Chuck Berry - St. Louis To Liverpool (Chess LP 1488)

Side 1:
01) Little Marie
02) Our Little Rendezvous
03) No Particular Place To Go
04) You Two
05) Promise Land
06) You Never Can Tell

Side 2:
01) Go Bobby Soxer
02) Things I Used To Do
03) Liverpool Drive
04) Night Beat
05) Merry Christmas Baby
06) Brenda Lee

St. Louis To Liverpool (Mega)

St. Louis To Liverpool (Zippy)

1984 European reissue of a Chuck Berry LP which was originally issued in November 1964. After his release from the hoosegow in October 1963, Chuck found that thanks to covers of his hits by The Beatles ("Roll Over Beethoven") and The Rolling Stones ("Come On") and also a near-as-dammit Berry number by The Beach Boys ("Surfin' USA"), he was just as popular as he was before his run in with the law.

Of the tracks on this LP, two were top twenty hits on the Billboard pop chart - "No Particular Place To Go" peaked at number 10 in June 1964 and "You Never Can Tell" made it to number 14 in August 1964. "Promised Land" and "Little Marie" also made the Billboard Hot 100 and there was another top 40 hit for Chuck not included on this LP - "Nadine (Is That You?)" which reached number 23 in April 1964.

Chuck also enjoyed chart success in the UK. "Nadine" entered the UK charts twice in February and April 1964, peaking at number 27, while "No Particular Place To Go" was a big hit, reaching number 3 in May 1964 with its follow-up "You Never Can Tell" reaching number 23 in August 1964 and "Promised Land" peaking at number 26 in January 1965.

This post is the first on the blog to feature mp3s which were ripped by connecting my turntable directly to my laptop via USB, instead of ripping via my amp. I could have picked a better LP to start the new method as "Little Marie" has a weird double tracked vocal and the tracks are a mixture of genuine stereo and electronically rechannelled stereo. However, musically this album is the bees' knees, with "No Particular Place to Go," "You Never Can Tell" and "Promised Land" all deserving their place among Chuck's classic tracks. The rest of this album isn't too shabby either.

Stompin' Volume Three

Side One:
01) Much Later - Jackie Brenston
02) Lookin' For My Baby - Harmon "Hump" Jones
03) I Ain't Guilty - Crawford Brothers
04) Talk To Me Baby - The Table Toppers
05) Bring It On Back - Mister Ruffin
06) Bloody Tears - Johnny Little John
07) A Thing You Gotta Face - Polka Dot Slim
08) I Think You're Lying - Big Daddy
09) Yo Yo Twist - Sherman Evans

Side Two:
01) Twistin' Beat - Phil Flowers
02) Looking For My Baby - Little Papa Joe
03) Beggin' Papa Blues - Freddie Clark
04) Tough Enough - The Bees
05) The Easy Livin' Plan - Rufus Thomas
06) Rock Around The Clock - Wally Mercer
07) Crazy Baby - The Team Mates
08) Trouble Up The Road - Jackie Brenston
09) Calling All Cows - Blues Rockers

Stompin' Volume Three (Mega)

Stompin' Volume Three (Zippy)

Found in a Southside (Glasgow) second hand shop a few months ago. Stompin' is probably the best series of obscure R&B comps out there. Especially recommended are the Stompin' CDs of which there were 34 volumes. They had better sound quality than the vinyl issues and brief but informative notes. All 34 volumes were recently uploaded to Twilightzone so if you search around there you may come up trumps.

Trax Fax

01) Much Later - Jackie Brenston: Much Later / The Mistreater - Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm - Federal 12291 - February 1957

02) Lookin' For My Baby - Harmon "Hump" Jones: Lookin' For My Baby / Pack Your Clothes - Harmon "Hump" Jones - Vision V-200 - April 1957

03) I Ain't Guilty - Crawford Brothers: It Feels Good / I Ain't Guilty - Crawford Brothers - Aladdin 3397 - October 1957

04) Talk To Me Baby - The Table Toppers: Talk To Me Baby / Baby In Blue - The Table Toppers Featuring Little Enis - Klondike 1010 - February 1959. Rockabilly record.

