The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following additions regarding Session 26:

• An undubbed version of All Aboard was finally released by MCA Records on a CD called Blues (MCA B0000530-02) in 2003.


• The previously unreleased recording of Adulteen surfaced in 2004 on a not-for-sale promotional CD The ARC Classics (ARC Music ARC CB 0402) created by the song's publisher.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following addition regarding Session 27:
I'm in the Twilight Zone can finally be heard by listening to the ARC Music promotional CD The ARC Classics (ARC Music ARC CB 0402). The song is incorrectly titled I'm in the Danger Zone, though.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found out about an additional recording session which took place prior to or in early 1975:

Prior to 1975 Chuck Berry must have recorded a 30 seconds radio spot telling to get off hard drugs. The recording was made available as part of the National Association of Progressive Radio Announcers' (NAPRA) "Hard drugs awareness movement - Get Off". The radio spot was distributed to radio stations on an album called Get Off II (NAPRA-2, 1975). For details see the section on Radio Show and Promotional Records.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found out about an additional recording session, if you want to call it that:

Around October 2001, Dan Aykroyd (a.k.a. Elwood Blues) interviewed Chuck by telephone for his weekly House of Blues radio show. The interview appeared on two radio station CDs to be broadcast in January and March 2002. See the chapter on Radio Show and Promotional Records for details.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we received the following addition regarding Session 78:

The concert recorded for radio station broadcast was recorded at Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club (note spelling) on January 17th, 1981.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following additions regarding Session 90:

Some more radio station albums have surfaced and show that the interview was (probably) first used on October 17th, 1988 during A Chuck Berry Birthday Bash (Solid Gold Scrapbook) and on November 5-6, 1988 during show #352 of Dick Clark's Rock, Roll & Remember (Unistar Programming Network). Therefore the recording of this interview must have taken place before October 1988.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found out about an additional recording session which took place in September 1995:

On September 2nd, 1995 the Cleveland Municipal Stadium housed the Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During more than seven hours top artists of the 1990s performed along with rock and roll legends. The whole show was broadcast live on TV. Chuck Berry performed two songs: He started the show with Johnny B. Goode backed by Bruce Springsteen and his reformed E-Street Band. And he closed the show with a special version of Rock and Roll Music. This version was special in three different ways: It was special because Chuck sang new lyrics fitting to a Rock and Roll Museum. It was special because he was backed by an All-Star Band with Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren, Melissa Etheridge, Booker T & the MGs and others. And this performance was special because it was probably the worst recording of this song ever.
During a concert break in addition a short Backstage Interview with Chuck was recorded and broadcast. In 1996 SONY published a 2 CD set called Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This CD contains highlights from the show and therefore does not contain the Berry parts.
However, other segments from the show can be found on various bootleg CDs. A complete recording of the show was released as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Moonraker 014-19, 1995). This 6 CD set includes both performances and the backstage interview. Due to Springsteen performing with Chuck, the two songs can also be found on several Springsteen/Dylan bootlegs like Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Synergy HOF 001) or Forever Young (Goblin BSGR 1CD).

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following addition regarding Session 84:

The bootleg record says Chuck Berry and Keith Richards and Chuck introduced the guest guitarist as "Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones". Nevertheless within the Stones collectors community it is for sure that the guest guitarist performing on this session was not Keith Richards but Ron Wood instead. According to Nico Zentgraf's Complete Works of the Rolling Stones the concert took place February 21st, 1982.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following addition regarding Session 62:

Probably the correct running order of songs on the 625 show is as follows:

• Roll Over Beethoven
• School Day (unissued)
• Sweet Little Sixteen
• Memphis (Tennessee)
• Too Much Monkey Business (unissued)
• South Of The Border
• Beer Drinking Woman
• Let It Rock
• Mean Old World
• Carol
• Rock And Roll Music (unissued)
• Liverpool Drive [instrumental]
• Promised Land (unissued)
• Reelin' And Rockin' (unissued)
• Nadine
• My Ding-A-Ling (omit band, unissued)
• Bye Bye Johnny
• Bonsoir Cherie / Johnny B. Goode

