The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

A small note first: Sorry for no posts since September - I've been busy.

Most Chuck Berry discographies including Morten Reff's The Chuck Berry International Directory are certain that there were five original singles released during Berry's stay with Mercury Records:

• Mercury 72643 - Club Nitty Gritty / Laugh and Cry
• Mercury 72680 - Back to Memphis / I Do Really Love You
• Mercury 72748 - It Hurts Me Too / Feelin' It
• Mercury 72840 - Louie to Frisco / Ma Dear
• Mercury 72963 - It's Too Dark In There / Good Lookin' Woman

I have to disagree. I know of and have copies of the first four singles. But after collecting Berry records for decades, neither I nor anyone I know has ever seen a regular release of Mercury 72963.
All one can find is a promotional copy of Mercury 72963 having a white promo label and - if you're lucky - having a white sleeve containing a note to reviewers that this is the side [sic] from the Concerto In B. Goode album YOU (the reviewers?) requested.

So yes, there is a 45rpm single containing It's Too Dark In There / Good Lookin' Woman. And yes, the label says Mercury 72963. But no, this was never part of Mercury's sales catalogue. And no, this was never released as a regular release other than this promotional copy.
If you disagree, please prove me wrong by sending a scan of a regular commercial label of this record.

You'll certainly know that Amazon not only sells lots of Chuck Berry CDs and some vinyl, but also offers almost all Chuck Berry recordings as MP3 downloads. This site's Listen-to-it function makes use of these offers by presenting audio samples of most Berry recordings. Here's for example Amazon's selection for Wee Wee Hours. Amazon has roughly 14.000 MP3 tagged with Chuck Berry one way or the other.
MP3s at Amazon usually cost 99 cents per song. If you get them from other legal sources, prices are roughly the same. If we assume that Chuck Berry and his publishers get a share of this, that's not a bad deal.
The only other and cheaper way to legally get your favorite Berry recordings for use in MP3 players is to buy the corresponding record or CD and to convert the contents into digital MP3 files. This is done by a process called 'Ripping' and despite its name, this is perfectly legal as long as you keep the MP3 files for your private use.
But did you know that Amazon also provides you with all these MP3s for free? I didn't and was astonished to learn about it when I received an email from Amazon a few weeks ago.
The feature offered Amazon calls "AutoRip" and this is what they do: They automatically rip CDs into MP3 files. If you buy a CD tagged as "AutoRip" (and many Berry CDs are), they automatically and for free create MP3s of all songs contained. You can then import these MP3s into your Amazon Cloud Player (which every Amazon client has). From here you can listen to the songs or download them for use with your MP3 player Unless your cloud player contains more than 250 songs, this complete process is free of charge for you.
If you recently (i.e. within the last years) bought a CD which has now been AutoRip'ed, you will receive an email from Amazon announcing that these songs have been imported into your cloud player automatically. In my case this was the "In the 50s" 3-CD set I wrote about in March. The price for this set is now 40 cents higher than in March, but it includes MP3s of all 70 songs. No need to rip them any more.

Reader Brian just posted a note to an eBay offer of the famous "America's Hottest Wax" bootleg (Reelin' 001). For sale is the second version with the blue cover. Bidding starts very cheap at UKP 2.99. Here's the link: Item 261275338851. Thanks, Brian!

One, two - one, two, three, four ...
If you are following this site, you will have waited just like me to finally see the fourth and final volume of Morten Reff's The Chuck Berry International Directory.
With now over 2.000 pages, this is by far the most comprehensive and the most complete reference work for any serious Chuck Berry collector.
The earlier Volumes 1 and 2 of 2008 have 1,000 pages describing each and every Chuck Berry record issued in the U.S., in the U.K., or in any other country. The combined 19 chapters also covered bootlegs, movies, TV shows, books and much much more. Last year's Volume 3 presenting chapter 20 has 600 pages which list and describe all those records where some other artist recorded their own version of a Chuck Berry song.
Now we can get Volume 4. It completes chapter 20 with an index over song titles so one could look up those who recorded Beautiful Delilah, for instance - which are 27 besides the Kinks.
Seven other chapters discuss cover versions which became hits on their own, recordings which are said to be cover versions, but aren't, and Soundalikes. Plus there are such obscure items as Karaoke CDs and games.
Even if you aren't that much interested in cover versions, you may want to buy Volume 4 as an addition to Volumes 1 and 2 which you surely have. Since the original release in 2008 there have been additional important releases of Berry material (as you've read here). Also some older records have surfaced which did not make it into the first versions. Due to this, 200 extra pages in Volume 4 contain additions and corrections to the earlier volumes. Also included is cross-referencing information which allows you to easily find a certain record or release on these 2.000+ pages.
No need to repeat my recommendation: The whole series is a MUST-HAVE!

