Monday, August 25. 2014
The very first Chuck Berry LP album
What was the very first 33rpm LP album containing Chuck Berry?
Now write down your answer, then scroll down ...
If your answer was "After School Session", you know your Berry quite well. Indeed, this album from May 1957 was the very first 33rpm LP containing just Chuck Berry recordings. Released by CHESS under the catalog number LP-1426 this album contains most of Berry's first seven CHESS singles (except four tracks) plus two previously unissued instrumentals.
However, this was not the first 33rpm LP album containing Chuck Berry.
If your answer was the CHESS sampler "Rock Rock Rock", you know your Berry very well. Yes, as the number LP-1425 indicates, this album was released before LP-1426 "After School Session" und it was the very first 12" LP album published under the CHESS label name.
In case you wonder why the first CHESS album was already numbered at 1425, you'll find the answer in Nadine Cohodas's great book "Spinning Blues into Gold": The Chess brothers' first home in the U.S. after immigrating from Poland was at 1425 South Karlov Avenue, Chicago. The number 1425 was also used for the first 45rpm single issued under the CHESS label name: Bless You b/w My foolish heart by the Gene Ammons Sextet in June 1950.
"Rock Rock Rock" is the title of a music film starring Alan Freed. The film was released December 7th, 1956 to the movie theaters in the U.S. (though some sources say December, 5th). On the very first days, Alan Freed, Chuck Berry, and Connie Francis were on stage in a couple of New York theaters for a few minutes each to promote the film. Record labels such as CHESS, whose artists performed in the film, were allowed to promote their records at the cinemas showing the movie. CHESS took this opportunity to concurrently (i.e. December 1957) create an album of same title which looks like a soundtrack album but instead contained only those artists under contract by CHESS: the Moonglows, the Flamingoes, and Berry.
CHESS LP-1425 contains the four songs performed by CHESS artists in the movie:
- "I Knew From The Start" - The Moonglows
- "Would I Be Crying" - The Flamingos
- "You Can't Catch Me" - Chuck Berry
- "Over And Over Again" - The Moonglows
- "Maybellene" - Chuck Berry
- "Sincerely" - The Moonglows
- "Thirty Days" - Chuck Berry
- "The Vow" - The Flamingos
- "Roll Over Beethoven" - Chuck Berry
- "I'll Be Home" - The Flamingos
- "See Saw" - The Moonglows
- "A Kiss From Your Lips" - The Flamingos
However, this was not the first 33rpm LP album containing Chuck Berry.
The very first Chuck Berry album has no title and no catalog number. All it says is "These are the new record hits from the motion picture Rock, Rock, Rock". And here's its story:
The movie "Rock, Rock, Rock" was a project by well-known New York disk jockey Alan Freed. And he wanted to get as much money from it as he could. First he owned 10 per cent of the film outright. Second he played a leading role. And third he planned to cash on the music presented therein. So Freed talked the executives of the six record companies whose artists perform their songs in the movie to pass over the publishing rights for the songs to his own Snappner Music Inc. company. He succeeded with 15 of the 20 songs.
Next, in return for allowing the record companies to display their disks in all theaters where the film plays, Freed got himself permission to use the songs on a DJ long-playing album. This was a brand-new idea! There was a growing market for 12" albums, so-called "packaged records", but only in the areas of classical music, Broadway shows, or jazz. There was no LP album from CHESS or any other rock-related company.
Freed sampled the 20 songs onto a single 33rmp record and had the film producing company DCA send this "Disc Jockey Sample - Not For Sale" LP out to more than 600 disk jockeys around the country. Here's a quote from DCA's marketing material:
Something completely new by way of exploitation is being tried on ROCK, ROCK, ROCK; an L.P. record containing all twenty-one songs from the picture has been pressed.We don't know how many DJs followed this advice. Alan Freed himself "world-premiered" this compilation on October 20th, 1956 on WINS. So it's safe to assume that the album was sent out by the end of October or early November 1956.
This record is going to every disc-jockey in the country with a letter asking him to set aside one evening in which to play the complete musical score from the picture. We further suggest that you contact your local disc-jockey and have him send out a press release stating that a premiere on disc will take place and have him mention the time and place.
Even though more than 600 copies of this very first Chuck Berry album have been pressed and distributed, very few seem to have survived. Most recipients probably either threw it away or played it to death.
