The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

Beginning of last year Universal Music enlighted us with the release of Johnny B. Goode - His Complete 50's Recordings. At sufficient demand Andy McKaie of Universal promised a follow-up.
Well, there must have been sufficient demand as Universal's Hip-O-Select label just started pre-sale of a new four-CD box set called You Never Can Tell. 108 tracks presenting Berry's work for Chess records from 1960 to his leave for Mercury in 1966. According to Hip-O-Select, the box contains

18 Previously Unreleased Tracks Including A 45-Minute Live Concert From 1963 & Instrumental Versions Of Berry Classics "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "My Mustang Ford"

Right now you can pre-order the set only at Hip-O-Select. It is not listed anywhere else. Shipping date will be February 24th. For more details read the label site here.
According to Universal, the box set will be available only at their web store initially. We have seen with the first set that it takes several weeks until it will be listed at amazon or ebay. This is an interesting way to get higher profits by keeping the dealer margins to yourself for the first wave of buyers. But that's fine if it helps financing the release of recording which would have kept in the vault otherwise.
You will read more about the box set, especially about those parts of interest for us collectors, as soon as I got a copy.

Friends,
I removed some duplicates and promotional material from my collection. Here are some Berry/Diddley/Little Richard/Elvis/Haley/Domino items you may be interested in. Everything is offered very cheap!

• Chuck Berry: The Best of ... EP UK


• Bo Diddley: UK single containing a cover version of Berry's Memphis, Tennessee


• Little Richard: Press Kit for 1997 European tour including portrait photo and slide


• Elvis Presley: Rare large poster from German 1970s magazine


• Bill Haley: Promotional material for 1981 Bear Family Box Set


• Fats Domino: Photo Still from Jamboree movie


• Nat King Cole, Pat Boone, Shadows and many others: Rare German book-club-only 5-LP box set for detailes track listing see here

You can click on the items to go directly to the corresponding eBay page. In case you bid: Good Luck!

Interestingly the article on Chuck Berry's appearance at German Beat-Club TV 1972 resulted in a large number of emails. Among these was one by Dirk saying

About one and a half years ago there was a Rarities issue of the Vinyl TV series in which they broadcast another previously unseen part of this show.

I checked and yes: On July 1st, 2007 German TV station EinsFestival broadcast a Beat-Club Rarities show including unseen performances by Ike and Tina Turner, the Kinks, the Doors (less Jim Morrison), the Grateful Dead, and an interview with a drunk Steve Miller.
Also included was Chuck Berry with "Roll Over Beethoven" as seen below.
The announcers also talked about why there are such unseen performances. They explained that when bands or singers took the time to travel to Bremen, they would not want to do this for three minutes of play. So they performed for half an hour or more and Mike Leckebusch (Beat-Club director) let the cameras run.
I also had some time to re-check the old Beat-Club broadcasts. These differ from the Lost Concert broadcast a bit in that both "Johnny B. Goode" and "Let It Rock" had a color feedback of the camera input projected on the blue-screen behind Berry and the band. The latter also has an insert listing the artist names Snow, Kinsley, Harrison, Campbell, and Berry.

Six weeks ago I told you about the release of the second volume of Morten Reff's Chuck Berry International Directory. I promised to tell more as soon as I read it.
It took a bit more than expected to fulfill this promise. First it took some days for the book to get to my mailbox (Thanks, Morten!), then it took a long time to read through it. Why did it take that long? Not because the contents is boring, it's because there is so much contents in it.
Volume 1 already had some 500 pages full of descriptions of Chuck Berry's official records published in the U.S.A., in England, and everywhere else. Now Volume 2 adds another 500 pages, this time containing much more text and much more detailed information about everything else beside the commercial records.
Let's run through the chapters to see what you are missing if not buying this book:

