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.

Chuck Berry - Berry Is On Top

Side 1:
01. Almost Grown
02. Carol
03. Maybelline
04. Sweet Little Rock & Roller
05. Anthony Boy
06. Johnny B. Goode

Side 2:
01. Little Queenie
02. Jo Jo Gun
03. Roll Over Beethoven
04. Around And Around
05. Hey Pedro
06. Blues For Hawaiians

Berry Is On Top (Mega)

Berry Is On Top (Zippy)

Originally issued as Chess LP 1435 in June 1959. The John Sippel sleevenotes on the back cover are the notes which appeared on the original issue. "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" was originally titled "Sweet Little Rock And Roll" on its single release.

There are quite a few classics on this LP but I would class "Hey Pedro" and "Blues For Hawaiians" as filler and not killer! The rest? Rock 'n' roll, baby, rock 'n' roll.

Traxfax

Maybellene - recorded on May 21st 1955. Chuck Berry (guitar, vocal) with Johnnie Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Jasper Thomas or Ebby Hardy (drums); Jerome Green (maracas).

Released on Chess 1604 b/w "Wee Wee Hours" in July 1955.

Roll Over Beethoven - recorded on April 16th, 1956. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Johnnie Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums).

Released on Chess 1626 b/w "Drifting Heart" in May 1956.

Johnny B. Goode - recorded on 29th or 30th December, 1957. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Lafayette Leake (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums).

Released on Chess 1691 b/w "Around And Around" in April 1958.

Around And Around and Blues For Hawaiians - recorded on February 28th, 1958. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar, dubbed 2nd guitar) with unknown piano, electric bass, drums.

Around And Around - released on Chess 1691, B Side of "Roll Over Beethoven" in April 1958.

Blues For Hawaiians not released on single.

Carol and Hey Pedro recorded on May 2nd, 1958. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Johnnie Johnson (piano on "Carol"); George Smith (bass); Ebby Hardy (drums).

Both sides released on Chess 1700 in August 1958.

Anthony Boy, Jo Jo Gun, Sweet Little Rock And Roll, were recorded on 28th September, 1958. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Johnnie Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums) with possibly Bo Diddley (2nd guitar).

Sweet Little Rock And Roll / Jo Jo Gun - released on Chess 1709 in October 1958.

Anthony Boy / That's My Desire - released on Chess 1716 in January 1959.

Little Queenie - recorded in January 1959. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Johnnie Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums); possiby Bo Diddley (2nd guitar).

Release - see below.

Almost Grown - recorded on February 17th, 1959. Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with Johnnie Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums); Harvey and The Moonglows (vocal group).

Almost Grown / Little Queenie released on Chess 1722 in March 1959.

Chuck Berry - Rockin' At The Hops

Side 1:
01. Bye, Bye Johnny
02. Worried Life Blues
03. Down The Road A Piece
04. Confessin' The Blues
05. Too Pooped To Pop
06. Mad Lad

Side 2:
01. I Got To Find My Baby
02. Betty Jean
03. Childhood Sweetheart
04. Broken Arrow
05. Driftin' Blues
06. Let It Rock

Download from here:

http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/alj2WaGy/file.html

Let's mark the recent passing of Chuck Berry with this 1980s reissue of his 1960 LP "Rockin' At The Hops." His own compositions "Let It Rock," "I Got To Find My Baby," and "Bye Bye Johnny" are classics but what I especially like about this album are the revivals of older 1940s blues and boogie material which demonstrate where Chuck's personal tastes lay. So enjoy Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues," The Will Bradley Trio's "Down The Road A Piece," Johnny Moore and the Three Blazers' "Driftin' Blues," and Jay McShann and Walter Brown's "Confessin' The Blues." Cool renditions from the Chuckster.

