The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog

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.