Few could have imagined that Fred Rothwell's book, 'Long Distance Information – Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy', which appeared in 2001 (see NDT 219), would ever be surpassed. This remarkable work, which traced Chuck Berry's recording career session by session in amazing detail appeared to be the last word on the subject. But now Morten Reff goes even further in what eventually will be a four-volume reference guide covering every conceivable aspect of Chuck Berry's career and legacy.
Morten is generous in his praise of Fred's book, which is still available from the same publisher. He insists that his Volume 1 supplements rather supplants 'Long Distance Information' and should be read in conjunction with it. Fred's book deals primarily with the when, where of the recording sessions and who played on what. On the other hand, Morten is more concerned with how the end product was released and released, re-released, packaged and repackaged, treated and mistreated across the world. Overdubbing a 'live' audience is just one of the many excesses. Details from the US, the UK and nearly 40 other countries are included. Not only are the 78s, 45s, EPs, LPs and CDs included, but also significant 'various artists' compilations featuring one or more Chuck Berry tracks. The detail is quite staggering with hundreds of reproductions of record labels, sleeves, release details and forthright comments on quality and content. For someone who is so dedicated to Chuck Berry, Morten is refreshingly honest and he certainly doesn't pull any punches. I have the dubious distinction of having written the sleeve notes for what he describes as "Chuck Berry's worst ever UK release" – 'Motorvatin' ' (Magnum Force), an award shared with '16 Rare Performances' (Warwick). But in answer to Morten's query, no, I didn't know what the contents were when I did the notes.
The 486 pages are packed with illustrations – label shots, sleeves, record adverts and various photos of Chuck. There are all sorts of rarities here, from promo releases and exotic foreign pressings to long forgotten TV advertised albums and all sorts of other Berry collectables. Reissues aside, it's intriguing to see just how many different companies issued the Chess recordings around the world. There was Teal (South Africa), Empire (Philippines), Sonet (Norway), Funckler (Netherlands), Gamma (Mexico), Globe (Japan), Down Beat (Jamaica), Barclay (France) and scores of others. Just looking at the numerous alternatives will keep you entertained for hours.
Volume 1 of Morten's directory is the ultimate Chuck Berry discography and apart from being a must for any devotee it is a book that any record collector could happily dip into over and over again. Yet this is by no means the end, the project is ongoing. Comments additions and corrections are invited. Roll on Volumes 2, 3 and 4 – later this year and next.
Harry Dodds, Now Dig This (June 2008)
Phénoménal.
Jukebox Magazine (France, June 2008)
If you're a Chuck Berry completist, or just want to see what they are up against, you have to have this book.
Marc Bristol, Blue Suede News (Summer 2008)
Norwegian superfan Reff has been collecting Berry records for over 40 years, and has parlayed his obsession into the most comprehensive catalogue imaginable. Here you'll find every single, EP and album the rock'n'roller has released in the known world, an achievement made even more impressive by the inclusion of hundreds of pictures of sleeves and dust jackets.
As a work of straightforward reference it may prove invaluable to some, although the addition of market values might have been useful to collectors, as would a critical analysis, or at least some anecdotal information about the recording sessions. Reff plans three further volumes to cover bootlegs, radio promos, TV appearances and subsequent VHS or DVD availability, and even a separate book on cover versions! Precisely how many Chuck fans there are willing to shell out a total of 100 quid for a series of lists remains to be seen.
Terry Staunton, Record Collector (August 2008)
There have been several decent biographies of Chuck Berry down the years, not least his own. George White's Music Mentor imprint then added the definitive work on The Brown-Eyed Handsome Man's recording sessions, with Fred Rothwell's 'Long Distance Information'. If you thought that was as far as you'd need to go, then you reckoned without George and indefatigable Norwegian collector and Berryphile Morten Reff, who have now taken all this a massive stage further with this, the first of four promised volumes which aim to provide 'the ultimate reference guide to all aspects of Chuck Berry's career and legacy', being the result of forty-odd years of collecting and correspondence with fellow Berry fans the world over.