The original album is extremely rare. Even the most detailed discography of Berry, Morten Reff's "The Chuck Berry International Directory" fails to show an image as does all of the Internet.
So here, for the first time on the net, images of cover and label of Chuck Berry's very first 33rpm LP album:
As you can see, there is an image of Berry as well as the line "SEE the inimitable Chuck Berry - HEAR him sing You Can't Catch Me". There is no back cover. That side is blank. There is no label nor any kind of catalog number. My best guess for a label name is the film company DCA. Morten Reff lists it under Roost, because the name of that record company is etched into the wax, as you can see on the high-resolution images. My guess is that Roost produced the album for DCA.
And there's even more: It seems that DCA included an 8 page, double letter-sized booklet with the promotional album. At least the copy I was lucky to get had this insert. The complete contents of this booklet is available as a PDF file here: http://www.alanfreed.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/063-King-Of-RockRoll-1956.pdf [If this link doesn't work, try http://www.alanfreed.com/wp/archives/archives-rocknroll-1951-1959/mp-rock-rock-rock/]. What the PDF misses is the original color of the title page as shown here:
If you want to know more about Freed and DCA marketing the movie, check out the other documents at alanfreed.com: http://www.alanfreed.com/wp/archives/archives-rocknroll-1951-1959/mp-rock-rock-rock/
The complete contents of this DJ sampler is as follows - with original label, composer, and publisher according to the film's music cue sheet. Some spellings differ from the album labels. Interestingly there are only 20 songs while the cover talks about 21.
- "Tra La La" - La Vern Baker (Atlantic Records, Johnny Parker, Snapper)
- "Ever Since I Can Remember" - Cirino and The Bowties (Roost Records, Ben Weisman and Aaron Schroeder, Tarpon)
- "The Big Beat" - Jimmy Cavallo's House Rockers (Coral Records, Glen Moore and Buddy Dufault, Snapper)
- "Over and Over Again" - The Moonglows (Chess Records, Ben Weisman and Al Weisman, Snapper)
- "Right Now, Right Now" - Alan Freed's Rock 'n Roll Band (Coral Records, Al Sears and Charles E. Calhoun, Sylvia & Bonita)
- "Thanks to You" - Teddy Randazzo & The Three Chuckles (Vik Records, Glen Moore, Snapper)
- "Baby, Baby" - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (Gee Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "Lonesome Train" - Johnny Burnette Trio (Coral Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "We're Going to Rock Tonight" - The Three Chuckles (Vik Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "I Never Had A Sweetheart" - Connie Francis (MGM Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "You Can't Catch Me" - Chuck Berry (Chess Records, Chuck Berry, Snapper)
- "Little Blue Wren" - Connie Francis (MGM Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "Rock, Rock, Rock" - Jimmy Cavallo's House Rockers (Coral Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "The Things Your Heart Needs" - Teddy Randazzo (Vik Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "Rock, Pretty Baby" - 6-year old Ivy Schulman (Roost Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "Would I Be Crying" - The Flamingos (Checker Records, Glen Moore, Snapper)
- "Rock'n Roll Boogie" - Alan Freed's Rock 'n Roll Band (Coral Records, Freddie Mitchell and Leroy Kirkland, Sylvia & Bonita)
- "Won't You Give Me A Chance" - The Three Chuckles (Vik Records, Glen Moore, Snapper)
- "I Knew From The Start" - The Moonglows (Chess Records, Glen Moore and Milton Subotsky, Snapper)
- "I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent" - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (Gee Records, George Goldner, Kahl & Adt.)
On a final note, there is a 1980s bootleg copy of this album on the Reel'n'Rock label (JN 5703) from Australia.
In contrast to the original album, the bootleg comes in a gatefold cover. It has a back cover with liner notes and a track listing, both of which are missing on Chuck Berry's very first LP album.
[Edit 17-07-2018: Links to alanfreed.com updated]
Sunday, August 24. 2014
Chuck Berry complete - the Bear Family way
Bear Family, the famous German record company, informs me - and you - about their newest Chuck Berry product:
Rock And Roll Music - Any Old Way You Choose It - The COMPLETE Studio Recordings ... Plus!
To be issued in a few weeks, this new Berry box contains sixteen CDs plus almost four hundred printed pages.
As we know it from Bear Family, this is to be the definitive Berry collection. There is no better and there never will be.
Here's a first view according to Bear Family's Detlev Hoegen. Be sure I'm going to report details as soon as I have them.