As you know, some of the more interesting Chuck Berry record rarities are those produced exclusively for radio stations. This site has a complete section on these records at Radio Show and Promotional Records.

Since Morten Reff's "Chuck Berry International Directory, Vol. 2" (see here) was issued, I had always wondered why on page 523 Morten lists the "Royalty of Rock - Berry/Richard" album as an 1983 release, while my copy clearly states 1982. Now I know why!

There are TWO versions of this radio show record:

#1 (c) 1982 TM Special Projects
has a black and white label with "Royalty of Rock" printed in a gothic font. The two sides are labeled Segment 1/Segment 2 and Segment 3/Segment4.
The cue sheet has the "Royalty of Rock" logo (with king's crown) printed in red. It lists opening and closing narratives to be read by the station's host. These parts of the segments are not on the record. Side 2 therefore directly starts with "Reelin' and Rockin'" and ends with "Johnny B. Goode".

#2 (c) 1983 TM Programming
has the crown logo printed in red as well as name and address of RKO Radio Networks. The two sides are labeled Side A and Side B.
It contains the same music and interviews as #1, but in addition has the opening and closing narratives spoken by some "Billy Juggs" (who was a DJ with KMET of LA). Thus side 2 starts with Juggs saying "You're listening to ..." and ends with "Chuck Berry is one of the true legends in The Royalty of Rock".

If you know more about TM Programming and the RKO radio albums, feel free to comment here.

We haven't heard or read anything new from Chuck Berry for many years.
So this recently published piece of Berry poetry is the latest (and maybe last) demonstration of Chuck Berry's wit and wisdom and it pretty much explains why.

Give you a song, I can't do that.
My singing days have passed.
My voice is gone, my throat is worn,
and my lungs are going fast.

You can read the complete interview with Ohio's Cleveland.com here: http://www.cleveland.com/music/index.ssf/2012/10/chuck_berry_is_worried_about_h.html
Thanks to Owen for passing the link!

The Chuck Berry International Directory by Morten Reff is becoming the most comprehensive and the most complete reference work for any serious Chuck Berry collector.
Volumes 1 and 2 of 2008 have 1,000 pages describing each and every Chuck Berry record issued in the U.S., in the U.K., or in any other country. The combined 19 chapters also covered bootlegs, movies, TV shows, books and much much more.
Now there is Volume 3 presenting chapter 20 which has 600 pages on its own. This issue of the Chuck Berry International Directory lists and describes all those records where some other artist recorded their own version of a Chuck Berry song.
Paul McCartney's Yesterday is said to have been recorded in 2,200 cover versions. Berry's Johnny B. Goode must come on one of the next places as Morten Reff here lists 648 recorded versions. And from this book we learn that McCartney and the Beatles made one of them. In addition the Beatles recorded and officially released 16 further Berry covers, while the Stones only have 11.
Morten Reff included just the official releases, not counting any bootlegs or such. Still then, the book lists more than 2,400 artists having recorded one or more Berry songs.
In contrast to the Beatles which besides Yesterday don't have many songs covered that much (if you excluded tribute bands), it's highly interesting to learn that almost 20 Berry songs have been covered at least 100 times, with Memphis, Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen following Johnny B. Goode on the list.
As with the other lists, Reff included much more than just dates and catalog numbers. There's a short paragraph for each artist and for most of the recordings there's one or more additional paragraphs describing the recording or its use. Photo pages present the most interesting sleeves.
Again this has been a tremendous amount of work. It is a fun to browse thorough it or look up famous artist's names. I wish there had been an index over song titles as well so one could look up those who recorded Beautiful Delilah, for instance. But according to the author this index had to wait for Volume 4 due early next year. The size of the book at more than 600 pages did not allow putting it in.
As with the other volumes of this series there's only one recommendation: Hurry up and get you one! Here's some shops: Click here!

