Sunday, February 21. 2010
Have Mercy! Chuck Berry in the 1970s
OK, friends! It's here and I spent some hours listening to it. So here's my review of the new Chuck Berry four CD set from Geffen Records/Hip-O-Select:
In 2008 Universal's Hip-O-Select label released a four CD set containing Chuck Berry's complete recorded output from 1955 to 1960 as produced for Chicago's Chess label. In 2009 the series continued with another four CD set covering the Chess recordings between 1960 and 1966. Another new four CD set now completes this series by presenting Chuck Berry's Chess recordings from 1969 to 1974.
Those who wonder about the three-year gap between 1966 and 1969 should know that Chuck Berry changed record labels in 1966. For a short period of time he recorded for Mercury Records only to return to Chess in 1969. Even though also the Mercury archives nowadays belong to Universal, the company decided to concentrate on the Chess recordings first. Since almost all Mercury recordings including several previously unreleased ones have been made available on CD during the 1990s, it made sense to skip those.
Most of the later years Chess recordings have not been available on CD except for a very rare and expensive box set which was available for a very short time in England until sale was stopped for legal reasons. Of the five vinyl albums Chess released during that time, only “The Chuck Berry London Sessions” had been issued on CD before.
As with the other two sets, the new release comes with everything a collector can dream of. Most notably there is more than a dozen previously unknown songs. In addition Andy McKaie of Universal and Berry expert Fred Rothwell selected a couple of alternative versions of known titles and added some more tracks from the Coventry concert which led to Berry's best sold album ever, the London Sessions LP.
Design and packaging complement the other two sets. This includes reproductions of the original labels and album covers as well as a selection of rare photos. A 24 page booklet by Fred Rothwell discusses the development of these recordings and lists complete session details as far as he was able to find out from the Chess archives and tape boxes.
The Chuck Berry music of the 1970s is different from the earlier recordings. Most of the songs on this set had been known only to the experts who had bought and kept the original albums. They come from a wide selection of original Berry material and of recycled Blues and Country standards, both with new and ancient lyrics.
I wonder if Universal called the box set “Have Mercy” to remind us to forgive Berry for producing lesser quality material. The recordings here have been produced for albums where it did not matter if one or two tracks are below standard. And there are several recordings included which are not of top quality. But this is what you get when you buy a “complete” set.
Or did they want to point out the top-quality blues number “Have Mercy Judge” which was released as the flip side of Berry's first 45 after his return to Chess? Especially the blues songs contained on this set show that during the 1970s Berry was free to create the music he liked best.
Besides the blues numbers, also a series of very fine instrumentals stands out as a highlight of this set. Berry really shines when working with professional musicians raised up with listening to his early recordings. Bob Baldori of the Woolies on the earlier songs and Billy Peek in some later sessions help to create some great Chuck Berry songs. If you like Berry's 1950s recordings for their riffs, melody and intelligent lyrics, take your time to step through these 71 recordings. It's all there.
The 1970s introduced big changes to the Chess label. Leonard Chess had sold the company to GRT, a huge New York based music corporation. The old studios in Chicago were no longer used, so the recordings presented here come from a variety of locations, using different engineers, different producers, and different equipment. Not every combination guarantees for success, but it's interesting to find similarities and differences. As the songs on this set come in chronological order, they are much easier to compare than with the original albums who mostly contained a mixture from various origins, including Chess recordings from before Berry's leave to Mercury.
For both of the early box sets Universal searched for some very rare live recordings made from Berry performances. With this new set it was not necessary to go searching, as the London Sessions album already had one “live” side. It was said that this album contained only three songs because the audience sang too loud on the remaining recordings. This saying is proven now with five more recordings from the same performance. And these recordings also show that some huge editing was needed to get the original three songs on the album at all. “Roll 'Em Pete” is one of the new tracks. It has been published before as a 45's B side even forgotten on the Charly 9-CD set. Here you can compare the original recording with this heavily edited version.
Since the CD set claims to contain his “complete” recordings from 1969 to 1974, we should be allowed to ask what's missing. And, what's unnecessary. Berry's first No.1 hit “My Ding-A-Ling” is included twice: the famous 1972 live recording and a previously unreleased 1969 studio recording. This is fine, but the live recording again is contained twice: the full 11-minute album track and the edited version from the 45rpm single which earned Berry a Golden Record. But then, why is the single version of “Reelin' And Rockin'”, likewise edited, missing? More importantly, the CD set comes with just one take of another live recording: Berry's funny variant of “South Of The Border” was released on a 45rpm single in England only. It stems from a BBC TV broadcast show of which I wish Universal would have included the complete soundtrack as it is one of the best Chuck Berry performances ever. And one which is available only on bootleg records so far.
Another live recording I was astonished not to find on this four CD set is from Berry's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1972. At the festival there where many Chess artists performing and Chess staff recorded all these. A 2-LP set called “Blues Avalanche” was released containing live recordings from Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker and others. According to Michael Ruppli's “The Chess Labels”, two Berry tracks were mastered for inclusion, but finally omitted. So I expected to find at least these two tracks on the new box set, though they are not. According to Fred Rothwell, the two master tapes are lost and all other parts of Berry's performance in Montreux were too bad to include. What a pity!
In summary, the Complete attribute might be a bit overstated for this set. I can easily imagine further live recordings or maybe even another alternative take surface in the future. We have just seen it happen with the so-called complete 1950s recordings. But for now this is the definitive collection of Berry's work in the early 1970s and of course it's a must-have for every serious collector.
Above is my review for German Rock'n'Roll Music Magazine which is targeted to all Rock'n'Roll fans. Pure Berry collectors such as those reading this blog may want to get some more insight details:
Just like the other two boxes this new CD set is a must-have, no question.