• Chuck Berry bootlegs:
  Morten describes (and often shows) all known bootlegs either completely dedicated to Chuck Berry or containing rare, usually otherwise unavailable performances. Even if you have read all of the contents of this site, you will certainly find items you don't about.
• Chuck Berry in the movies:
  You probably know the films Berry appeared in, or maybe not. But here you not only get a complete listing but also learn about video cassettes and DVD releases, promotional records and much more. Also included is a description of non-Berry movies containing his songs in the soundtrack.
• Chuck Berry on TV:
  During the last 50 years, Berry appeared on TV all over the world. Appearances range from concert footage over playback to interviews. Trying to get a complete list of all this appearances is probably an impossible task, but Morten found out about some 150 of them, all described in detail here.
• Chuck Berry on the radio:
  Despite this chapter's title, Morten does not list all radio shows Berry music ever appeared on. This would be ridiculous. Instead this chapter lists records and CDs produced exclusively for radio stations. You'll find most of the contents in the chapter on Radio and Promotional Records on this site as well, but not all of it, of course. As with all other records listed, Morten Reff additionally analyzes every record and critically comments each.
• Chuck Berry on Video and DVD:
  As with the records, here's a complete annotated list of all known video and DVD releases covering Chuck Berry.
• Chuck Berry's international tours:
  This chapter could have been omitted in my opinion, but if you want a reference when and where it was that you saw Chuck Berry, here it is - with date, exact location and backing musicians (if available). Missing are Berry's concerts in North America, though.
• Chuck Berry achievements and awards:
  Chuck Berry Number 1 in Billboard in 1972. Ok, you can read this in many places. But here you get Berry's chart positions worldwide, from Brisbane Radio to a Belgian magazine. And then there's the Golden Records, his songwriter awards and all other honors.
• Chuck Berry in print:
  Books about Chuck Berry, books with larger chapters on Chuck Berry, songbooks, magazine articles - 70 pages alone not only with bibliographical data but also comments, recommendations and warnings.
• plus much more:
  Band names derived from Chuck Berry - song lyrics which mention Chuck Berry - all his recordings in alphabetical order - tribute songs, albums, and quotes - songs Berry covered - fan clubs - websites (thanks for mentioning this one here) - and, and, and ...

Maybe half of this book's contents you could find somewhere else if you look hard enough and spend many months searching. The other half I have seen here for the first time. Great job!
Everything Morten writes is well researched and easy to read. I tried hard to spot errors and omissions, but failed to find any other than a few minor things. Along with Volume 1 this is and will be the definitive guide to Chuck Berry's commercial output for many years from now.
Highly recommended. Get your copy immediately! You'll find it in these Internet shops or maybe at your local book store.
And once you have it, you will find that you bought three books in one. Besides all the Chuck Berry contents listed above, there are two additional chapters on pianist Johnnie Johnson and guitarist Eddy Clearwater respectively. Each is again a complete discography of records, videos and movies. Also included is a complete sessionography each, i.e. a list of all recording sessions with personnel, location, and songs. Such a sessionography is omitted from the Chuck Berry part of this book as Fred Rothwell already wrote it in a separate book called Long Distance Information. These two chapters could have been individual books of a hundred pages each. So by buying the Chuck Berry book, you get two additional books for free.

Friends,

I have to get rid of some records to make space available for new ones

Therefore I decided to sell some of the duplicates. These offers will be placed on ebay some time in the near future. But if you read this, you're a true Berry collector. Therefore you get a first chance to buy these very rare Berries at whatever price you find reasonable and without fear of being overbid.

If you are interested in one of the following items, send a comment or a private email soon. Comments will not be published, so please include the item name, the price you're willing to pay, and the location you want me the item to send to, that's for postage calculation and payment options. If you have some interesting item in exchange, I would prefer that! If your offer is high enough in my eyes, or if you placed the highest offer during a reasonable period of time, I will let you know.

When an item is sold, I will add a comment to this blog article. Click on Comments below to see the comments if not already visible. Unless there are comments listed, the items are still for sale.