05) Bring It On Back - Mister Ruffin: A Touch Of Heaven / Bring It On Back - Mister Ruffin - Spark 115 - May 1955

06) Bloody Tears - Johnny Little John: Bloody Tears / Just Got In Town - Johnny Little John - T. D. S. 4710, also Weis 3437 - 1968

07) A Thing You Gotta Face - Polka Dot Slim: A Thing You Gotta Face / Ain't Broke, Ain't Hungry - Polka Dot Slim - Instant 3269 - December 1964

08) I Think You're Lying - Big Daddy: Daniel Webster And The Devil / I Think You're Lying - Wynne W-106 - June 1959. "Big Daddy" - real name Frank Brunson

09) Yo Yo Twist - Sherman Evans: Yo Yo Twist / If I Should Die - Sherman Evans with Cruz Ortiz and the Flames - Manco ML1049 - July 1963

10) Twistin' Beat - Phil Flowers: Twistin' Beat / I Need You Baby - Phil Flowers with The T.N.T. Tribble Combo - Domino 500 - 1962

11) Looking For My Baby - Little Papa Joe: Looking For My Baby / Easy Lovin' - Little Papa Joe - Blue Lake 116 - January 1956. "Little Papa Joe" - real name Jody Williams

12) Beggin' Papa Blues - Freddie Clark: Begging Papa Blues / Got The Blues - Freddie Clark - Nestor N-14 - 1955

13) Tough Enough - The Bees: Oh Yes / Tough Enough - The Bees - Finch 7321 / 7322 - 1962

14) The Easy Livin' Plan - Rufus Thomas: The Easy Livin' Plan / I'm Steady Holdin' On - Rufus "Bearcat" Thomas With The Bearcats - Meteor 5039 - November 1956

15) Rock Around The Clock - Wally Mercer: Rock Around The Clock / Don't Wait Till Tomorrow - Wally Mercer - Dot 1099 - 1952. Side received airplay in Atlanta, May 1952 and charted locally.

16) Crazy Baby - The Team Mates: Sincerely Your Friend / Crazy Baby - Charlie Jester and The Team Mates - Lanar 102 - August 1962

17) Trouble Up The Road - Jackie Brenston: Trouble Up The Road / You Ain't The One - Jackie Brensten (sic) w Ike Turner & Orch. - Sue 736 - January 1961

18) Calling All Cows - Blues Rockers: Calling All Cows / Johnny Mae - Blues Rockers - Excello 2062 - September 1955

Etta Jones Sings (King LP 707)

Side 1:
01) Sweethearts On Parade
02) You Call It Madness But I Call It Love
03) Mountain Greenery
04) Don't Worry About Me
05) Sposin
06) I Thought About You

Side 2:
01) I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key
02) Since I Fell For You
03) When I Fall In Love
04) White Cliffs Of Dover
05) People Will Say We're In Love

Etta Jones Sings (Mega)

Etta Jones Sings (Zippy)

Thanks to Marv for this reconstruction of the 1960 King LP "Etta Jones Sings" which was a reissue of the 1957 King LP 544 "The Jones Girl ... Etta Sings Sings Sings."

All tracks on this LP were recorded in New York City on the 18th and 20th April 1957 for what were Etta's only sessions for King.

Session details - 18th April 1957, NYC. Personnel: Etta Jones (vocal) with: Jerome Richardson (tenor sax, flute); Don Abney (piano); Bill Jennings (guitar); Tommy Potter (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums):

People Will Say We're In Love; When I Fall In Love; Sposin; Mountain Greenery.

20th April 1957, NYC. Personnel as above except Skeeter Best replaced Bill Jennings on guitar:

Don't Worry About Me; White Cliffs Of Dover; Sweethearts On Parade; You Call It Madness; I Thought About You; Since I Fell For You; I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key.

The collection was reissued in May or June 1960 as"Etta Jones Sings" (King LP 707). On June 21st of that year Etta recorded the tracks for her first Prestige LP "Don't Go To Strangers" (Prestige 7186) which was released in October and sold well. Even more successful was the single release of the title track "Don't Go To Strangers" / "If I Had You" (Prestige 180) in early September which soon climbed the R&B chart and then crossed into the pop chart, peaking at number 36 in December 1960.

This success for Etta on Prestige is probably what lay behind the rerelease in 1961 of her King LP with a new cover -

The success of  "Don't Go To Strangers" also led to King releasing her LP tracks on a series of singles, beginning with "When I Fall In Love" / "People Will Say We're In Love" (King 5424) in November 1960. The rest of the tracks were released on 45s as follows:

"Sweethearts On Parade" / "You Call It Madness But I Call It Love" - King 5443 - January 1961

"Since I Fell For You" / "Sposin'" - King 5475 - March 1961

"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" / "I Thought About You" - King 5501 - May 1961

"Mountain Greenery" / "White Cliffs Of Dover" - King 5549 - September 1961

"I Thought About You" / "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw away The Key" - King 5660 - July 1962

While King was releasing Etta's 1957 recordings from late 1960 - 1962, her new material was being released on LP and single on Prestige, with whom she recorded until February 1963.

Thanks once again to Marv. This was an education for me as I was unfamiliar with the work of Etta Jones. Her recording career stretched all the way from the mid 1940s Harlem swing scene to her final recordings for Muse in 1995. Her career definitely bears further investigation, but that lies outwith the scope of this post.

Wild, stompin' R&B coming up in the next post on Be Bop Wino!