The new four CD set comes with 13 previously unknown songs: Untitled Instrumental, That's None Of Your Business, Blues #1, Annie Lou, Me And My Country, One Sixty Nine AM, Roll Away, Turn On The Houselights, Jambalaya, Johnny B. Blues, Dust My Broom, Here Today, and Rockin'. The lyrics to Roll Away and to Me And My Country (as You And My Country) had been known from the Chuck Berry songbook Rock 'n' Roll Poet before.
My Ding-A-Ling and The Song Of My Love are included in previously unknown variants, both as studio recordings. Of the instrumental Gun you'll find two additional takes, a slow and a fast version. Also included is another, previously unheard poem called My Pad.
In addition to the previously known live recordings there are Sweet Little Sixteen, It Hurts Me Too, Around And Around, and Promised Land from the Coventry show. Next to the released edited version, also the original recording of Roll 'Em Pete from the same show can be found here.
Click here for Internet shops the CD set can be ordered from.
In 2008 Universal's Hip-O-Select label released a four CD set containing Chuck Berry's complete recorded output from 1955 to 1960 as produced for Chicago's Chess label. In 2009 the series continued with another four CD set covering the Chess recordings between 1960 and 1966. Another new four CD set now completes this series by presenting Chuck Berry's Chess recordings from 1969 to 1974.
Those who wonder about the three-year gap between 1966 and 1969 should know that Chuck Berry changed record labels in 1966. For a short period of time he recorded for Mercury Records only to return to Chess in 1969. Even though also the Mercury archives nowadays belong to Universal, the company decided to concentrate on the Chess recordings first. Since almost all Mercury recordings including several previously unreleased ones have been made available on CD during the 1990s, it made sense to skip those.
Most of the later years Chess recordings have not been available on CD except for a very rare and expensive box set which was available for a very short time in England until sale was stopped for legal reasons. Of the five vinyl albums Chess released during that time, only “The Chuck Berry London Sessions” had been issued on CD before.
As with the other two sets, the new release comes with everything a collector can dream of. Most notably there is more than a dozen previously unknown songs. In addition Andy McKaie of Universal and Berry expert Fred Rothwell selected a couple of alternative versions of known titles and added some more tracks from the Coventry concert which led to Berry's best sold album ever, the London Sessions LP.
Design and packaging complement the other two sets. This includes reproductions of the original labels and album covers as well as a selection of rare photos. A 24 page booklet by Fred Rothwell discusses the development of these recordings and lists complete session details as far as he was able to find out from the Chess archives and tape boxes.
The Chuck Berry music of the 1970s is different from the earlier recordings. Most of the songs on this set had been known only to the experts who had bought and kept the original albums. They come from a wide selection of original Berry material and of recycled Blues and Country standards, both with new and ancient lyrics.
I wonder if Universal called the box set “Have Mercy” to remind us to forgive Berry for producing lesser quality material. The recordings here have been produced for albums where it did not matter if one or two tracks are below standard. And there are several recordings included which are not of top quality. But this is what you get when you buy a “complete” set.
Or did they want to point out the top-quality blues number “Have Mercy Judge” which was released as the flip side of Berry's first 45 after his return to Chess? Especially the blues songs contained on this set show that during the 1970s Berry was free to create the music he liked best.
Besides the blues numbers, also a series of very fine instrumentals stands out as a highlight of this set. Berry really shines when working with professional musicians raised up with listening to his early recordings. Bob Baldori of the Woolies on the earlier songs and Billy Peek in some later sessions help to create some great Chuck Berry songs. If you like Berry's 1950s recordings for their riffs, melody and intelligent lyrics, take your time to step through these 71 recordings. It's all there.
The 1970s introduced big changes to the Chess label. Leonard Chess had sold the company to GRT, a huge New York based music corporation. The old studios in Chicago were no longer used, so the recordings presented here come from a variety of locations, using different engineers, different producers, and different equipment. Not every combination guarantees for success, but it's interesting to find similarities and differences. As the songs on this set come in chronological order, they are much easier to compare than with the original albums who mostly contained a mixture from various origins, including Chess recordings from before Berry's leave to Mercury.
For both of the early box sets Universal searched for some very rare live recordings made from Berry performances. With this new set it was not necessary to go searching, as the London Sessions album already had one “live” side. It was said that this album contained only three songs because the audience sang too loud on the remaining recordings. This saying is proven now with five more recordings from the same performance. And these recordings also show that some huge editing was needed to get the original three songs on the album at all. “Roll 'Em Pete” is one of the new tracks. It has been published before as a 45's B side even forgotten on the Charly 9-CD set. Here you can compare the original recording with this heavily edited version.
Since the CD set claims to contain his “complete” recordings from 1969 to 1974, we should be allowed to ask what's missing. And, what's unnecessary. Berry's first No.1 hit “My Ding-A-Ling” is included twice: the famous 1972 live recording and a previously unreleased 1969 studio recording. This is fine, but the live recording again is contained twice: the full 11-minute album track and the edited version from the 45rpm single which earned Berry a Golden Record. But then, why is the single version of “Reelin' And Rockin'”, likewise edited, missing? More importantly, the CD set comes with just one take of another live recording: Berry's funny variant of “South Of The Border” was released on a 45rpm single in England only. It stems from a BBC TV broadcast show of which I wish Universal would have included the complete soundtrack as it is one of the best Chuck Berry performances ever. And one which is available only on bootleg records so far.
Another live recording I was astonished not to find on this four CD set is from Berry's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1972. At the festival there where many Chess artists performing and Chess staff recorded all these. A 2-LP set called “Blues Avalanche” was released containing live recordings from Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker and others. According to Michael Ruppli's “The Chess Labels”, two Berry tracks were mastered for inclusion, but finally omitted. So I expected to find at least these two tracks on the new box set, though they are not. According to Fred Rothwell, the two master tapes are lost and all other parts of Berry's performance in Montreux were too bad to include. What a pity!