Recently a reader referred to my blog article on La Juanda - back here.
Again there rose a discussion about whether there are two variants of this song, or not: Is the version of this song on the original Chess single (Chess 1664) different from the version used on the LP albums (and all of the CDs)? When this question last came up in 2008 I had listened to those records over and over and did not hear any difference. In contrast others, especially Berry expert Morten Reff, insisted in hearing a difference. When this topic now came up once again, I decided to finally sort this out. So I grabbed the versions into audio files and used several computer programs to analyze possible differences.
Finally I stand corrected! Indeed there are differences in the single version of La Juanda versus to album and CD versions!
Both records obviously use the same basic take having the musical instruments and the main vocal. This results in both versions having the same length and sounding exactly the same.
However, as you will know, on this record Berry sings with himself in harmony. This was done by overdubbing a second background vocal track onto the original recording. And here is where the differences can be spotted. Either the engineers used a different second vocal track for the single or they modified the background vocal track before including it.
Fact is that there are a very few seconds in this song where you can hear the two versions differ. The most prominent part is during the first refrain where Berry switches from Spanish to English singing "I speak only the language of English" (close to 0:40 minutes in the song). In the single version this sentence is sung as a duet of Berry with himself having clearly two vocal tracks. In the LP version (e.g. on the Hip-O-Select box) the same sentence is not double-tracked. Here Berry clearly sings alone with a single voice.
My apologies to all those with better ears. I added a note to the Chess records section of this page.

Fred Rothwell's Long Distance Information: Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy (Music Mentor Books, 2001) is the ultimate book for any serious Chuck Berry record collector: All Berry sessions, all the songs, all the session musicians, where to find which song if ever released, and tons of additional stuff.
First published in 2001 the book consists mainly of a 240 page commented "sessionography", a list of 93 recording sessions Chuck participated in between 1954 and 2000. For each session Fred lists the musicians and the songs recorded, whether released or not. For every song he shows a few main records containing it. He also fully describes and criticizes every recording.
Since 2001 there have been several additional releases of old songs which Fred obviously could not list by then, but there have been very few discoveries of Berry recordings published before 2001 but not listed in Fred's book.
Therefore it was kind of a sensation when Morten Reff a few weeks ago found an unknown, unlisted Chuck Berry recording - on vinyl, from 1977!!!
Morten Reff is the author of the famous book series "The Chuck Berry International Directory" (Music Mentor Books, 2008) which is the other ultimate book for any Chuck Berry record collector. For details on the book series which documents and describes all Chuck Berry records ever released world-wide, read the Chuck Berry Bibliography on this site.
The recording Morten found is a complete song, studio-recorded with full band and the typical Berry intro.
This untitled song is a commercial for the Dr. Pepper softdrink and has been used in radio ads along with similar recordings from other artists. The ads and corresponding interviews have been distributed on an LP to the radio stations just like other radio spots in the 1960s and 1970s. For details on Berry-related radio albums, read the chapter on Radio Show and Promotional Records.
The album "Sights and Sounds of Dr. Pepper" (no label, no number) has a red-label and a blue-label side. The red-label side has 60-seconds radio commercials by Chuck Berry (actually 1:11 minutes), Lynn Anderson, The Mills Brothers, B. B. King, Hank Snow, Teresa Brewer, Dana Valery, and Gladys Knight & The Pips as well as six soundtracks to TV commercials. All artists sing the same lyrics, though in their own specific style, Chuck Berry in his.
The blue-label side starts with a 1:38 minute interview with Berry followed by the same song as on the red-label side, though this time starting with a countdown. The rest of the album is filled with interviews and songs by the other artists.
During the interview Berry talks about who influenced him (Nat Cole, Glenn Miller), what contributed to his success as a super rock-star, and about the taste of Dr. Pepper.
Congratulations to Morten Reff for this great find!


Addition: 04-08-2012: Those of you who might want to listen to this commercial (though not to the interview) should get themselves the CD-R "Cola Radio Commercials Volume 3" which is available from ebay here: eBay link
Further edit: Both interview and song were included in Bear Family's 16 CD set of Berry recordings.