Now here's the list:

• Chuck Berry - Rare Berries - 12" LP - Kozmik Records KZ-501
  one of the rarest Berry albums of all times - and a must for every Berry collector
  for details see here: Collector's Guide Description
  this is the second variant of this record, the one with the red-top label
  the disk is very nice without any scratches, the label unmarked
  the blank white cover has turned brown due to aging, corners have been bent
  the letter-size inserts (Berry image and track listing/discographical details) have been glued onto the front and back sides of the cover using both glue and Scotch tape
  


• Chuck Berry - America's Hottest Wax - 12" LP - reelin' 001
  again a very rare Berry album - and likewise a must for every Berry collector
  for details see here: Collector's Guide Description
  as before, this is the second variant of this record, the one with the blue picture cover and the top sound quality
  the disk looks as unplayed, there ist a date written on one of the labels
  the blue cover has some very nice Berry pictures and shows very little wear, within the track listing on the back cover someone corrected one of the recording dates
  


• Chuck Berry - Die Autobiographie - Hardcover book - Verlag Arthur Moewig
  this is the original first German printing of Berry's autobiography
  cover image and subtitle refer to the Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll! movie
  for details see here: Collector's Guide Description
  the book is still sealed, i.e. book and paper jacket are in perfect condition
  

Interested? Send me an offer by using the Add Comment feature below. You might click on Comments below to see the Add Comment feature.
Finally a legal comment: The two records listed above had not been licensed by the artist or the copyright holders. When produced in the 1970s the creators and dealers of this records did not pay a single cent to the artists. I do not indorse the creation and sale of these kind of records. However, today these records are collector's items. I sell or exchange these privately from collector to collector only for the sole purpose of documenting Chuck Berry's record output.

This morning my radio clock woke me up with one of the more or less ubiquitous christmas songs. I did not listen until the song faded out with the singer reading from his wishlist:

Now let's see, I want:
a new Rickenbacker guitar
two Fender bassmans
a Chuck Berry songbook, ...

Hey, that guy is one of us, I thought. So I queried the radio stations website to find out singer and title. It's "Christmas All Over Again" written and sung by Tom Petty. Next I checked Morten Reff's new Chuck Berry International Directory, Volume 2: Chapter 13 lists Songs with lyrics that mention Chuck Berry. Unfortunately Petty is not listed there, probably because this is some kind of rare song. As far as a quick search turned out, the song has only been published on a charity album called "A Very Special Christmas 2" in 1992.

Two weeks ago German digital TV channel EinsFestival broadcast a half-hour show titled "Vinyl: The Lost Concerts - Chuck Berry". A fellow collector was so kind to send me a copy on DVD. Thanks!
It turned out that this lost concert has been used in part for various broadcasts, but also contained some unknown and interesting footage.
The "show" was recorded in Radio Bremen's TV studio on March 24th, 1972. Berry was touring England from 22nd to 29th March backed by Rockin' Horse. The band consisted of Mike Snow on piano, Jimmy Campbell on guitar, Billy Kinsley on bass and Dave Harrison on drums. On the 24th they flew over to the town of Bremen to record some songs for German TV station Radio Bremen. (I'm guessing here as the recording can also have happened in some studio in England.) They returned to perform in Liverpool the next day and ended the tour at the BBC studios in London to perform in front of TV cameras again, this time for BBC's Sound For Saturday show. This London show is best known for the Vinyl bootlegs called "Six Two Five" containing most parts of the excellent show.
In Bremen, Berry and the four-piece band performed in front of a blue screen and without audience. The Lost Concerts contained recordings of the following songs:

• Memphis, Tennessee
  a previously unseen performance


• Let It Rock
  this cut was first broadcast in show #78 of the famous German Beat-Club show on May 27th, 1972, two months after the recording. You can watch this segment on a brand-new DVD set "The Story of Beat-Club, Vol. 3"


• Carol incorrectly titled Oh Carol
  has a false start and therefore remained unseen so far. A second reason might be that the cameramen were unaware of the duckwalk and could not follow Berry dancing along the studio stage.


• Wee Wee Hours titled with an extra In the
  this song features a short introduction by Berry and some fine blues playing by the band. It has some distorted black and white copy of the camera input projected onto the blue screen. This recording was used in the Beat-Club show of May 27th, 1972 and is likewise available on the DVD set noted above.