In summary, the Complete attribute might be a bit overstated for this set. I can easily imagine further live recordings or maybe even another alternative take surface in the future. We have just seen it happen with the so-called complete 1950s recordings. But for now this is the definitive collection of Berry's work in the early 1970s and of course it's a must-have for every serious collector.
Above is my review for German Rock'n'Roll Music Magazine which is targeted to all Rock'n'Roll fans. Pure Berry collectors such as those reading this blog may want to get some more insight details:
Just like the other two boxes this new CD set is a must-have, no question.
The new four CD set comes with 13 previously unknown songs: Untitled Instrumental, That's None Of Your Business, Blues #1, Annie Lou, Me And My Country, One Sixty Nine AM, Roll Away, Turn On The Houselights, Jambalaya, Johnny B. Blues, Dust My Broom, Here Today, and Rockin'. The lyrics to Roll Away and to Me And My Country (as You And My Country) had been known from the Chuck Berry songbook Rock 'n' Roll Poet before.
My Ding-A-Ling and The Song Of My Love are included in previously unknown variants, both as studio recordings. Of the instrumental Gun you'll find two additional takes, a slow and a fast version. Also included is another, previously unheard poem called My Pad.
In addition to the previously known live recordings there are Sweet Little Sixteen, It Hurts Me Too, Around And Around, and Promised Land from the Coventry show. Next to the released edited version, also the original recording of Roll 'Em Pete from the same show can be found here.
Click here for Internet shops the CD set can be ordered from.
Saturday, February 20. 2010
Anthony Boy - alternative take found ... accidently
Re-issues of Chuck Berry's old hits and albums exist by the hundreds or even thousands. No serious collector tries to get them all. Even Morten Reff, author of the ultimate book on Chuck Berry records "The Chuck Berry International Directory", tells me he lost track of all the cheap re-issues released month after month.
And with the Hip-O-Select CD boxes claiming to contain Chuck Berry's complete recorded output for Chess, there's another reason gone to even check out re-releases. What could be found of interest if every recording worth listening to has been included in the box sets?
Due to this, all collectors I know (including me) ignored this re-issue when it was released in June 2008, even though it says it's in Audiophile quality (i.e. expensive) and remastered from original tapes.
Thus it came as a huge surprise to me when Morten yesterday told me:
Here are some more notes from Morten:
Those who know say that while the hit version of "Anthony Boy" is take 9, this recording here is an earlier take 6 from the same session.
The Mobile Fidelity CD is available from many Internet shops and priced between $30 and $50 plus shipping. Quite expensive for yet another re-issue, but in order to have a complete collection, you need to buy one. Click here for some links to reasonable offers.
Many thanks to Morten!
And with the Hip-O-Select CD boxes claiming to contain Chuck Berry's complete recorded output for Chess, there's another reason gone to even check out re-releases. What could be found of interest if every recording worth listening to has been included in the box sets?
Due to this, all collectors I know (including me) ignored this re-issue when it was released in June 2008, even though it says it's in Audiophile quality (i.e. expensive) and remastered from original tapes.
Thus it came as a huge surprise to me when Morten yesterday told me:
Strangely enough, but here's an alt. take of "Anthony Boy" which has never been out before.I immediately had to check out by myself. And this morning the postman brought me a sealed copy I had to open and compare with the original version within a few minutes. And astonishingly Morten is correct: The version of "Anthony Boy" is not the formerly and only known take. (It's not astonishing that Morten is correct, it's astonishing that they had a tape even Hip-O-Select did not use! So much for "complete".)
ST. LOUIS TO LIVERPOOL + BERRY IS ON TOP Mobile Fidelity UDCD-776 (2008)
Here are some more notes from Morten:
The Mobile Fidelity CD is a pairing of two classic Chess albums, Chess LP-1435 from 1959 and Chess LPS-1488 from 1964. Front cover as on the original ‘St.Louis To Liverpool’ LP. However, they brag about the sound quality (which is quite goode actually) and how superior Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is to the audiophile entertainment software and significant contributions to the world of high-end audio software using only original master recordings, and on and on they go. And although it is a nice digipak issue looking very professional and the CD (Ultradisc II) coming in 24-karat gold(?) and being a special limited edition (10.000, mine is #01668). BUT, and here's the news folks, how come they got hold of an alternate version of 'Anthony Boy' ??? Anyway it's here and therefore, you all need this issue! It's a little different, the choir is not so loud in its Go's.. and the guitar solo is a little staccato.How did it come? I'm sure they asked Universal for the original master tapes and by accident got a wrong one. I'm sure no one noticed because if anybody would have known, there would have been at least a minor note somewhere on cover or booklet.
Those who know say that while the hit version of "Anthony Boy" is take 9, this recording here is an earlier take 6 from the same session.
The Mobile Fidelity CD is available from many Internet shops and priced between $30 and $50 plus shipping. Quite expensive for yet another re-issue, but in order to have a complete collection, you need to buy one. Click here for some links to reasonable offers.
Many thanks to Morten!
Monday, February 8. 2010
Tokyo Session and Rock Smuk albums for sale
Reader John Gilmartin asked me to inform you about his recent offer:
Wish to give Berry fans first choice to obtain the following LPs:If interested, please contact John directly at johnnygil{at}hotmail.co.uk
Chuck Berry Tokyo Sessions.Jap. East World WTP-90072 includes Jap Text,lyric insert snd title obi-strip.
RockSmuk NQCS-1 Sun/Chess Label.
Offers Please
Saturday, January 30. 2010
Johnny B. Goode Master equals take 3
In June 2008, there was heated discussion by commenters of this blog regarding Two Guitars on Johnny B. Goode. One thing not discussed then was the differences between the known recording takes.