This first volume contains discographies for over forty countries; the second (due about now) will provide similar listings of bootlegs, movies, radio and TV shows, tour dates, roots and influences. etc; the last two will follow next year, and will cover such things as the thousands of covers of Berry songs, hundreds of soundalikes – even non Berry songs with similar titles and goodness knows what else.
For now, though, this opening opus (in the now familiar Music Mentor format of sturdy paperback, with its agreeable balance between price and quality of type and illustration) sets out firmly to produce a companion volume and extension to Rothwell's work, which is fulsomely acknowledged throughout. Where Fred described the who, where and when of the sessions, Morten picks up the baton and investigates where all those recordings ended up – and the journey is fascinating. He and a small coterie of friends seem to have every blessed Berry release – single, EP, CD and LP, plus all anthologies – issued in USA and Europe. This solid first-hand knowledge provides the cornerstone of his listings, filling around half the book, but he then adds every other European and worldwide release he knows about, whilst acknowledging the varying completeness of these and inviting additions to this 'work-in-progress' element. And he doesn't just list them, but adds hundreds of rare labels and covers and exhaustive commentaries on the issues – two pages on what you didn't get in the ostensibly 'complete' Charly box, is just one! There's everything from Filipino 78s to Dutch picture sleeves, to Saudi cassettes – and lest it be thought, 'Who cares about all these?', amongst the countless discographical facts, I even discovered that my own first-ever cover-photos were actually on the Japanese and Taiwan issues of 'Chuck Berry On Stage' in 1964, plus another on a Japanese Globe EP the following year – and this was the first I knew of them, nor have I a clue how they got them, or how I can now get copies. (Anybody?!)
I have hardly put the book down since I got it. Just how far you go with succeeding volumes will depend on your personal level of interest in such esoterica – but I defy anyone remotely interested in Berry, or even rock n roll discography, not to be swept along by this first slab. It is a monumental piece of work and our thanks, as fans, must go to him – and indeed to his wife (yes, he has a wife... mine has nearly shown me the door for much less obsessiveness – sorry, dedication – than this!)
Roll on Volume 2.
Brian Smith, Blues & Rhythm (December 2008)
I expect that most of you reading this are collectors of some kind of music: a particular style, a regional bias, an artist or artists, or selective record labels. Some of you may be termed 'completists', where you seek out every known permutation of your chosen object. Personally, I have been known to collect all the tracks by certain artists, while not particularly fussy about the format (although I still have a love-affair with the humble 45). Having said that, would you set out to collect everything by, say, Chuck Berry?
Morten Reff did, and it's taken him 40 years to come up with this, the first of a 4-volume series of books. It would be easy to assume that the long Norwegian nights have had a bearing on the endeavour, but judging by the content, he's used up all his days as well. This is not merely a discography – it is a near-complete survey of every Berry issue, not just in the USA and UK, but also in a wide range of countries from Argentina to Yugoslavia, some of which are admittedly sketchy, as he has had to rely on other contributors (he has copies of all the US and UK issues in his own collection).
What we have is not just a list of recordings, labels and issue numbers, but full track listings, label and cover shots, and some notes regarding the releases, such as differences in formats, couplings, and other salient comments. An example: 'Poking fun at Beethoven in 1956 when rock'n'roll was still in its infancy was probably okay in the USA, but did not go down so well in Europe, where the song was banned from airplay in several countries including Norway.'
This is a book aimed chiefly at fanatical Berry enthusiasts (not sure how many of them are around), but run-of-the-mill Berry admirers will enjoy flipping the pages to savour the visual aspects of the many illustrations; there are some lovely esoteric labels such as South Africa's Teal or the Filipino Custom Audio, and many picture sleeves like the one of the toppling bust of Beethoven on the Dutch Funckler label (I had to do a double take on that label name!).
Future volumes will cover bootlegs, TV, videos, movies, cover versions of Berry titles, soundalikes, and even karaoke. Can't wait! In the meantime, Mr. Reff should take a well deserved long rest from his labours. Alternatively, he could start a new collection. How about Bo Diddley?
Alan Empson, Juke Blues (Winter 2008)