• School Day incorrectly titled Ring Ring Goes The Bell
  here the blue screen shows a moving image of the then current London Sessions album. This clip was not used in the Beat-Club show, but in another Radio Bremen broadcast called "Musikladen" on December 13th, 1972. You can get this clip on the DVD "Best of Musikladen, Vol. 13"


• You Never Can Tell obviously mislabeled as well: C'est La Vie
  probably the best song recorded here, but unseen until now. Berry jokes around with the band, modifies the text at will, and inserts some nice guitar solo. Indeed a lost gem. Note: One of the first Beat-Club broadcasts already had a clip of You Never Can Tell, though just audio with Go-Go girls dancing and Berry record covers in the background.


• Johnny B. Goode
  performed nicely including duckwalk, piano solo and all. This segment was used in the Beat-Club broadcast of May 27th and is included both in the full "The Story of Beat-Club, Vol. 3" DVD set as well as in a cheaper single DVD called "Beat-Club Best of '72"

The Lost Concerts broadcast end with another segment from School Dayseen before, though this time without the album cover projected onto the blue screen.
Missing from the new broadcast is an interview conducted with Berry while he was in Bremen. This interview has been used in a later Radio Bremen radio show. Read here the details about the CD set containing this interview.



Note: Torsten Schmitt's book "Beat-Club: Alle Sendungen. Alle Stars. Alle Songs" claims that the full set of songs has been broadcast on December 31st, 1972 as part of the show "Das ist Rock 'n' Roll". I have not read or heard this anywhere else. If it were, there would surely exist some bootleg tape or video of this, none I have seen so far. As Schmitt is also incorrect with the backing band here, we leave this open to further research.

If you ever see it, get it! That's what I wrote about the famous 9-CD box issued by Charly Records in 1991 containing a next-to-complete compilation of Berry's work for CHESS. Now here's a chance to get one:

Click here to see and bid!

Good Luck!

A CD released this month requires us to add yet another session to Fred Rothwell's sessionography as it contains tracks available on record (CD or vinyl) for the first time.
Here are the details for this session to be placed between sessions 85 and 86:

Date:	25 October 1985
Location:	Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, USA
Personnel:	Chuck Berry (vcl, gtr on My Ding-A-Ling and Bio) Ron Wood, The Rolling Stones (gtr) Carl Wilson, The Beach Boys (gtr) John Paul Hammond (gtr, harm on Bio) Carmine Grillo (gtr) Kenny Jones, The Who (perc, dms on Rock And Roll Music) Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac (dms) Carmine Appice, Vanilla Fudge (perc, backgroud vcl) Bill Champlin, Chicago (organ) John Mayall, Bluesbreakers (kbd, harm on Rock And Roll Music) John Lodge, The Moody Blues (perc, background vcl) Phil Chen, Rod Steward Band (bs) Rudy Sarzo, Quiet Riot (bs) Chuck Norman, Three Dog Nite (vcl on Rock And Roll Music) Barbara Paine (perc, background vcl) Aniyah Shockley (perc, background vcl) Bobby Keys (horns) Phil Kenzie (horns) Mike Chicowitz (horns) Lee Thornberg (horns) Jimmy Zavala (sax) Jim Ladd (announcer)
Songs:	My Ding-A-Ling Bio (incorrectly titled Destination) Rock And Roll Music
First published:	Pepper Cake 2042-2