Reader Dennis had some more listening and found out:
Reader Dennis had some more listening and found out:
While listening to the various tracks on the 4CD set I noticed that take 3 of the alt. take JBG 2/3 and the final master on Chess 1691 are the exact same recording. It's just one version without and the other with the overdubs. This can be heard quite clearly by listening to the improvised piano fills which are completely identical. Within the discussion it was not made clear that you were talking about the same recording in two states of finalization.Fred and I spent some more time listening to the tracks and we can confirm Dennis's findings. Thanks for this additional information.
Monday, January 25. 2010
First details about the third Hip-O-Select box - Have Mercy, Chuck Berry 1969-1974
A short first message about your next purchase:
Hip-O-Select just announced the release of its third CD set covering Chuck Berry' complete recordings for Chess Records from 1955 to 1974.
The brand new box is to be released January 29th, 2010. Called Have Mercy - His Complete Chess Recordings 1969-1974 the set again consists of four CDs with 71 tracks. Promised are 22 previously unreleased recordings! You can read the track listing here.
More details to follow as soon as I have a copy to listen to.
Hip-O-Select just announced the release of its third CD set covering Chuck Berry' complete recordings for Chess Records from 1955 to 1974.
The brand new box is to be released January 29th, 2010. Called Have Mercy - His Complete Chess Recordings 1969-1974 the set again consists of four CDs with 71 tracks. Promised are 22 previously unreleased recordings! You can read the track listing here.
More details to follow as soon as I have a copy to listen to.
Thursday, January 21. 2010
Buddy Holly musical includes one of the best versions of 'Johnny B. Goode'
My hometown of Essen, Germany is in the center of a densely populated area with more than five million people. There's all kind of cultural activities here, which is expressed by the town's election to be Europe's Culture Capital 2010.
However, while there is lots of music, true Rock and Roll is not found very often. And I don't count yesterday's concert of ZZ Top as true Rock and Roll
Things changed on Thursday, when "Buddy" the probably well-known musical about Buddy Holly premiered at the Colosseum Theater. I had the opportunity to see the show and join the after-show party. So here's my biased review:
Alan Janes wrote this musical about Buddy's life in the late 1980's. It premiered in London in 1989. Since then multiple versions have been touring world-wide. The German version is best known from it's multiple year stay in Hamburg where a special musical hall was built right in the center of the Hamburg harbor. The updated new version will be played in Essen for the next months.
The piece is not really a musical. It is in fact a tribute concert presenting a sequence of Holly's greatest hits. A large part of the first half and the complete second half are more a concert than anything else. There are just a few spoken scenes in the whole second half. All the rest is pure music. However, a Buddy-Holly-Revival concert can easily go wrong if the artists cannot sound the way we all know from the original records. But here it did not go wrong!
The whole cast has to be both actor and musician as all songs are played live on stage. There is no band behind in the wings. When the "Crickets" perform, they really do. Best of all was Matthias Bollwerk acting as the title role. Matthias is a local singer, just 22 years old, and was intended to be the backup for Buddy Holly. But as Dominik Hees hurt his knee two weeks ago, Matthias became the number one act. And he took his chance. He looks like the young Buddy Holly, acts funny and realistic, plays his guitar quite well, and he performs both the fast songs and the slow ones excellently. I liked best the scene when just he and Maria Elena (Yara Hassan) sat on the empty stage with Matthias singing "True Love Ways" accompanied just by his acoustic guitar. Great!
They even included Chuck Berry music: In the first part, the Crickets perform "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" quite well. They even got most of the lyrics right. The second part ends with the stage getting dark and a radio voice announcing the death of the three stars. When the lights go on again, we see most of the cast walking slowly across the stage like at a burial. Then a female singer starts singing a slow blues, just two lines: "Deep down in Lousiana ...". Another singer picks up the bluesy rhythm with the next two lines of text. And so every member of the cast gets his segment of "Johnny B. Goode" which accelerates a bit with every other singer. When Ritchie Valens (Vinicius Gomes) and JP Richardson (Patrick Stanke) enter the stage, the songs almost reached the original speed. Then Buddy Holly comes through the audience, unpacks his guitar and performs the whole song again. To me this was one of the finest versions of this Chuck Berry song I ever heard. I have to admit, that the audience did not get it. During the bluesy phase, nobody near me even moved or recognized the song. And I admit that the Buddy Holly fans I later talked with had preferred the use of a Holly composition here.
Talking about fans, very little were there. Stage Entertainment had invited more than 1,000 people to the premiere and after-show party, but I doubt more than twenty of them were true Rock and Roll fans. So while the majority enjoyed U.S.-style food, meeting lower-class celebrities, or dancing to recent pop music (not a single Buddy Holly record was played all night long), I had great talks with Klaus Kettner (Germany's number one Bill Haley expert), Heinz-Günther Hartig (Germany's most knowing Buddy Holly fan), and Dieter Moll (the walking encyclopedia on Rock and Roll music).
In any case I had a great evening listening to a very good Buddy Holly cover band, meeting with friends and learning about one of the best versions of "Johnny B. Goode" I ever listened to.
[Disclosure: Stage Entertainment provided me with a free ticket and access to the after-show party.]
[Addition, Jan 21st, 2010]
In the meantime there is a live recording available which includes both Chuck Berry covers, though sung by Dominik Hees. Also included is a nice bonus track called Buddy to Buddy which is a duet version of True Love Ways sung by both Buddys, Dominik and Matthias. Recommended listening. Click here to listen to excerpts of the songs or to purchase the CD.