- all the CHESS recordings we know from the three Hip-O-Select boxes - plus those they forgot to include
- all the Mercury recordings we know from the already rare 1980s CDs plus unreleased tracks
- the ATCO studio album and more
- live recordings from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s
- an updated discography by Fred Rothwell
- a biography and other writings from Bruce Pegg, Mike Snow, and Roger Fairhurst
- hundreds of pages with photos by Harry Davis, Chuck's uncle, taken during Berry's early career
- previously unseen photos by Jean-Marie Perrier
- an introduction written by Paul McCartney
- plus plus plus
Thanks to designer Mychael Gerstenberger of Malbuch/Berlin, I can show you early photos of the contents. As with all images on this site, click for a better view.
Bear Family claims that this is everything by Berry you ever wanted to have - and for most collectors they are definitely right. There is some additional studio material and tons of live recordings, but only a completionist like myself will want to have that.
The price for the box will be 299 Euros (appr. $400), thus it's save to say that you better start saving money immediately.
Those who want even more might try to get one of only 88 limited Deluxe Editions of this box. To celebrate Berry's 88th birthday on October 18th, Bear Family packs the contents of the box (16 CDs, 2 hardcover books) into an original-size Gibson ES series guitar case. Price will be 499 Euros (appr. $660).
Friday, August 8. 2014
Sweet Little Eight Variants of Sweet Little Sixteen
In July [2011] I had to correct some common knowledge about Johnny B. Goode. Based on findings by Josep RullĂł of Barcelona/Spain we learned that there were some errors with the so-called "complete" release of Berry's 1950s Chess recordings on HIP-O-Select's 4-CD-set Johnny B. Goode (HIP-O-Select B0009473-02).
Josep had another comment:
Sweet Little Sixteen â There's a lot of takes of this song in the Hip-O-Select set, but I think the one first released on the âAmerica's Hottest Waxâ LP is not there. I haven't heard that album for ages, but I seem to recall it had a false start (guitar intro only) and a complete take, wherein Chuck mixes the lyrics of the last verse with the lyrics from the first verse, and ends with âback in school againâ. This line is not heard on any of the five (well, really four) takes used on the Hip-O CD set.Josep's email started a long discussion about the various versions of Sweet Little Sixteen which can be found on the 4-CD set. And more importantly with the help of Morten Reff and Fred Rothwell we discussed in detail which versions can NOT be found on the 4-CD set.
The first part of Josep's comment was quite easy to solve. Just like with Johnny B. Goode take 2 the engineers at Universal clipped off the false starts when mastering the 2008 CD set. This happened to both the demo version (track 5 on CD2) and the previously unknown alternate take 11 (track 7 on CD 2). To listen to these false starts (and some studio chatter with the demo) you need to go back to records and CDs published in the 1980s.
The second part of Josep's comment lead into some more detailed discussions about the lyrics Berry sings because musically the multiple takes are very similar. Here's Josep again:
There are several lyrical differences between the available takes, but the most prominent one is in verses 1, 4, 5 and 7. On the master, Chuck sings âBoston, Pittsburgh, PAâ in verses 1 and 7, and âBandstand, Philadelphia, PAâ in verses 4 and 5. Taking this as a starting point, you can find several variations. On the demo, take 3 and take 11, he even sings âBandstand, Pittsburgh, PAâ on verse 5, which is wrong not only lyrically, but also geographically !!. Of course, I think Chuck knew the lyrics perfectly, and in most of those takes he was merely trying to get the band together without paying much attention to the words, but this is useful to us today in order to tell one from the other.By "master" Josep refers to the variant which finally made it to Chess single 1683 released January 1958. Given these lyrical variations one can differentiate between the four variants on the HIP-O-Select box easily:
- CD 2, track 5 - the "demo" version with Lafayette Leake on piano. Berry sings about Boston in verses 1 and 7, and about Bandstand in verses 4 and 5, but has the Bandstand mis-placed to Pittsburgh in verse 5.
- not on the set - the "demo" version complete with false start, studio talk and an extra guitar note at the end. This was first released on the bootleg LP "America's Hottest Wax" (Reelin' 001, 1979). The first legal release was on a German budget album called "The Giant's [sic] of Rock'n Roll" (K-tel TG 1367) in 1982, though less the false start. In full it appeared on Chess CXMP 2011 "Chess Masters" in March 1983 and Chess LP 9190 "More Rock'n'Roll Rarities" in August 1986. Note that for some reason the HIP-O-Select box only tells the original US releases.