There have been two articles on this blog already talking about Berry's session in Radio Bremen's TV studio on March 24th, 1972. Berry and the same band used a few days later to record the famous BBC TV session spent 45 minutes to record eight songs to be used in later German broadcasts. Three of these songs then made it to the May 27th, 1972 broadcast of Germany's most famous music show Beat-Club.
In 2008 I reported on a TV broadcast of additional recordings from this show and in 2009 some readers found yet another part of this session. Go back there to learn more about the recording and the original releases.
In early 2011 Gonzo Multimedia of London, UK announced to include this session in their series of "Lost Broadcasts" DVDs. Interestingly their description of the show was completely wrong, talking about three different sessions and about songs never heard of. Anyway I pre-ordered a copy which was supposed to be available in June 2011. It never came. Gonzo first delayed and then drew back the release completely.
But then some reader of this blog found out that the DVD has finally become available (Thanks, John!). I ordered once more and this time I really got the DVD!
Chuck Berry - The Lost Broadcasts (Gonzo Multimedia HST056DVD) is now available at the usual shops. Click here for a list. Despite what the shops may tell you: This is a single (not two) DVD and it is not an Audio CD. It says it's made in England, but interestingly the Gonzo/UK website does not list it, while the Gonzo/US website does - and with a much more correct description this time. And for even more confusion the printing on the front cover contains German notes (explaining that this DVD is unrated).
The DVD contains all eight songs recorded at the session. On the DVD are the raw cuts containing studio talk and even the clapperboard inserts. Included as well is a 30-minute Interview track, which consists of an interview where Berry tries to understand the questions from the two German interviewers followed by studio talk where the band sits on stage drinking beer. It seems as if the German cameramen and director simply let the cameras run whatever Berry and the band did. Which seemed not to disturb them. All this is now on the DVD, raw as it is.
This raw material was filmed in front of a blue-screen. This is a common technique in which during post-production any arbitrary background could be placed behind the actors. The blue color is then keyed out from the overlaid images. Here the blue background is very disturbing as by intention it has a very high contrast to what's going on on stage. When German TV broadcast this "Lost Concert" in 2008, they replaced the blue background with a black one. That was much more comfortable to view.
For the original 1972 broadcasts a distorted and modified view of the same image was placed into the background. The DVD includes both the raw and the processed variants of Let It Rock, Wee Wee Hours, and Johnny B. Goode. These three songs were used in the original Beat-Club show. Of School Day, which was used in a later German show, Gonzo missed to include the original broadcast.
Most of the contents of this DVD was known before, though in edited form. The beer-drinking scene (Berry drinking The Real Thing instead) is new as are some parts of the interview which until then had been used and even released on Audio CD in segments only. As Berry and the band are in good shape just like they are at the BBC session little thereafter, this is a nice-to-have item.

The release of various CD sets containing Chuck Berry's complete recordings of the 1950s and their sale at very low prices makes one wonder about the legal situation of these recordings.
In this blog article I try to explain the relevant copyright portions as far as I understand those. I am NOT an expert on copyrights, so what you read here may be completely wrong and subject to legal discussions. Thus feel free to comment or send an email if you find this text need corrections or additions!

Lets try to sort out some definitions first: we are talking about COPY-RIGHTS, i.e. the right to copy something. The basic rule in almost all circumstances is that the creator of a work of art is the only one who owns the right to create copies of his or her work. In most cases of commercially replicated art, the creator of the work has transferred the right to copy to an agency, a publisher or the like. Depending on the contract, this transfer of rights might be temporary, might cover certain editions or geographical regions only, or might be permanent. In any case the owner of the copyright (remember: the right to copy) might be someone different than the creator of the work. [Note: In the U.S. it had been necessary to officially register a copyright for it to become legally effective. This was often done by other parties such as a publisher. In Europe and most other countries the simple act of creating something automatically entitled the creator to the exclusive right to copy - as it is in the U.S. now as well.]

The creator of a work of art might also waive his right to copy by putting the work into the public domain. In this case the work of art is allowed to be copied freely. The creator might still have several rights which they retain. Thus they might still claim authorship, request their name to be listed, or request the work to be unchanged.

All copyrights expire. Thus after a certain amount of time every work of art becomes part of the public domain and is allowed to be freely copied. The period of time a work is protected against unwanted copying depends on the type of work and on the applicable laws. Due to this it often depends on the source country and on the country the copy is created in.

Looking at Chuck Berry's recordings, we see that there are three different kinds of art we have to consider:

• The lyrics: The author of a song's lyrics just like any other poet becomes the primary copyright holder to the song text. In most countries, the author's copyright expires 50 or 70 years after his death. Thus in view of Chuck Berry, his song lyrics might be protected for a looong time in your country. In the U.S., lyrics written before 1978 were protected only for a mere 28 years after publication unless the copyright was renewed and extended to 95 years after publication. I don't know if the copyright to Chuck Berry's lyrics was registered in the first place and renewed within 28 years. If you know, tell me!
• The music: The creator of a musical composition is the primary copyright holder to the music. Copyright rules for melodies are the same as copyright rules for lyrics. Since in most cases Chuck Berry was both the writer of a song's lyrics and the composer of the song's melody, the same applies as before.
• The recording: The artist, in view of video recordings also often the producer, becomes the primary copyright holder to the sound recording. A recording is a work of art by itself. In legalese this is a derivative work. Copyright to sound recordings does not expire the same way as copyright to lyrics and melody. Instead in most countries the copyright to sound recordings expires 50 years after publication. However, in the U.S. sound recordings have not been considered copyright-able until 1972. Instead, sound recordings are protected by state law until 2067.