However, while there is lots of music, true Rock and Roll is not found very often. And I don't count yesterday's concert of ZZ Top as true Rock and Roll
Things changed on Thursday, when "Buddy" the probably well-known musical about Buddy Holly premiered at the Colosseum Theater. I had the opportunity to see the show and join the after-show party. So here's my biased review:
Alan Janes wrote this musical about Buddy's life in the late 1980's. It premiered in London in 1989. Since then multiple versions have been touring world-wide. The German version is best known from it's multiple year stay in Hamburg where a special musical hall was built right in the center of the Hamburg harbor. The updated new version will be played in Essen for the next months.
The piece is not really a musical. It is in fact a tribute concert presenting a sequence of Holly's greatest hits. A large part of the first half and the complete second half are more a concert than anything else. There are just a few spoken scenes in the whole second half. All the rest is pure music. However, a Buddy-Holly-Revival concert can easily go wrong if the artists cannot sound the way we all know from the original records. But here it did not go wrong!
The whole cast has to be both actor and musician as all songs are played live on stage. There is no band behind in the wings. When the "Crickets" perform, they really do. Best of all was Matthias Bollwerk acting as the title role. Matthias is a local singer, just 22 years old, and was intended to be the backup for Buddy Holly. But as Dominik Hees hurt his knee two weeks ago, Matthias became the number one act. And he took his chance. He looks like the young Buddy Holly, acts funny and realistic, plays his guitar quite well, and he performs both the fast songs and the slow ones excellently. I liked best the scene when just he and Maria Elena (Yara Hassan) sat on the empty stage with Matthias singing "True Love Ways" accompanied just by his acoustic guitar. Great!
They even included Chuck Berry music: In the first part, the Crickets perform "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" quite well. They even got most of the lyrics right. The second part ends with the stage getting dark and a radio voice announcing the death of the three stars. When the lights go on again, we see most of the cast walking slowly across the stage like at a burial. Then a female singer starts singing a slow blues, just two lines: "Deep down in Lousiana ...". Another singer picks up the bluesy rhythm with the next two lines of text. And so every member of the cast gets his segment of "Johnny B. Goode" which accelerates a bit with every other singer. When Ritchie Valens (Vinicius Gomes) and JP Richardson (Patrick Stanke) enter the stage, the songs almost reached the original speed. Then Buddy Holly comes through the audience, unpacks his guitar and performs the whole song again. To me this was one of the finest versions of this Chuck Berry song I ever heard. I have to admit, that the audience did not get it. During the bluesy phase, nobody near me even moved or recognized the song. And I admit that the Buddy Holly fans I later talked with had preferred the use of a Holly composition here.
Talking about fans, very little were there. Stage Entertainment had invited more than 1,000 people to the premiere and after-show party, but I doubt more than twenty of them were true Rock and Roll fans. So while the majority enjoyed U.S.-style food, meeting lower-class celebrities, or dancing to recent pop music (not a single Buddy Holly record was played all night long), I had great talks with Klaus Kettner (Germany's number one Bill Haley expert), Heinz-Günther Hartig (Germany's most knowing Buddy Holly fan), and Dieter Moll (the walking encyclopedia on Rock and Roll music).
In any case I had a great evening listening to a very good Buddy Holly cover band, meeting with friends and learning about one of the best versions of "Johnny B. Goode" I ever listened to.
My friends Waltraut and Günther on the red carpet. True Rock and Roll fans. Thanks Günther! [Foto: Dietmar Rudolph]
[Disclosure: Stage Entertainment provided me with a free ticket and access to the after-show party.]
[Addition, Jan 21st, 2010]
In the meantime there is a live recording available which includes both Chuck Berry covers, though sung by Dominik Hees. Also included is a nice bonus track called Buddy to Buddy which is a duet version of True Love Ways sung by both Buddys, Dominik and Matthias. Recommended listening. Click here to listen to excerpts of the songs or to purchase the CD.
Wednesday, December 2. 2009
Carolina Bound - not!
Reader Brian wrote:
However, thanks to the Internet we can save a lot of money. First we find out that this is not a new CD album, but simply an MP3 "album". And that there are several shop which offer a 30-second sample segment from each song.
So you go to amazon.com (or your favourite shop). Search for the unknown title. And you click on "Play".
Listen by yourself at amazon.com.
What do you get? Not "Promised Land", but close. Of course it's the same old Toronto concert in a new packaging again. And indeed it's a segment from the long medley. But instead of "Promised Land" we hear "Carol". That's where they got the Carolina from.
Save your money, check first.
There’s a new live album of Chuck called Rock And Roll Live which has a song called "Carolina Bound." I suspect it is actually "Promised Land" in a new packaging of old live recordings, but do you know anything about it?Good guess, Brian! In former times you had to run and find a shop which carries the album, buy it, and check it out at home. Producers still think they could make their money from such.
However, thanks to the Internet we can save a lot of money. First we find out that this is not a new CD album, but simply an MP3 "album". And that there are several shop which offer a 30-second sample segment from each song.
So you go to amazon.com (or your favourite shop). Search for the unknown title. And you click on "Play".
Listen by yourself at amazon.com.
What do you get? Not "Promised Land", but close. Of course it's the same old Toronto concert in a new packaging again. And indeed it's a segment from the long medley. But instead of "Promised Land" we hear "Carol". That's where they got the Carolina from.
Save your money, check first.
Friday, October 23. 2009
Another Winterland 1967 concert at Wolfgang's Vault
Last year I talked about the various Chuck Berry concert recordings available from San Francisco 1967. Fred Rothwell now told me that there's another concert recording from this era freshly at Wolfgang's Vault. Here's the link.
This third concert at Wolfgang's Vault is closely related to the last of the SF concerts described which was from December 29th. The newly released concert was the first of this set, recorded at the Winterland on December 26th, 1967.
Again Berry is backed by the Steve-Miller-less Miller band, i.e. Peterman, Turner, and Davis. All three are very quiet in the background, though. You almost cannot hear them. Also there's next to no audience noise. I leave it to you to decide whether this is good or bad.