- CD 2, track 6 - take 3 of the second recording session, the one which leads to the final recording and has Johnny Johnson on piano. This was unreleased until 2008 when it made it to the HIP-O set. Here Berry sings "Boston" in verses 1, 4, and 7, while the only "Bandstand" in verse 5 is mis-placed to Pittsburgh again. The recording ends with some studio talk.
- CD 2, track 7 - take 11, in which Berry puts "Boston" into verses 1 and 4, while verses 5 and 7 are about "Bandstand". Again Berry places the Bandstand to Pittsburgh during verse 5. This recording ends with someone coughing into the microphone. Again this version was unreleased before it was included into the HIP-O set - even though the box booklet incorrectly claims that this version had appeared as an alternate take on "Rock 'n' Roll Rarities" (Chess LP 92521, March 1986).
- CD 2, track 8 - take 14. Finally Berry gets the lyrics right in the way we know it: "Boston, Pittsburgh PA" in the first and last verse, "Bandstand, Philadelphia PA" in between, that is verses 4 and 5. The take ends with Chuck joking that they finally got it. This version of take 14, though without the final studio talk, was first released on the 6-LP set "The Chess Box" (Chess 80001) in 1988.
- CD 2, track 9 - take 14 again, though without the studio chat and accelerated by five per cent. It is this variant which was finally released as a hit single in 1958.
Indeed there is a recording of Sweet Little Sixteen which is very similar to the final take except for the piano solo and Berry singing "school" instead of "class". This was the next-to-final take 13 of the recording session. Josep found it on Chess RCD034-2 titled "Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll", released in Spain in 1991. The take first surfaced on the two-LP set "Rock 'n' Roll Rarities" (Chess LP 92521) in March 1986, though in edited form.
On that double album there is a so-called unreleased version of Sweet Little Sixteen, which is take 13 preceded by a false start. However that false start does not belong to that take! Those who have access to the session tapes tell that the false start actually opens take 11, while take 13 never had a false start. Thus like we have found out with Johnny B. Goode, we must learn that the CHESS/MCA engineers in 1986 created unreleased versions by clipping and pasting parts from multiple takes into what they found to be a reasonable sequence.
This also explains why the HIP-O set contains take 11 and claims that this was a known take: The engineers at HIP-O found the take with the previously known false start (take 11) and included it in the set, without noticing that the take did not continue as known - and in addition they clipped off the false start, which was the only segment of the take known before.
Thus for now we have to add the following variants to our list:
- not on the set - false start of take 11, originally released as the first part of the so-called unreleased version on "Rock 'n' Roll Rarities" (Chess LP 92521, March 1986).
- not on the set - take 13 in which Berry sings "back in school again" during verse 6, originally released as the second part of that unreleased version. In unmodified form released on "Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll" (Chess RCD034-2, Spain 1991)
For the sake of completeness I do not want to forget to tell that there is another studio recording of Sweet Little Sixteen made 1966 for Mercury. You can easily distinguish that one from the 1958 versions by the prominent tambourine playing.
I want to end this long post with another comment from Josep:
Man, can you believe the hours we've all spent listening to those takes? It shouldn't be that difficult to sort this out!!! If this isn't love for the music, then I don´t know what it is...
Sunday, May 11. 2014
Setting the parameters of rock music
The parameters of rock music were set one day in May 1955, when Chuck Berry recorded his debut single âMaybelleneâ. Chuck Berry was the rockânâroll pioneer who turned the electric guitar into the main instrument of rock music. Every riff and solo played by rock guitarists over the last 60 years contains DNA that can be traced right back to Chuck Berry. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and a million other groups began to learn their craft by playing Chuck Berry songs. Chuck Berry is also a superb songwriter. In the course of three minutes he conjures up an image of the everyday life and dreams of a teenager, often with the focus on cars. Chuck Berry, born in 1926, was the first to drive up onto the highway and announce that we are born to run.These are the reasons why Chuck berry is going to be honored with the Polar Music Prize 2014 on August 26th by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden in Stockholm.
Besides being honored with a great ceremony and given a prize money of 1,000,000 Swedish Kroner (appr. $150,000), which Berry will appreciate more, this prize puts Berry in one line not only with other renowned popular artists, but with exceptional composers and performers of classical music as well.