In respect to the various CD releases of Chuck Berry's 1950s recordings in Europe and in the UK, we can summarize: As a composer and writer, Chuck Berry or whoever he sold the copyright to (Chess, BMI, or their local agents) still is entitled to royalties. As a recording artist, his 1950s recordings are in the public domain, though - at least in the UK and at least those which have been published in the UK at least 50 years ago.

During the last weeks, SEVERAL CD sets appeared containing most or even all of Berry's 1950s recordings. There is a simple legal reason for this which I will cover in a different blog entry. Thus we can can be sure to see more of such re-releases over the years.
In any case, such re-releases will be of interest to customers only if they are complete, if they come with additional information, or if they contain rarities or unreleased recordings. Given that, let's have a look on the 3-CD set Chuck Berry in the 1950s (Chrome Dreams CD3CD5073, 2011).
Completeness: Yes, it contains every track released until 1960. The sequence is a bit odd as they chose to put the first four CHESS albums in their original sequence on the first two CDs. The third CD then combines the remaining tracks from singles which did not make it to the original albums. As with the other set discussed some weeks ago they mistakenly included the wrong version of Sweet Little Sixteen. Any unreleased tracks from the 1950s have not been included.
Additional Information: The box comes with a nice 16-page booklet containing photos (some rare) and a well-written lengthy story by Charles Waring.
Rarities: The additional 'bonus' tracks include the Ecuadors and Alexander recordings plus one of the two 1956 live tracks. These aren't really rare in contrast to the two live recordings with John Lennon from 1972. These recordings for the Mike Douglas TV Show broadcast 16 February 1972 can be found on many Vinyl bootlegs, but to my knowledge are here for the first time on a legal CD.
Unreleased Recordings: While there are no unreleased musical recordings on this CD set, we do find four interviews which have not been published on audio CDs or Vinyl records before. Despite the CD title, this is Chuck Berry in the 1970s and 1980s.

• There is the interview from the same 1972 Mike Douglas TV show with Berry, Lennon and Yoko Ono. This has been available on video and DVD before, though not on audio.
• Next is an eight-minute segment from the John Davidson Show broadcast originally on 15 October 1980. This segment has been available on YouTube for some time but then pulled for legal reasons.
• The interview labeled FM Radio 1983 was in fact recorded backstage at the Sam's Town Hotel in Las Vegas on 15 October 1983. Steve Goddard talks about how he made this interview here. This is probably also the source for this audio track.
• Finally there is a seven-minute segment from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show of 5 November 1987. This is available on YouTube in case you want to see the complete show.

The Chrome Dreams three-CD set Chuck Berry in the 1950s is available from the usual Internet shops. For some offers, click here.