The released concert is a little over 30 minutes long, so I expect some parts are missing. What's included is interesting, though. I don't remember many live tapes (if any) in which Berry performs "No Particular Place to Go" or "Back in the U.S.A.". Therefore a five minute version of the latter comes as a true surprise. Recommended listening.
This third concert at Wolfgang's Vault is closely related to the last of the SF concerts described which was from December 29th. The newly released concert was the first of this set, recorded at the Winterland on December 26th, 1967.
Again Berry is backed by the Steve-Miller-less Miller band, i.e. Peterman, Turner, and Davis. All three are very quiet in the background, though. You almost cannot hear them. Also there's next to no audience noise. I leave it to you to decide whether this is good or bad.
The released concert is a little over 30 minutes long, so I expect some parts are missing. What's included is interesting, though. I don't remember many live tapes (if any) in which Berry performs "No Particular Place to Go" or "Back in the U.S.A.". Therefore a five minute version of the latter comes as a true surprise. Recommended listening.
Friday, September 25. 2009
Boots! Not shoes!
I rarely use the word, but I HATE spammers. They are the true 21st century pest.
Whoever praises 21st century social networks, the Web 2.0, or whatever you call it, they totally mask out those who abuse all the interesting things.
Indeed it is an interesting opportunity when readers can comment articles or add useful information thereto. This weblog was my testbed for an interactive webpage, a place where you could add opinions to what I write.
However I had to learn what does not work:
How can this happen? Someone broke the captcha system and had a computer post the comment? No, worse:
To post such kind of spam into weblogs and other kinds of social networks, spammers employ poor people in Africa or China who spend the whole day reading the Internet locating keywords. And when they find an article about "boots" they manually post the spam message. Isn't that horrible? you see why I hate spammers?
Whoever praises 21st century social networks, the Web 2.0, or whatever you call it, they totally mask out those who abuse all the interesting things.
Indeed it is an interesting opportunity when readers can comment articles or add useful information thereto. This weblog was my testbed for an interactive webpage, a place where you could add opinions to what I write.
However I had to learn what does not work:
- Trackbacks
Trackbacks are an automated way to link related information over many weblogs. So if I link to some text on a different blog such as Tulane's, the other blog will receive an automatic notification and can then link back to my page. Vice versa if someone links to a blog entry here, you should see a trackback URL next to the article. Useful, but abused. I had to shut down this feature within the very first weeks as all trackbacks I received were from spammers pointing to totally unrelated sites. - Unrestricted comments
You are free to comment on the articles here and I welcome you to do so. But the very first comments placed here had nothing to do with the topics but were instead automated spam messages. So I added a captcha (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). This is the image you have to read before placing your comment. Only humans can read the characters in the image, so spam bots are locked out. - Unmoderated comments
OK, I never allowed unmoderated comments because I know that readers tend to put unrelated questions into comments, rude language or private data. So every comment you post is read by me first then then published here.
You might think for a pair of practical and fashion boots to pass this winter. Now I will introduce this brand to you.Get it? Someone wrote a comment on boots = shoes to my article on bootlegs! And the comment of course included lots of links to the super cheap boot store.
How can this happen? Someone broke the captcha system and had a computer post the comment? No, worse:
To post such kind of spam into weblogs and other kinds of social networks, spammers employ poor people in Africa or China who spend the whole day reading the Internet locating keywords. And when they find an article about "boots" they manually post the spam message. Isn't that horrible? you see why I hate spammers?
Wednesday, September 23. 2009
Live is Live, Shanananana ... or not
Radio station records and CDs contain pre-recorded radio shows produced by the large American broadcasting corporations or by dedicated companies. They are sent to the small FM stations all over the U.S.A. who don't have the funds or manpower to produce all their radio shows by themselves.
Collecting radio station records is one of the last true research projects in popular music as no catalogs exist to explain which records were produced and what they contain. Those radio station albums of interest to the Chuck Berry collector are listed in a special section of this page. View here.
Most radio station records contain a DJ playing popular hits. That's far from interesting. Some shows, though, contain material not available on records or CDs anywhere else. With Chuck Berry these are several interviews which made it to radio station albums. And there even is a live concert available on a radio station album which is not published anywhere else.
So when fellow collector Hans recently found another radio station album claiming to contain Chuck Berry Live, I was very interested to learn more about it.
The show Hans found is part of the Cruisin' America with Cousin Brucie series published by CBS RADIORADIO (no typo). The three-hour show was to be broadcast on April 22-24, 1988. It contains the usual hit selection from Tutti Frutti to Who'll stop the rain.
At the end of the program in hour three, segment four finally comes In Concert: Chuck Berry with three songs: Memphis, Tennessee, Maybellene, and Johnny B. Goode. But if you expected to listen to unreleased material, you'd be disappointed. The first two are the standard Chess recordings with live audience dubbed onto them. They are taken from the original Chess fake-live album Chuck Berry On Stage. The third song indeed is a live recording, but a very well known one taken from the 1972 Chess album The London Sessions.
So while the contents itself was disappointing, learning about this show was not. Thanks to Hans for letting us know and providing the scan below.
Collecting radio station records is one of the last true research projects in popular music as no catalogs exist to explain which records were produced and what they contain. Those radio station albums of interest to the Chuck Berry collector are listed in a special section of this page. View here.
Most radio station records contain a DJ playing popular hits. That's far from interesting. Some shows, though, contain material not available on records or CDs anywhere else. With Chuck Berry these are several interviews which made it to radio station albums. And there even is a live concert available on a radio station album which is not published anywhere else.
So when fellow collector Hans recently found another radio station album claiming to contain Chuck Berry Live, I was very interested to learn more about it.