The Polar Music Prize is a legacy from Stig Anderson (1931-1997), one of the most famous figures in the Swedish music industry. A songwriter himself with an output of around 3,000 published titles, many of them chart hits, Anderson managed some of the biggest Swedish artists of the 1960s and then in the early 1970s became manager, co-writer, and producer of Sweden's most important pop group, ABBA. Anderson's record company Polar Music released all the original ABBA albums.
[Since 1992] the Polar Music Prize is an international music prize, which is awarded to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. The Polar Music Prize awards two Laureates in order to celebrate music in all its various forms and to emphasize the original intention of the Polar Music Prize: To break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.To learn more about the prize, visit their website at polarmusicprize.org. The site also contains videos of the ceremonies, so expect to see Berry there as well. Along with their press release, the Prize Committee published a nice and almost correct brief biography of Berry at http://polarmusicprize.org/announcement/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/PMP_biografi_CB.pdf
Monday, April 21. 2014
CBID - Berry Covers from 2013
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: Four additional cover versions, three of them quite recent, to be added to the chapter on Chuck Berry covers in Volume 3.
Correction over post dated March 5th, 2014: Biographical details about Kelly Clarkson
KELLY CLARKSON (USA)
Kelly Brianne Clarkson, born 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas. Sheâs an American singer-songwriter who in 2002 won the first season of American Idol. Her debut single âA Moment Like Thisâ topped the Billboard Hot 100, and her album âThankfulâ in 2003 was certified double platinum. Her manager is Narvel Blackstock who is the husband of Reba McEntire, and Kelly is married to Brandon Blackstock, son of Narvel. Itâs all the family (!)
Run Rudolph Run (2:27) 2013
CD: Wrapped In Red [RCA 77623-2] ? USA, 2013
Not my favourite version, far from it actually. It does not rock and roll, itâs too staccato in the rhythm which leaves us at the stamp of rock music without a beat.
NEW DANGERS (Italy)
Beat quintet.
Maybellene [âPiantalaâ] ( : ) 1966
45: Robinson Records RR-17 ? Italy, 1966 (picture sleeve)
WILD ANGELS (UK)
See Volume 3, page 1603 for biographical info.
Little Queenie ( : ) 2013
CD: The Wild Angels Ride Again [Foot Tapping FT-141] ? UK, 2013
The guy who started the band back in 1967, Mitch Mitchell, has gathered some former members and relaunching the band: Keith Read, Rusty Lupton and Wild Bob Burgos.
WHITNEY WOLANIN (USA)
Sheâs a pop singer/songwriter, born 1990 in Albany, New York, growing up in Florida. Released her debut album âFunkology XIIIâ in 2005.
Run Rudolph Run (3:01) 2013
CD EP: Run, Run Rudolph [Top Notch Records, unk. cat no] ? USA, 2013
5 song EP. Now this a better version which has some rock & roll feeling and beat to it. On this special EP it comes in three different mixes, Up-Tech, Sing Along and Country. The song reached #2 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, December 2013. Whitney and her sister Victoria operate the Top Notch Record label.
Thursday, April 17. 2014
CBID - more vinyl from Belgium and Spain
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 additional entries to the country-specific discographies published in Volume 1:
SPAIN
ROCKINâ AT THE HOPS
Zafiro [Charly] 301 12367 ? 1988
Same cover and contents as the reissue UK Charly (Green Line) LP GCH-8041 (1986).
BELGIUM
I think we can now assume that all the Rock Revival singles with picture sleeves which came out in France in 1968/69 also were released in Belgium, prefix BE (same pictures but different colours), although so far I have only seen two: the one listed here on February 24, 2014 and the one below.
ROCK REVIVAL (VOLUME 6)
Nadine / Carol
Chess BE-169528 ? 1969
Picture sleeve. This sleeve is red compared to the French one on page 294 (in CBID Vol. 1) which is orange.
Tuesday, April 15. 2014
CBID - a 78 from South Africa
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: Hereâs a 78 from South Africa. Finally we have a record by Chuck from this country released in the â50s.
SOUTH AFRICA
Sweet Little Sixteen / Reelinâ And Rockinâ
London PD. 8182 ? 1958 (78 rpm)
Black label,with silver print. It says on the label: âŚby arrangement with the Decca Record Co. Ltd. England.
