Chuck Berry in the '60s: 1969

Concerto In B Goode - the last gasp at Mercury, Chuck's supposed try at psychedelia (this time the cover suggests heavy rock'n'roll-ing. Get it straight, Mercury art department!).

Can't find any of the 4 blues tracks on side one on YouTube, but side B is the 18 minute instrumental title track.

It's like the 1964 record with Bo Diddley, but with a wah-wah and some more echo.
Hmm, don't think I need to hear that one twice.

1969:The road back to Chess

But before he got back to Chess, Chuck played a raw, back to basics set at the september 1969 Toronto Peace Festival. The set was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker and was issued and re-issued on many budget sets through the years. I got it on this 3CD compilation Live And In The Studio, which according to websites in the know has the full concert. At 62 minutes, it's a good 15 minutes longer than the video in any case.

It just goes to show how important production is. From listening to the cd, I got a really heavy vibe, all overloaded guitar signals clashing and drowning out bass and drums, who're hanging on for dear life. It sounds pretty aggressive. I could imagine John Lennon seeing this and finding validation for the direction he was going in towards Plastic Ono Band. There's a stretch in there ('Nadine' - 'School days' -'Wee wee hours' - a 9 minute medley 'Johnny B Goode / Carol / Promised land' - 'Hoochie Coochie man') which is thrilling. Of course there's also the 10 minute version of 'My ding-a-ling' (again? Yes, again, Chuck's bleeding this one dry 'till it hits). On the whole, despite sound quality issues, I was ready to declare Chuck back in the game based on this set.

The video's got a much smoother sound, and these guys don't look all that threatening. Strange, but images can burst the best musical illusion. I'm actually kinda disappointed that I found it. But it's the same concert.

On dec 22, 1969 the first studio session of Chuck's new Chess contract took place. On the program was 'Tulane', Chuck's new single. By this point, you may have gotten tired of another not-quite-classic rock'n'roll nugget. We've heard this one several times before during the '60s. But I'm not tired of it. Yeah, it's the same song, but the harp gives it a slightly different feel, more '60s relaxed Lovin' Spoonful than '50s blues Muddy Waters.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.
A good line to end the story of Chuck Berry in the '60s on.