The show Hans found is part of the Cruisin' America with Cousin Brucie series published by CBS RADIORADIO (no typo). The three-hour show was to be broadcast on April 22-24, 1988. It contains the usual hit selection from Tutti Frutti to Who'll stop the rain.
At the end of the program in hour three, segment four finally comes In Concert: Chuck Berry with three songs: Memphis, Tennessee, Maybellene, and Johnny B. Goode. But if you expected to listen to unreleased material, you'd be disappointed. The first two are the standard Chess recordings with live audience dubbed onto them. They are taken from the original Chess fake-live album Chuck Berry On Stage. The third song indeed is a live recording, but a very well known one taken from the 1972 Chess album The London Sessions.
So while the contents itself was disappointing, learning about this show was not. Thanks to Hans for letting us know and providing the scan below.
Friday, September 4. 2009
After School Session Re-Issue ... ON VINYL!!
Strange things happen ...
While I was busy earning some money, someone decided they could earn some money as well.
By re-releasing the "After School Session" album ...
In mono ...
On Vinyl !!!
Yes: Doxy Records DOY 608, released in the UK in February 2009 is a NEW vinyl album. It comes on 180g vinyl in mono. It uses the original front cover, but has DOXY printed in the upper right corner where we used to read CHESS.
All this information is from descriptions I found on the net. I have not seen a physical copy and I do not intend to spent money for it, but if you do, let me know some more details.
Here's a link to a sellers page: offer on ebay
While I was busy earning some money, someone decided they could earn some money as well.
By re-releasing the "After School Session" album ...
In mono ...
On Vinyl !!!
Yes: Doxy Records DOY 608, released in the UK in February 2009 is a NEW vinyl album. It comes on 180g vinyl in mono. It uses the original front cover, but has DOXY printed in the upper right corner where we used to read CHESS.
All this information is from descriptions I found on the net. I have not seen a physical copy and I do not intend to spent money for it, but if you do, let me know some more details.
Here's a link to a sellers page: offer on ebay
Tuesday, June 30. 2009
Charly 9-CD set for sale on ebay
I'm busy - and there's nothing new for the Chuck Berry record collector. Therefore no new posts here.
However, reader Doug was so kind to point me to an interesting offer on eBay:
The 1991 UK box set by Charly is currently on sale! It is expensive and misses the booklet, but this is the only legal way to get Chuck Berry's 1970's output on CD.
Update (July 13): The item did not sell for $500. Now the seller tries with a lower asking price:
Click here to see if this offer is worth that much for you!
However, reader Doug was so kind to point me to an interesting offer on eBay:
The 1991 UK box set by Charly is currently on sale! It is expensive and misses the booklet, but this is the only legal way to get Chuck Berry's 1970's output on CD.
Update (July 13): The item did not sell for $500. Now the seller tries with a lower asking price:
Click here to see if this offer is worth that much for you!
Tuesday, May 12. 2009
Rare 1970's Vinyl Boots on ebay
I recently sold spare copies of the original Kozmik and Maybelline 1970s vinyl bootlegs from my collection to a fellow reader of this blog.
This let some other reader tell me that he's currently offering his copies on ebay UK. So for those of you who missed my original sale, here's a second chance now. Both records have a very low starting price, but don't be fooled. A reasonable selling price will be much more than 0.99 UK pounds!
Here are the links to the ebay pages:
Good luck in case you bid!
This let some other reader tell me that he's currently offering his copies on ebay UK. So for those of you who missed my original sale, here's a second chance now. Both records have a very low starting price, but don't be fooled. A reasonable selling price will be much more than 0.99 UK pounds!
Here are the links to the ebay pages:
Good luck in case you bid!
Wednesday, April 22. 2009
Music links completed
I have completed the links to the amazon MP3 offers.
This means you can now listen to excerpts of
I think I have found all the Chuck Berry tracks offered by amazon. This turned out to be much more complicated than what you would expect. Here are some of the problems I ran into checking out the almost 1.000 MP3 clips listed by amazon's search function:
This means you can now listen to excerpts of
- all Chuck Berry recordings from Chess records between 1955 and 1966
- more than half of the Mercury recordings
- some of the later Chess tracks
- the 60th birthday concert
- the Atco recordings
- and various live recordings from Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, Coventry, Wembley and Peterborough
I think I have found all the Chuck Berry tracks offered by amazon. This turned out to be much more complicated than what you would expect. Here are some of the problems I ran into checking out the almost 1.000 MP3 clips listed by amazon's search function:
- amazon (or the suppliers) digitize albums, not songs. Therefore one and the same recording such as the Chess version of Maybellene is listed 12 times from various albums. And don't be confused that running times may vary several seconds.
- Especially the live versions such as from Toronto vary in length a lot, but we know this from the CDs already.
- Sometimes the same recording is listed under various titles.
- There's a huge mix of incorrect spellings both with song titles and artist names.
- Almost none of the live version contains any kind of information about recording date or place.
Thursday, April 16. 2009
The Collector's Guide - now with music
This is a site about music. But it has been a site without music - until now.
In contrast to other music sites I had not included any sound clips or complete songs within this site. There was a good reason: If you use music for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, you have to pay the musician and the composer. Since I do not earn any money from this site, I cannot afford to license music for inclusion here. I know that other webmasters think and act differently and simply use music they cut from records or copied from somewhere. However, such is not only unlawful, in my opinion it is highly unfair against the creator of the music. How can you expect someone to create music if nobody is willing to pay them for it? It is really poor if like some weeks ago someone (himself a musician) asks me questions about some Berry tracks because he had a downloaded copy of a CD only - and not the commercial one with a great booklet answering his questions. Sigh!
OK, back to music. I recently found a legal way to provide you with excerpts from almost each and every Chuck Berry recording. Yes!