Saturday, April 12. 2014
CBID - a Stuck Herry cover version
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 cover version which is quite interesting in the way of the name of the band in the first place:
STUCK HERRY (Netherlands)
Rockânâroll quartet led by Peter de Haan (guitar-vocals), Ep Oosting (vocals-guitar), Martin Tuinte (bass), Theo Dijkstra (drums-vocals). Their influences are Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and the Kinks. However, no doubt about it that they got their name from Chuck Berryâs.
Back In The USA (1:39) 2013
EP: Rock And Roll E.P. Volume 1 [Primrose Prod. EKS-0290] ? Netherlands, 2013
They are pictured on the cover with acoustic instruments, but the Berry track has an el. guitar solo. I had to look at my stop-watch twice to check if the time was right. It was! The music is ok but I donât fancy the vocals, especially not the oh yeahs. They also cover Cochran/John D. Loudermilkâs âSittinâ In The Balconyâ (not good) and Cochranâs âJeannie, Jeannie, Jeannieâ (better), plus âJustineâ from Don & Dewey.
Friday, April 11. 2014
CBID - New 2013 CDs, unfortunately poor ones
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 2013 CDs. which you can easily do without:
Netherlands
LET IT ROCK â Just About As Good As It Gets [2 CD]
Smith & Co. SCCD-2492 ? 2013
CD 1: Let It Rock / Johnny B. Goode / Thirty Days / Maybellene / Sweet Little Rock And Roller / Rock And Roll Music / Carol / Sweet Little Sixteen (original speed) /You Canât Catch Me /Little Queenie /Back In The USA / Rock At The Philarmonic (instr) / Almost Grown / Roll Over Beethoven / I Got To Find My Baby+ / Around And Around /No Money Down / House Of Blue Lights+ / Do You Love Me / Mad Lad (instr) / Too Much Monkey Business / Donât You Lie To Me+ / Come On / Childhood Sweetheart / Too Pooped To Pop+ / Oh Baby Doll / Rock And Roll Music (demo) /County Line / Wee Wee Hours / Rip It Up+.
CD 2: Down The Road A Piece+ (faded) / Reelinâ And Rockinâ / School Day / Go Go Go / 21 Blues (Vacation Time) / Iâm Talking About You / Memphis, Tennessee / Bye Bye Johnny (stereo) / Guitar Boogie (instr) / Jaguar And The Thunderbird / Run Rudolph Run+ / Confessinâ My Blues+ / Betty Jean / Johnny B. Goode (alt. take) / In-Go (instr) / Brown Eyed Handsoime Man / Run Around / Come On (alt. take stereo) / Route 66+ (alt. take stereo) / Beautiful Delilah / Say Youâll Be Mine+ -The Equadors / Worried Life Blues+ / One OâClock Jump+ (instr) / Let Me Sleep Woman+ -The Equadors / Merry Christmas Baby+ / Sweet Little Sixteen (alt. take) / Reelinâ And Rockinâ (alt, take) / Down Bound Train / Sweet Sixteen+ / Down The Road A Piece (stereo).
Donât know what it is, but I donât approve of this CD release. The sound is not good enough as of todays standard. And why include both âCounty Lineâ and âJaguar And The Thunderbirdâ as they are almost the same songs. And both versions of âCome Onâ? And âDown The Road A Pieceâ twice? âRip It Upâ? Give me a break. The text says âVacation Timeâ but it is â21 Bluesâ. There is enough material to choose from his â50s and early â60s stuff so this 2 CD set is a waste of money. The liner notes in the booklet written by Dave Travis are straight forward and quite okay.
Available at amazon.com: Click here
CD plus free MP3s available from amazon.de: Click here
USA
SAN FRANCISCO DUES
Geffen [Chess] GET-54058-CD ? 2013
This digipack is the same as original US album Chess (GRT) CH-50008 from 1971. No extra tracks, BUT they (who?) have used the slow version of âLonely Schooldaysâ instead of the rockin version thatâs on the original album. Always something!
Available at amazon.com including free MP3s: Click here
Wednesday, March 26. 2014
CBID - The missing Dutch
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: The missing Dutch - For some reason, this 45 from 1975 missed to make it into Volume 1. So here it is:
NETHERLANDS
Shake Rattle And Roll / Baby What You Want Me To Do
Chess CH-2169 ? 1975 (picture sleeve)
Tuesday, March 11. 2014
Is this a Stones record?
Do you know anything about the record shown?
As you see there is nothing mentioned on the label who this is. It sounds like the Rolling Stones, but itâs probably not. Same song on both sides. Morten bought this 45 on eBay from Canada in early 2012.
