Chuck Berry Recordings - 5

When describing the outcome of Chuck Berry's recording session 9 of January 1957, Fred Rothwell writes about two different takes of a song listed as Lajaunda (Española). One take is listed as the B side of CHESS 1664, Oh Baby Doll. The other take is to be found on the One Dozen Berrys LP (CHESS LP-1432) and all subsequent releases. Fred wrote:

The second voice on the Chess 1664 single is a multi-tracked single vocal track, whilst the LP release includes an alternative cut with a true second vocal that is not multi-tracked. The LP version is more appealing because the voices are not perfectly synchronised.

When I saw the track listing of Johnny B. Goode - His Complete '50s Chess Recordings (Hip-O Select / Geffen Records B0009473-02) on which Fred collected all Berry recordings including the most interesting alternate takes, I noticed that this recording is on the 4CD-set only once. So where is the alternative take, Fred? His reply:

After careful listening to both I decided that they were the same take. There is some aural difference but this I put down to mastering differences.

Given this, I sat down with the single, the LP, and a series of CDs. In the end I must confirm Fred's remarks. If you listen carefully, you can definitely hear that both versions have a true second voice track and except for differences in loudness, both versions are exactly the same. There is no alternative take.
While I was at it, I also wondered about this song's name. On the original Chess single, the song is listed as LAJAUNDA - one word. On the One Dozen Berrys LP (CHESS LP-1432) the same spelling is used, though now in two words: La Jaunda. On most reissues there are also two words, but it's La Juanda now, ua instead of au.
So what is correct, I thought. I asked my brother who runs a linguistic services business (Euglottia) if either Juanda or Jaunda has any meaning. He said that neither has any direct relation to a Spanish word. It's just a name. However, while Juanda is a known name similar to Juan or Juanita, the other form Jaunda is not used as a name. In fact if you google for Jaunda, the Berry song lyrics is the only result you will get. When you listen to what Berry sings, it's also clear that Juanda is the girl's name. Finally one can note that the BMI repertoire (Broadcast Music, Inc. licenses Berry's songs e.g. for radio airplay) also lists this song as La Juanda. So we can conclude that the original spelling Lajaunda simply was a typing error by someone who did not know enough Spanish.
Did Chuck Berry know enough Spanish at that time? Probably not. Just listen to the end of the first verse: "Hablo solo en Español y no comprendo Ingles" does not translate to "I only speak English" but instead to "I only speak Spanish". In the other two verses, the Spanish text matches the English one correctly.


Correction 05-08-2012: There are differences in the two version. Read here on how to spot those.

In 1954 Chuck Berry used the alias "Chuck Berryn" when performing in and around St. Louis. Concert announcement posters such as the one shown on pages 92/93 of Berry's Autobiography prove this.
Likewise, American Federation of Musicians' recording contracts show that in 1954 someone by the name of Chuck Berryn played guitar during a recording session for Oscar Washington's Ballad label in St. Louis.
Chuck Berry has never acknowledged that it was him who recorded for Ballad at that time. He always states that his first recording sessions took place in May 1955 for Chess Records of Chicago. However, nowadays most experts such as Fred Rothwell count the Ballad session as Berry's first recording.
Of the unknown number of songs recorded, Washington released two under the name of Joe Alexander and the Cubans: Oh Maria b/w I Hope These Words Will Find You Well.
A recently published CD by Music Productions b.v. of Utrecht, the Netherlands contains these two hard-to-find recordings. Chuck Berry Rocks (Digimode Entertainment GTR39508) was released as part of a series of low-cost CDs covering Rock&Roll legends such as Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Little Richard, or Gene Vincent.
The CD contains Berry's first six Chess singles, thus twelve early Chess numbers ranging from Maybellene to You Can't Catch Me, though in no particular order. As bonus tracks the CD comes with the two Joe Alexander recordings. Both are in perfect sound quality.
While Oh Maria could be found on the CD Cruisin' Classics Volume 1 (MR DJ 101) before, I Hope These Words Will Find You Well is to be heard on CD for the first time here.
If you plan to buy Chuck Berry Rocks, be aware that its listings in web shops are next to inexistent. Even on amazon you have no chance to locate the CD and ensure that it's the correct item you order. Click here to go to the correct pages on amazon to purchase this CD.

The following discussion on the various versions of "Betty Jean" took place in email first. It is worth repeating here:
Rick Bergemann asked:

The identical version of "Betty Jean" is included in the "Anthology" and "Rock´n´Roll Rarities" cd´s, and that version differs from the version included on the 1987 cd re-issue of "Rockin´ At The Hops". I asked about this discrepancy long ago and was told that the "Rarites" version was an alternate take and that the "Anthology" version was the originally released version. Obviously that answer was incorrect, because those two versions are the same. And the fact that neither "Rarities" nor "Anthology" lists that particular version as an alternate take (while specifically noting all other alternate takes) leads me to believe that their version is actually the original. Therefore I have strong suspicion that the odd version (included in the "Hops" re-issue) is actually the alternate take. I know that this site is mainly for people who collect vintage vinyl and bootlegs and such and probably won´t think twice about what´s included on recently mass produced cd´s. But if someone of knowledge has a copy of the aforementioned cd´s, can you please listen to the versions of "Betty Jean" and explain the discrepancy clearly. Thank you.

The version on Rarities is known as the alternate version, simply because it´s the one released later. You can distinguish the two best by listening to the Little-Richard-style Oooh´s and Aaah´s both after the first verses and best at the end of the song. In the original the first verse ends with something that sounds like Whoo Ha Oh Baby, Whooo Whooo - while in the alt. version the same part sounds like Oh oh oh Baby, Oh oh oh oh Baby. The 2:25 minute alt version ends with three identical repetitions of Whoo Ha Baby I´m in love with, while the 2:30 minute original ends with Whoo Ha Baby I´m in love with - Whoo Baby I´m in love with YOU - Whoooo I´m in love with you - Whoo Baby (...fading...)
Follow up from Rick Bergemann:

Thank you for the detailed answer. You made it very easy for me to compare the two and confirm which was which. However it leads me to a second question: do you have any knowledge as to why the later version has been included on "Rarities" and "Anthology" without proper notation? "Rarities" includes demos and alt versions as well as originals, yet it does not mention "Betty Jean" as being anything else besides a "stereo remix". "Anthology" compiles only originally released versions (with a couple of entirely unreleased songs thrown in), yet this second version of "Betty Jean" has somehow been included there too. And like "Rarities", the "Anthology" liner notes also fail to note that "Betty Jean" is not the originally released version. Due to the lack of notation on either cd´s liner notes, I can only assume that MCA thought they were putting the original version of "Betty Jean" on both of those compilations.

You are probably correct. Already in 1973 someone at Chess took the wrong tape when collecting the contents for Chuck Berry´s Golden Decade Vol. 2 (Chess LP 60023). This is where the alt. version first appeared, not noted on the cover, too.