The concert this CD is taken from was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rock'n'Roll - well, at least the 30th anniversary of Bo Diddley's and Chuck Berry's first hits. Recorded for TV broadcast, the concert was shown on HBO in late 1985. In 1989 parts of the concert were published on video tape, less the Berry tracks, though. Since 1999 the show is available on DVD. And since November 2008 the same concert can be found on an audio CD. As this site is concentrating on audio releases, we note this as a new release, then.
In this case it makes a lot of sense to watch the DVD in addition to listening to the CD. Just have a look on Ron Wood's face when Berry selects My Ding-A-Ling as his first song. Having top names and top musicians in one of the best backup bands in his whole career, Berry performs the silliest and musically simplest of all his songs. Sigh! On the DVD Chuck's segment is introduced by Carl Wilson saying "Chuck Berry is the reason I play guitar!" He can not have meant Berry's intro to the second song here, Bio, which is just one thing: BAD! After this botched start, the song runs fine, though. If you listen to the CD only, be aware that the nice guitar solo near the song's end is not Chuck but Ron Wood playing. And lets not talk about Rock And Roll Music, the show's finale. Berry does not even sing his own lyrics. Look at the DVD to see Ron Wood chasing Berry trying to give him his guitar to play. The audience is complaining loud as Berry refuses to touch it.
As you see, this audio CD is one you don't want to have, unless you're a completionist such as I am. The audio CD is available here, one version of the DVD can be ordered here.

Again here are some items currently offered on eBay which you might be interested in. Currently on sale are some nice picture sleeves offered very seldom. And you can get one of the rare radio station interviews never released anywhere else:

• Picture Sleeve CHESS 1898 No Particular Place to Go


• Picture Sleeve CHESS 1906 You Never Can Tell


• Picture Sleeve CHESS 1912 Little Marie


• Picture Sleeve CHESS 1916 Promised Land


• Picture Sleeve Funckler 45.088 Memphis, Tennessee


• Picture Sleeve Funckler 45.096 I Got to Find My Baby


• Picture Sleeve Funckler 45.097 Jaguar And Thunderbird


• Picture Sleeve Funckler 45.098 Maybelline


• Picture Sleeve Funckler 45.111 Nadine


• and finally a Chuck Berry recording never released on any commercial album: This Unistar Radio Station record containing A Chuck Berry Birthday Bash to be broadcast on Oct. 18th, 1988 contains some interview segments exclusively recorded for Unistar

You can click on the items to go directly to the corresponding eBay page. In case you bid: Good Luck!

[Updated 11.11.2008]
Despite all the rumors and discussions happening in various online forums Chuck Berry's European Tour started today. Here is the schedule as officially published:

• 10.11. - Hallenstadion, Zürich (CH)
• 11.11. - Cirque Royal, Brussels (B)
• 13.11. - Club Ludre, Nancy (F)
• 14.11. - Le Zenith, Paris (F)
• 15.11. - Le Zenith D' Amiens, Amiens (F)
• 16.11. - Muziekcentrum Schaaf, Leeuwarden (NL)
• 17.11. - Jazz Cafe, London (GB)
• 18.11. - Jazz Cafe, London (GB)
• 19.11. - Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam (NL)
• 20.11. - Grugahalle, Essen (D)
• 21.11. - Olympiahalle, Innsbruck (A)
• 22.11. - SAP-Arena, Mannheim (D)

While shopping in second hand record or book shops I tend to buy items related to 1950s music in general or Chuck Berry in detail, as long as they are cheap.
So a 1973 paperback called "Any Old Way You Way You Choose It" grabbed my attention. I had read Robert Christgau before, but not this specific book with its Berry-related title. There's also a newer, expanded edition of this book available.
The book contains a reprint of Christgau's October 1972 Newsday article on Chuck Berry which is very fine contemporary reading covering Berry receiving the Golden Record for My Ding-A-Ling. In his writings, Christgau praises Berry as "the greatest rock lyricist this side of Bob Dylan". And since it is Christgau who wrote "the standard text of sorts, the Berry entry in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll", his word should be trusted.
Christgau is famous for his often hard critical reviews of recent records. Him praising a musician means a lot. But all in all, you should not expect him to write purely positive on Berry. Quite the contrary! Just read this review of Bio, the album: "Willie Mays was the greatest baseball player who ever lived, but he just can't cut it anymore. He reminds me more of Chuck Berry every time out." Ouch!
If you are interested in Christgau's writing about Berry (and others), you will be astonished to learn that his personal web site www.robertchristgau.com contains many if not all of his writings!
Here are the most interesting things he wrote about Chuck Berry:

• Newsday article "Chuck Berry: Eternal Rock and Roller": http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/berry.php


• Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll 1976 article "Chuck Berry": http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/berry-76.php


• Reviews of Berry's 1970s and 1980s albums: http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=2421&name=Chuck+Berry


• Review of Berry's "Autobiography" for Village Voice 1987: http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bkrev/berry-87.php

Enjoy reading!