The Stones did actually play in Toronto 4-5 March 1977 in a small club but according to their set list they didnât perform âLittle Queenieâ (though they did âAround And Aroundâ).
Itâs live all right, and although the singer tries his best to sound like Mick Jagger, towards the end the guitarist plays riffs that are very different from Keith or Ronnie.
So, is this a bootleg of some sort pretending to be the Stones or is it a Stones cover band trying to fool us, or what? Can anyone help out there?
Monday, March 10. 2014
Welcome to Morten Reff writing for the Chuck Berry Collectors Blog
Who is this guy, you may ask.
If you are collecting Chuck Berry records, you will not even think to ask this question. But for the one newbie reading these pages, let me briefly introduce Morten.
Morten Reff is a (or probably the) world expert on Chuck Berry records. He's the one who knows everything about when a specific record was released in a specific country, what the cover looked like and what's special about its contents.
Like me, Morten is a second-hand Berry fan. When Berry had his first hits, Morten was only recently born, and I wasn't even that. So we were never touched by the original hype.
Morten started collecting Berry records when his hits were re-released during the early British Beat craze. He bought his first single on PYE Let it Rock b/w Memphis, Tennessee. I encountered Berry during the early 1970s, when his greatest hits were already marketed as "Golden Oldies".
Both of us then started to collect more and more Berry recordings and records, trying to find even less known or more strange songs. While I was happy to get some cheap French reprint of a Chess mono album, Morten ordered the old U.S. albums and got the then modern "enhanced stereo" versions. In any case we tried to get more and more, especially after having noticed that versions differed on some albums or singles.
Though not formally trained as a music historian, in this specific field Morten worked like one. His research became a huge stack of publishing data. Consequently when Howard DeWitt in 1981 published the first English-language book about Chuck Berry, Morten directly wrote to the author about how faulty the included discography was. Due to this the 1985 printing of DeWitt's book came with a much better and much longer discography - written by Morten Reff.
During the last few years, Morten has published the essence of his 40+ year research on Berry recordings and Berry-related recordings in a series of books called The Chuck Berry International Directory (CBID).
Morten and I got into contact 18 years ago when an early print version of this blog was distributed to Berry collectors all over Europe by help of a British record seller, Hugh McCallum. Since then we continue to exchange news and findings on Berry rarities. We share a lot: We both like Berry's music, but don't care for his personal life stories. We're from Europe, and we both hate to accept that My Ding-A-Ling became Berry's greatest hit. And finally we are convinced that a true collector must also be an extensive researcher. We both encourage other collectors to join in and share their knowledge with us.
With the print version of his over 2.000 pages of Berry's musical legacy finished, Morten agreed to post further findings (new records, new covers) in blog articles here. If you own the books, you might therefore bookmark this blog and print out the CBID additions.
If you want Morten (or me) to write about a specific Berry-related subject, feel free to send an email to cbguide@crlf.de. We promise to at least think about it.
Friday, March 7. 2014
CBID - Two covers for one Spanish album
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: We found a Spanish album not listed in Volume 1 - and then we didn't:
Spain
CHUCK BERRY : ĂXITOS
Movie Play S-26.103 ? Spain, 1972
This one (listed on page 451) has a fold-out cover which was not mentioned. The cover also has the following printed on the back: Fabricado distribuido por discos movieplay, S.A. Bajo licencia de GRT â Chess Records, USA. Which differs from the book-club issue below.
CHUCK BERRY : ĂXITOS
Movie Play S-26.103 ? Spain, 1972 (Book-club issue)
Same as US LP Chess 1485 âGreatest Hitsâ. Different cover. However, the album title, label and cat no are exactly the same as the one mentioned on page 451 in Vol.1 (see above) but different cover, front and back. And itâs a single cover, and not fold-out as the one on page 451. Has the following printed on the back cover: Produccion especial para Discolibro 7525. Which points to that this issue is an album released by a book club ('Discolibro') and therefore pressed for their members with a new cover. Both albums have the same liner notes in Spanish.
Monday, February 24. 2014
CBID - Additional 45s from the US and from Belgium
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 additional entries to the country-specific discographies published in Volume 1:
USA
Johnny B. Goode / Rock And Roll Music
Mercury âCelebrity Seriesâ C-30146 ? 1972
This has a special yellow and red color cardboard cover (one-sided). It has the number 3260 which should indicate more issues, however, I have never seen any others. Dark blue label color.