I started with Berry's original Chess era and added sound to every recording listed therein. That means you can now check out each and every recording Berry made between 1955 and 1966, including alternate takes and more. Isn't that great?
So if you see me mentioning as song such as
simply click on the loudspeaker symbol behind the song name. Try it!
Your browser will open a new tab or window where you should see one or in this case multiple Amazon MP3 Widgets. If it does not, this is because the widget needs both JavaScript enabled and a recent Adobe Flash Player installed. I'm sorry for that as this site nowhere else requires additional software other than a W3C-compatible Webbrowser (which I am proud of), but I decided that in this case the benefits overweight.
In the case of Maybellene there will be one widget for the original Chess version, one for the Mercury re-recording and several widgets for different live versions. If there are alternate takes, those will be displayed as well. Click on a widget to listen to this specific version. The widget displays controls for volume, pause and more.
This service is provided free by amazon.com. But of course you will not be able to listen to the complete track. There is a thirty seconds excerpt of each variant. That is all that is provided for free. If you are located in the U.S.A., you can use the widget's Buy MP3 button to purchase a DRM-free MP3 file of the complete track. Unfortunately amazon.com does not sell these MP3s to other countries and to make matters worse, other amazon stores do not stock all of the songs you find at amazon.com. That's a pity, but I cannot change it. Maybe I will add links to non-U.S. shops in the future like I did with the CD offers, but that's many days of work.
Please enjoy the new addition to this site and let me know what you think of it.
In contrast to other music sites I had not included any sound clips or complete songs within this site. There was a good reason: If you use music for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, you have to pay the musician and the composer. Since I do not earn any money from this site, I cannot afford to license music for inclusion here. I know that other webmasters think and act differently and simply use music they cut from records or copied from somewhere. However, such is not only unlawful, in my opinion it is highly unfair against the creator of the music. How can you expect someone to create music if nobody is willing to pay them for it? It is really poor if like some weeks ago someone (himself a musician) asks me questions about some Berry tracks because he had a downloaded copy of a CD only - and not the commercial one with a great booklet answering his questions. Sigh!
OK, back to music. I recently found a legal way to provide you with excerpts from almost each and every Chuck Berry recording. Yes!
I started with Berry's original Chess era and added sound to every recording listed therein. That means you can now check out each and every recording Berry made between 1955 and 1966, including alternate takes and more. Isn't that great?
So if you see me mentioning as song such as
Maybellene
simply click on the loudspeaker symbol behind the song name. Try it!
Your browser will open a new tab or window where you should see one or in this case multiple Amazon MP3 Widgets. If it does not, this is because the widget needs both JavaScript enabled and a recent Adobe Flash Player installed. I'm sorry for that as this site nowhere else requires additional software other than a W3C-compatible Webbrowser (which I am proud of), but I decided that in this case the benefits overweight.
In the case of Maybellene there will be one widget for the original Chess version, one for the Mercury re-recording and several widgets for different live versions. If there are alternate takes, those will be displayed as well. Click on a widget to listen to this specific version. The widget displays controls for volume, pause and more.
This service is provided free by amazon.com. But of course you will not be able to listen to the complete track. There is a thirty seconds excerpt of each variant. That is all that is provided for free. If you are located in the U.S.A., you can use the widget's Buy MP3 button to purchase a DRM-free MP3 file of the complete track. Unfortunately amazon.com does not sell these MP3s to other countries and to make matters worse, other amazon stores do not stock all of the songs you find at amazon.com. That's a pity, but I cannot change it. Maybe I will add links to non-U.S. shops in the future like I did with the CD offers, but that's many days of work.
Please enjoy the new addition to this site and let me know what you think of it.
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
Recent Entries
Have Mercy! Chuck Berry in the 1970s
Anthony Boy - alternative take found ... accidently
Tokyo Session and Rock Smuk albums for sale
Johnny B. Goode Master equals take 3
First details about the third Hip-O-Select box - Have Mercy, Chuck Berry 1969-1974
Buddy Holly musical includes one of the best versions of 'Johnny B. Goode'
Carolina Bound - not!
Another Winterland 1967 concert at Wolfgang's Vault
Boots! Not shoes!
Live is Live, Shanananana ... or not
Sunday, February 21 2010
Anthony Boy - alternative take found ... accidently
Saturday, February 20 2010
Tokyo Session and Rock Smuk albums for sale
Monday, February 8 2010
Johnny B. Goode Master equals take 3
Saturday, January 30 2010
First details about the third Hip-O-Select box - Have Mercy, Chuck Berry 1969-1974
Monday, January 25 2010
Buddy Holly musical includes one of the best versions of 'Johnny B. Goode'
Thursday, January 21 2010
Carolina Bound - not!
Wednesday, December 2 2009
Another Winterland 1967 concert at Wolfgang's Vault
Friday, October 23 2009
Boots! Not shoes!
Friday, September 25 2009
Live is Live, Shanananana ... or not
Wednesday, September 23 2009
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Copyright and Disclaimer
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© Dietmar Rudolph
No part of this document may be used or published without written consent by the author.
Impressum/Haftungsausschluss/Disclaimer
© Dietmar Rudolph
No part of this document may be used or published without written consent by the author.
Impressum/Haftungsausschluss/Disclaimer
Recent Comments
Sat, 12.09.2009 05:34
Its true that jasper thomas wa s the drummer for chuck [...]
Fri, 31.07.2009 17:21
This version is quite fantasti c ! However, do I get i [...]
Fri, 15.05.2009 11:00
I saw a little piece of this c oncert broadcast in Germ [...]
Tue, 12.05.2009 01:20
Thank You Dietmar and Angie fo r sharing the Fumble wit [...]
Sat, 11.04.2009 09:05
I finally got hold of a copy o f the new amazing '60s b [...]