Jones on drums. All of them were well-known Chicago Blues men. Ingrid Berry helped out singing second voice on "Baby What You Want Me To Do" and Keith Richards stepped in for the last four songs using a borrowed guitar (read story here, appr. 3/4 down the page). An audience tape of the show exists. It has poor quality, unfortunately. Likewise the two excerpts from the show included on this bootleg are of very low sound quality.
The bootleg claims that it has been released on the Bad Girl Songs label with catalogue number CDJ3, made in Italy 1992. As with all bootlegs, this may be correct - or not. Since we have no better information, we have to file this release under 1992, though.

The images show the front cover, back cover and label of the CD.

Many thanks to atsu-y and Fred Rothwell for help with this discovery and the corresponding research thereon.

Posted by Dietmar Rudolph in LDI Sessionography - Updates at 11:00 | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Contact Webmaster

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This weblog is an addition to my Chuck Berry fansite called "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry" which describes all books and records of interest to everyone enjoying Chuck Berry's music.

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The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

News and discussions to Dietmar Rudolph's "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry"

Saturday, October 15. 2016

Happy Birthday! Chuck Berry turns 90

Wednesday, October 5. 2016

A Collector's Dream: Chuck Berry Vinyl Rarities for sale

Monday, September 5. 2016

NEW: The Chuck Berry Database

Friday, July 8. 2016

CBID - The FAST Singles From Belgium

Monday, June 20. 2016

Chuck Berry live in New York 1956

Thursday, June 16. 2016

CBID - a 2016 Chuck Berry single

Wednesday, April 13. 2016

CBID - cover versions keep coming

Tuesday, April 12. 2016

CBID - yet another Canadian Chess single

Saturday, March 5. 2016

Was Mercury 72963 a regular release? Update

Saturday, February 20. 2016

Sheik of Chicago - new CD presents unreleased Chuck Berry material

Friday, February 19. 2016

Cover and label variants of Chess LP-1485 Greatest Hits - Update

Thursday, February 18. 2016

CBID - Chess LP-1498 in silver - explained

Wednesday, January 13. 2016

Fresh Berry Information

Sunday, December 20. 2015

CBID - Chess LP-1498 in silver - and another Canadian re-issue

Monday, October 19. 2015

Chuck Berry Rarity Discovered: 1986 Live Recordings on a 1992 Keith Richards Bootleg

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