BELGIUM
ROCK REVIVAL (VOLUME 4)
Roll Over Beethoven / School Day
Chess BE-169515 ? 1969
Picture sleeve. This sleeve is green compared to the French one on page 293 (in CBID Vol. 1) which is red.
Friday, February 21. 2014
CBID - Additional Covers of Maybellene and Oh Baby Doll
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 additional cover versions, one new and one not so new, to be added to the chapter on Chuck Berry covers in Volume 3.
LA FEMME (FRANCE)
Sextet (one girl, five guys), classified as a smooth, tropical, surf, cold wave band from Paris. They first recorded in 2010.
Oh Baby Doll [âBaby Dollâ] (3:06) 2013
CD single: Disque Pointu, (no cat.no) ? France, 2013
Techno (as I would call it) version by a young modern popular French group. Interesting to notice the wish to cover an obscure Berry song, in 2013! This was also used as a TV ad for the Yves Saint Laurent Babydoll Mascara. Check it out on YouTube.
BRUCE CHANNEL (USA)
Born in 1940 in Jacksonville, Texas. Famous for the hit version of âHey Babyâ in 1962, featuring Delbert McClinton on harmonica.
Maybellene [Mabellene] (2:15) 1968
45: Charay C-33-A ? USA, 1968
Record label out of Fort Worth, Texas. This is in stereo and very white soul. Unusual. The B-side âOne Letter At A Timeâ is more country oriented. The Charay label had 2 other 45 issues using the cat.no. 33 but this one has the letter A to separate it from the others. Strange policy though.
Main Page
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.
Categories
What You Missed
Some earlier but important entries:
- Unanswered questions about the recording of Memphis, Tennessee
- Sweet Little Eight Variants of Sweet Little Sixteen
- The Johnny B. Goode Session
- Chuck Berry in Stereo
- Chuck Berry's Recording Session for Volkswagen
- Chuck Berry's Recording Session for Dr Pepper
- Tim McFarlin Introduces the Berry-Johnson Test into American Copyright Law
- Chuck Berry's Early Recording Locations
- Run! Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer â and the copyright mystery
- Chuck Berry live in New York 1956
- The very first Chuck Berry LP album
- The Chuck Berry On Stage (Chess LP-1480) confusion continues
- The Chuck Berry Vinyl Bootlegs, Vol. 1: Rare Berries
- Rocksmuk album - bootleg or not?
- 6034 cover versions of Chuck Berry songs
- Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits (Chess LP-1485) variants
Recent Entries
- CHUCK100 Tribute EP Series
- Thursday, January 16 2025
- CBID - Corrections, Additions, New Covers
- Friday, January 10 2025
- Rhythm and Rhyme - Chuck Berryâs poetic heartbeat
- Sunday, December 22 2024
- CBID - 6034 and counting ...
- Friday, November 1 2024
- CBID - 6034 cover versions of Chuck Berry songs
- Friday, July 5 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 9
- Monday, June 10 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 8
- Tuesday, June 4 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 7
- Monday, April 22 2024
- Peter OâNeilâs So-Called Disorder
- Friday, April 12 2024
- The Chuck Berry Sound according to Atomicat
- Wednesday, April 10 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 6
- Wednesday, April 3 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 5
- Saturday, March 16 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 4
- Monday, February 19 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 3
- Monday, February 5 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story - pt. 2
- Monday, January 22 2024
- The Chuck Berry Vinyl Bootlegs, Vol. 3: America's Hottest Wax
- Tuesday, January 16 2024
- Chuck Berry in Fake Stereo
- Friday, January 12 2024
- CBID - The Never Ending Story
- Thursday, January 11 2024
- CBID - 5639 cover versions of Chuck Berry songs
- Tuesday, October 31 2023
- CBID - Covers, Chart Listings, and Not-Covers
- Monday, August 28 2023
- CBID - And they play Chuck Berry music - final part 10
- Monday, March 27 2023
- Little Queenie overdubs
- Monday, March 13 2023
- CBID - And they play Chuck Berry music - part 9
- Saturday, March 4 2023
- Lonely School Days - the variants explained
- Tuesday, January 31 2023
- An Interview with Johnnie Johnson - 1987
- Sunday, January 29 2023
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© Dietmar Rudolph
No part of this document may be used or published without written consent by the author.
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To contact the authors, email to cbguide@crlf.de.