The songs marked as unissued are currently not available on vinyl or CD. For releases containing the other songs see here. A one-hour version of this TV show was broadcast again by Swedish TV 2 on December 28, 2001. This broadcast displayed all the issued songs except for Liverpool Drive and South of the Border. In addition you could see and hear Too Much Monkey Business, Rock and Roll Music, The Promised Land, and Reelin' and Rockin'.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found out about an additional recording session which took place in Summer 1989:

On Saturday, 12th August 1989 Chuck Berry performed at the Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan. The concert was part of a promotional tour for Jeff Beck's new album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas. Originally planned for August 6th, the show was postponed due to heavy rain. In addition to Chuck and the Jeff Beck Group other performers were Neal Schorn's Bad English, the Steve Lukather Band, and Richard Marx. While planned as an all-star session with Jeff Beck assisting the other bands, Chuck used a band on his own (and not a good one, as you can hear). Segments of his performance can be heard on a 4-CD set recorded live during the show. The bootleg is called New Gigs '89 (Private Master PM047/48/49/50). Chuck performs his typical instrumental introduction which leads into Roll over Beethoven, followed by Let It Rock. Next is an aptly named Blues Jam based on Oh Baby (You don't have to go). The 25 minutes on the CD end with a version of Johnny B. Goode, but it may be that Chuck performed other songs as well.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found out about an additional recording session which took place in Summer 1972:

On August, 5th 1972 Chuck performed at the Wembley Stadium, London, UK. Parts of this show were filmed by Peter Clifton and published as The London Rock And Roll Show. The film includes additional performances by The Houseshakers, Heinz, Screaming Lord Sutch, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, and Little Richard. Chuck's segment includes the songs School Days, Memphis, Tennessee, Sweet Little Sixteen, Mean Ole Frisco, Beer Drinking Woman, Wee Wee Hours, Let It Rock, Carol, Little Queenie, and Reelin' and Rockin'.
The film was re-released on video tape in 1992 by Magnum Music. In 2001 Magnum finally released Chuck's performance along with those by Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, and Little Richard on a soundtrack CD (Magnum Music CDMF 105).

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we received the following addition regarding Session 23:
Just for completeness: I Got to Find My Baby was first recorded by Dr. Clayton as Gotta Find My Baby (Bluebird B 8901, 1941). Little Walter cut it later.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. After publication of Fred Rothwell's book we found the following addition regarding Session 58:
On Your Lick Fred suspected that the minimal but effective harp was played by Jeff Baldori instead of Bob. Bob Baldori however confirmed that it was himself playing harmonica on the track. If you would like to see a picture of that session's setup (Chuck Berry and the Woolies), click here to see Bob Baldori's private photo collection.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. Here is an addition to Fred's description of Session 65:

As we learn from the Chuck Berry songbook Rock 'n' Roll Poet (see the Bibliography), the song You and My Country was penned by Chuck Berry. The songbook contains the lyrics, but not the notes of the song. Given the critical lyrics about his country, it almost looks as if this recording was dropped from release for political instead of musical reasons:

I love my country, it's aim and intent.
I believe in the system as it is in print.
   ... snip ...
I know I'm nobody, I lost out in school.
But I feel something wrong unless I'm a fool.
I'm going to keep prying, at least I'll be trying,
'Cause somebody's lying.

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 critizises every recording.
Chuck Berry's recorded legacy is not complete yet, though. Here is an addition to Fred's description of Session 66:

From the Chuck Berry songbook Rock 'n' Roll Poet (see the Bibliography), we learn that the song Tell You About My Buddy is not an alternative short version of Talkin' About My Buddy but a song on its own. The songbook again contains the lyrics, but not the notes of the song as well as those of the equally unpublished Roll Away. Both songs were authored by Chuck Berry.