I'm sorry for the long-winded heading of this blog post, but indeed this is the title of a new CD set I want to talk about today: Chuck Berry - 5 Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles and Rare Tracks (Real Gone RGMCD011, 2011).
Real Gone Music is a series of CD boxes from Mischief Music Ltd. (Music Melon). Other issues contain eight classic albums each of Elvis, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, and more. The four CDs come in plastic multiboxes and look and feel like vinyl records.
As I said before, I usually do not discuss Greatest Hits albums or re-issues on this site as most of those are of very little interest to a collector. And in most cases I don't even spend any money on such so I don't have it and I do not talk about items here which I don't have.
However, when I recently found this CD set mentioned in a record catalog, I got me one. Four CDs, 87 tracks, at a price of five UK Pounds is an offer one can accept.
When I received the CDs today, I was astonished what I got. Albeit the song sequence is a bit strange, the CD offers everything the title promises, and more. Included are all the tracks from Chuck Berry's first five US albums. If you count the Chuck Berry Twist Greatest Hits album as well, it's even the six first original albums as released until 1962. In addition there are all recordings published during that period which made it only to singles instead of albums. Thus you get everything which was available from Berry during his most successful period.
But there's more. The "rare" tracks mentioned in the title are thirteen recordings originally released on the bootleg LP "America's Hottest Wax" (Reelin' 001, 1979) and later on Chess CXMP 2011 "Chess Masters" in March 1983. Only the 1961 version of Brown Eyed Handsome Man from this album is missing.
These rarities include the Ecuadors tracks published on Argo 5353 in 1959. And finally there are the two Joe Alexander tracks first published 1954 which are said to contain the first Chuck Berry recording.
So we get a fairly complete set of Berry releases at a very reasonable price. What we don't get is a booklet or any additional information besides a track listing and release data. Thus there are no recording details nor even composer credits. The song listing is full of spelling errors and, as said before, the song sequence is quite strange. Basically there are the five albums in chronological order with the tracks in the sequence originally used. The additional single tracks are included at their release date, and the rarities (released 1979) are included at their recording date.
Therefore you'll find the first 1955 recordings here: Maybellene on CD 3, track 3, as it's first album release on Berry is on Top was in 1959. Wee Wee Hours is on CD 1, track 14 due to being part of After School Session (1957). Thirty Days is on CD 1, track 3, since it never made it to one of the early albums thus placed in 1955. And so on.
Besides this strange sequence and the missing booklet, for little money you get a good CD set and lot's of early Berry recordings. Recommended. You can get the album at most record shops. Click here for a list.


Late addition: I should have listened to all the tracks first instead of writing. Morten Reff was so kind to point out that CD 2 contains the alt. take of "Sweet Little Sixteen" twice. Instead the song's 1958 hit version is missing. Thanks, Morten.

Most of you will know the German Bear Family Records label. Since 35 years, Richard Weize and his team provide and surprise us with countless Rock'n'Roll rarities always at highest quality levels. Bill Haley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewes, ... all have been presented in huge box-sets from Bear Family, mostly containing tons of rare or previously unissued stuff.
In respect to Chuck Berry, Bear Family has been astonishingly quiet. Fred Rothwell's Long Distance Information reports on an aborted box-set once planned. The only Bear Family release listed in this site's discography is their 52-CD set Geschichte der Popmusik (Bear Family BCD16300) which contains an interview nowhere else to be found.
Therefore it's a great step forward that Bear Family recently released a Chuck Berry album. Called Chuck Berry Rocks (Bear Family BCD17139AR), this is a single, but fully packed CD.

The album comes with 32 tracks and a bit over 80 minutes of rocking Berrys. Bear Family selected the best-known and the best Rock'n'Roll numbers up to Dear Dad, organized chronologically. This can easily serve as one of the best Greatest Hits albums, even though (and goodly so) it misses the Ding-A-Ling.
I usually don't discuss Greatest Hits albums here as they are released by the dozens. I have to make an exception this time, though, out of two reasons. Reason one is the perfect sound quality of this CD. What else is to be expected from Bear Family?
The second reason which makes this new CD a nice addition to every Chuck Berry collection is the enclosed booklet. 52 pages for a single CD. No other label would provide you with such an amount of additional information accompanying the music on the CD. You can almost call this a book with enclosed CD. Bill Dahl describes each and every recording in detail, talking about the recording sessions, introducing the musicians, listing chart entries and integrating interviews. Best is the selection of photos, many from inside the recording studios and often some we haven't seen before.
All in all, this CD set is highly recommended, not only to those who look for Berry's greatest recordings, but also for all the collectors out there. Thank you, Bear Family!

I wonder why - ok, that's not a Berry tune.
But I really wonder why someone creates and offers a CD such as "Chuck Berry - Chess Studio Outtakes" (no label, no number, no date).
A reader recently found this CD in an online catalogue and asked me if I knew anything about this release. Well, I know very little but what I know is more than enough.
The CD contains 29 tracks, all of them alternative takes originally not selected for publication. It comes with a nice, professionally looking cover and label, though after closer inspection it looks pretty home-made.
All of the tracks are very well known. In fact all of the tracks are just copies of the same tracks as published on the 4-CD set "Johnny B. Goode (HIP-O-Select B0009473-02)" in 2008.
So why would you want to but this CD if you can get the same contents plus additional three CDs full of Berry and additional studio outtakes and a great booklet and great packaging for around $100 (current retail price for the complete set)? Even if you do not care whether musicians or legal record companies receive income from your payment. (You should - as if you don't who's going to create the next album with really interesting stuff?)
Thus leave this bootleg in the shelves. If you don't have the outtakes already, run and get one of the few copies of the 4-CD set left (e.g. by clicking here).