I have not seen it yet, but according to George Groom-White of Music Mentor Press, the second volume of Morten Reff's Chuck Berry International Directory is out now.
This volume covers Chuck Berry Bootlegs and Radio Station Albums, Berry in the movies, TV, and DVD, Berry tours and awards. Also included are tributes and related recordings.
If you read this site, you have to have this book. Get it!
More about this volume as soon as I read it. [Update 19-12-2008: My review is now online here.]

Surfing eBay, I found some items which you may be interested in. Rare stuff with small starting bids:

• Concerto in B. Goode on CD-reissue by Mercury Germany - extremely hard to find


• More Chuck Berry, rare Dutch album on Chess International


• Another rare Dutch album, this one is on Funckler Records: Chuck Berry On Stage


• You will have Sweet Little Sixteen/Rock And Roll Music, but not on this rare German London 45


• This item has just ended, but you might be interested in it anyway as this Australian EP is very seldom seen: Reelin' and Rockin' To The Fabulous Chuck Berry


• While we're at EPs, this is one you may want to own: Rock and Roll Music on CHESS 5119 in what the seller calls a 'marvelous' condition


• And finally, from the same seller (which I do not have any relation to) a 'superb' condition CHESS EP 5121 Sweet Little Sixteen

You can click on the items to go directly to the corresponding eBay page. In case you bid: Good Luck!

Kultur International Films recently published a series of 12 DVDs named Songs That Changed The World. Each DVD covers one particular song, e.g. I Want to Hold Your Hand, Heartbreak Hotel, Stayin' Alive or Like a Virgin. Whether these or any other song in fact "changed the world" is strongly doubted ...
The DVDs come from a TV series of same name, according to the Net shown in various countries such as Finland, Australia, Mexico, and on various cable channels such as Discovery Channel. The series was originally produced for Country Music Television (CMT) in Canada and premiered January 2003.
The interesting thing about this DVD series is that one disk concentrates on Chuck Berry's Maybellene. It's interesting to note that the makers of this TV series found that Maybellene as a birthsong to Rock&Roll had more impact than, let's say, Rock Around the Clock or Johnny B. Goode.
As the other disks in this series, Song That Changed The World: Maybellene is a documentary consisting mostly of very brief comments by famous people about Berry, about the song, or about the 1950s at all. Some spoken introductions are underlaid with 1950s footage: cars, people, city views.
You do not see Berry perform the song in question. Instead while the song is playing you see segments from Berry's 1950s movies such as Go, Johnny, Go! or Jazz on a Summer's Day. Included are segments from an interview with Berry, though. I think I have seen this interview somewhere else before, but I don't remember where. It must have been recorded sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, I guess.
Berry makes some interesting comments on his view of how Maybellene did not change the world: "We played Rock&Roll long before ...", "That's just a label ...", "I had a producer who was a marketing genius ..."
The comments from all the other people interviewed are less interesting, although there are many of them. Next to historians, university professors, and music publishers you see and hear B. B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, Randy Bachman, Mike Love (Beach Boys), Joe Mauldin (Crickets), Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Robbie Krieger (Doors), Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Steve Howe (Yes), and very briefly Ron Wood. All this is not of any importance. The only one who really has something to say is director Taylor Hackford (Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll!) who unfortunately did not direct this series.
The DVD is not very expensive and can be purchased here. Buyers should be aware that the running time is just 35 minutes of which more than 10 minutes are excerpts from the remaining DVDs in this series. The documentary alone is no more than 25 minutes, i.e. very short. Fortunately it is not region coded even though offers may tell different.