tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post8714826176782844676..comments2024-02-06T16:17:25.826+00:00Comments on THE GRØNMARK BLOG: Farewell, Chuck Berry - the rock 'n' roll giant who never seemed to understand just how great he wasScott Gronmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-2695049466324146202017-03-24T14:45:39.756+00:002017-03-24T14:45:39.756+00:00Your hearing (or sense of rhythm) must be a lot be...Your hearing (or sense of rhythm) must be a lot better than mine, because I can't detect a problem (and I had my right ear syringed yesterday morning, so there). Chuckles might very well always have been right on the beat - but didn't always play the right notes, as this unreleased version of "House of Blue Lights" demonstrates:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUot93KxO7E<br />Pity, because it could have been great. Just to prove I'm also a train-spotter, my favourite clunker on a released recording is the one at 2'24" on Smiley Lewis's "Blue Monday", when the lads were evidently starting to flag:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc-Clo2IdHg<br />Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-23373231071847952952017-03-23T23:57:16.268+00:002017-03-23T23:57:16.268+00:00Yes, the feel and flare of the Johnnie Allan versi...Yes, the feel and flare of the Johnnie Allan version is great but when the drummer and accordion get out of sync at around 1.10 it just makes you appreciate Chuck's unfailing sense of time and rhythm.ex-KCSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-2603215497554222082017-03-23T18:54:03.070+00:002017-03-23T18:54:03.070+00:00I bet it would have been a straight A if I hadn...I bet it would have been a straight A if I hadn't missed the double period when Frank covered Berry's poetic technique. <br /><br />We're in complete agreement regarding the merits of Johnnie Allan's superb version of "The Promised Land" - I once wrote, "Johnnie Allan’s Cajun version of “Promised Land” is the best of all the studio covers. I know this is sacrilegious, but I think it’s better than the original." Still my view, five years on. If you've got a few minutes to spare, I once came up with a list of the best covers of Berry songs - I think the links all work:<br />http://scottgronmark.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/chuck-berry-cover-versions-are-best-of.html Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-67887262792250188722017-03-23T17:44:52.727+00:002017-03-23T17:44:52.727+00:00A-? Scott, as Frank might have had it! And as a fu...A-? Scott, as Frank might have had it! And as a further treat we have the simply belting Cajun version by Johnnie Allan.MartinDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-78986226483570620682017-03-23T14:34:55.452+00:002017-03-23T14:34:55.452+00:00May I start by saying how proud The Grønmark Blog ...May I start by saying how proud The Grønmark Blog is to welcome a member of the oppressed Intertextual community to these humble precincts. <br /><br />The lyrics to "The Promised Land" are - in my opinion - the finest in all rock music: <br /><br />"We had motor trouble, it turned into a struggle,<br />Half way 'cross Alabam',<br />And that 'hound broke down and left us all stranded<br />In downtown Birmingham."<br /><br />Trouble/struggle, hound/down/town - clever. Then there's the sense of headlong propulsion - "...rode him past Raleigh", "riding cross Mississippi", "midnight flyer", "through train ticket", "smoking into New Orleans", "rollin' cross the Georgia state". Then there's all the specifics that make the journey seem so real - "ninety miles out of Atlanta", "thirteen minutes", "Tidewater four ten O nine", "Workin' on a T-bone steak à la carte". Then there's the switch from active to passive mode when friends in New Orleans have to help him "get out of Louisiana" by practically throwing him onto a plane: "they bought me a silk suit, shoved luggage in my hand" - and his sense of exhilaration when he wakes up to discover that he's "high over Albuquerque, on a jet to the Promised Land", all ending in a couplet full of relief, triumph and hope: " Tell the folks back home this is the Promised Land callin'/ And the poor boy's on the line." Only Jerry Leiber came close to matching him - and, unlike Chuck Berry, all he had to worry about was writing the lyrics!Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-21148488414666476242017-03-23T08:10:13.946+00:002017-03-23T08:10:13.946+00:00How very dare you suggest that it is an illness. A...How very dare you suggest that it is an illness. And we demand separate toilets! MartinDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-26949873282332873332017-03-22T23:43:22.112+00:002017-03-22T23:43:22.112+00:00Can intertextuality be cured by prayer?Can intertextuality be cured by prayer?David Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12345636878071983416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-5504864592152066472017-03-22T21:59:18.423+00:002017-03-22T21:59:18.423+00:00I too remember Little Richard's Widow Twankey ...I too remember Little Richard's Widow Twankey act at Wembley; an attempt to cut down his rival's time on stage? For me one of the really special things about Chuck Berry was the unsurpassed quality of his writing. He conjured up ' The Promised Land' particularly by recording proper names...a coolerator, a souped up Jitney, straddling that Greyhound, a Roebuck sale. ( very weirdly John Betjeman did something similar in ' Executive'!) Chuck had 'been to Yokohama' and missed the skyscrapers and freeways. He celebrated Americanism in a way The Kinks celebrated Englishness. (Enough intertextuality, Ed.) MartinDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-82592271678625360102017-03-22T19:07:18.429+00:002017-03-22T19:07:18.429+00:00Yes, he was good at Wembley - so were Bill Hayley ...Yes, he was good at Wembley - so were Bill Hayley and Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis, and I think Berry was helped by a dreadfully misjudged bout of over-the-top campery from Little Richard, who was evidently off his tits on some heavy-duty substances, and got booed by the assembled Teds for poncing around. <br /><br />Mine would be Run Rudoph Run, Little Queenie, Memphis Tennessee, Jo Jo Gunne and Johnny B. Goode - then Oh Carol!, Nadine, Downbound Train, Sweet Little Sixteen and Brown Eyed Handsome Man. Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-69778102925518730352017-03-22T18:49:36.500+00:002017-03-22T18:49:36.500+00:00I rather fear my book-writin' days are behind ...I rather fear my book-writin' days are behind me, ex-KCS - but thanks for the suggestion. <br /><br />I remember Bruce Springsteen telling a nice story about his high school band once backing Chuck Berry for free. At one point of during the 45-minute set (no encores, ever) Sir Chucklesworth turned to them and said, "Play for that money, boys!", which left Springsteen wondering, "What money?" In a nutshell.Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-47083215686809100042017-03-22T18:45:18.460+00:002017-03-22T18:45:18.460+00:00Thank you, SDG!Thank you, SDG!Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-18380278916797973162017-03-22T02:24:54.520+00:002017-03-22T02:24:54.520+00:00Agreed. By far the best piece or obituary I've...Agreed. By far the best piece or obituary I've read. <br />When The Crickets Played The Apollo because the promoters assumed they were black, a lone female voice yelled mock-threateningly that they better sound like their record. They did. <br />It sounds a trifle churlish but this could not always be said of Mr. Berry who often allowed the bottom line to take a bite out of his legacy where live performances were concerned.Mostly his backing bands were not up to it. Mind you Wembley in Aug. 1972 was pretty good.<br />Fortunately his recordings were up to the mark and beyond. <br />I was idly wondering what my top five would be. In no particular order: <br />Memphis Tennessee, Havana Moon, You Never Can Tell, Go Go Go, Run Rudolph Run. southern mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-79409205777848828092017-03-22T00:34:55.324+00:002017-03-22T00:34:55.324+00:00A great post. I was waiting for your tribute. I ag...A great post. I was waiting for your tribute. I agree with SDG and it just confirmed to me that you must write the book on 1950s rock and roll, half of which is already archived somewhere in the vaults of your blog. You won the Brexit argument, nothing to see here, stop fretting about the BBC and just get on with it. <br /><br />In one of my many unsuccessful attempts to get a band going, I once played with a bassist who was constantly rather a lot more than a fraction behind the beat. He just couldn't get it but he was persistent and had a decent amp. For financial reasons, Chuck's touring band was usually rapidly assembled on the cheap when he arrived in town and that is how several of the worst musicians ever to grace a stage ended up being able to say "Yeah, well, y'know, when I was in Chuck Berry's Band..."<br /><br />ex-KCSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-47369368279003537892017-03-21T22:39:05.939+00:002017-03-21T22:39:05.939+00:00The best tribute to the Great Man that I have read...The best tribute to the Great Man that I have read so far. Thanks.SDGnoreply@blogger.com