Track details:

Too Pooped To Pop, Betty Jean, Childhood Sweetheart, Broken Arrow, Let It Rock were recorded in Chicago on July 29th, 1959. Personnel: Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar) with L.C. Davis (tenor sax); Johnny Johnson (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Fred Below (drums); The Ecuadors (vocal group)

Bye Bye Johnny, Worried Life Blues, I Got To Find My Baby, Driftin' Blues were recorded in Chicago on February 12th, 1960. Personnel: Chuck Berry (vocal, guitar); L.C. Davis (tenor sax); unknown other saxes; Johnny Johnson (piano); Matt Murphy (guitar); Willie Dixon (bass); Eddie Hardy (drums); unknown vocal group

Down The Road A Piece, Confessin' The Blues, Mad Lad were recorded in Chicago on April 12th, 1960. Personnel same as on February 12th 1960 session.

This LP was originally released as Chess LP 1448 in July 1960.

Single releases of tracks:

Childhood Sweetheart / Broken Arrow, Chess 1737, September 1959
Let It Rock / Too Pooped To Pop ("Casey"), Chess 1747, January 1960
Bye Bye Johnny / Worried Life Blues, Chess 1754, May 1960
I Got To Find My Baby / Mad Lad, Chess 1763, August 1960

Rock on, Be Bop Winos!

Around The Clock Battle - Wynonie Harris v Big Vernon

Wynonie Harris: Around The Clock Blues, Parts 1 and 2:

Philo 103, recorded in Los Angeles in July, 1945.

Personnel: Wynonie "Mr Blues" Harris (vocal) accompanied by Johnny Otis' All Stars - Teddy Edwards (tenor sax); Lee Jones (piano); Stan Morgan (guitar); Bob Kesterton (bass); Johnny Otis (drums). Also at session but not audible on these sides - Howard McGhee (trumpet).

"Big Vernon": Around The Clock Parts 1 and 2:

Stag 508, recorded in San Francisco in November, 1947.

Personnel: "Big Vernon" (Joe Turner) vocals; Pete Johnson (piano).

In our previous post we looked at the possible origins of "Around The Clock" in Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me" from 1922. The Wynonie Harris two parter on Philo (soon to become Aladdin Records) kicked off a series of cover versions by Jimmy Rushing (with Johnny Otis), Numa Lee Davis (with Russell Jacquet), Willie Bryant, Pearl Traylor (with Howard McGhee) and "Big Vernon" who was Big Joe Turner going under a pseudonym.

"Well, sometimes I think I will,

 Yes, and sometimes I think I won't,

 Sometimes I think I will,

 Yes, and sometimes I think I won't,

 Sometimes I believe I do,

 And then again I believe I don't."

This introduction to the Wynonie version will be familiar to rock and roll fans - Chuck Berry used it in his recording of "Reelin' And Rockin'" which I guess is a continuation of the "Around The Clock" theme, only with the activity described now being dancing at the teen hop. Times and audiences had changed by 1958.

So to our battle of the blues - Wynonie v Big Vernon. Who is the winner? Wynonie with his jazz band backing or Joe with just his old cohort Pete Johnson bangin' the boogie on the keyboard? You decide!

Okay, I can't resist getting back to Chuck, so here is "Reelin' And Rockin'" recorded at the end of 1957, with Lafayette Leake on piano, Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums. The target audience is now high school hop teenagers and not the drunken reprobates who constituted Wynonie's record buying public. But Chuck being Chuck he manages to work in a sly

"I looked at my watch, and to my surprise,

 I was dancin' with a woman that was twice my size"

In 1972 Mr Berry recorded a live version at a gig in England. This time "Reelin' And Rockin'" was restored to the pantheon of "Around The Clock" as Chuck tore through a no holds barred description of a sexual marathon of truly staggering proportions. Here's the 1957 version suitable for the kids, ripped from a vinyl copy of the "One Dozen Berrys" LP:

Chuck Berry: Reelin' And Rockin':

It's half a century and a world away from Trixie Smith ...