Chuck Berry took to the studio in Chicago on this date 60 years ago to record his first single for Chess Records...a little number called "Maybellene." It was a hit, reaching no. 5 on the singles charts, but more importantly, it's often cited as the starting place for rock 'n' roll, more so than any other song. Berry may have been one of the first to break from the blues into rock 'n' roll but he took something from his guitar forbearers, mixing things up live and not being afraid to toy with the formula, even for one of his most famous songs. Music Times looked through Berry's catalogue and found five different versions of "Maybellene" that have been dropped on official live releases.
Chuck Berry On Stage (1963)
If you put this LP on a turntable and turn it on, you might be amazed at just how accurately Berry manages to translate his first hit to a live audience. It seems as if the guitarist is hitting everything, including the solo, note-for-note. You wouldn't be wrong. In fact, this is a studio recording of "Maybellene" from Chess Records. The Chess brothers were, if anything, good at making money. Therefore they logicked that, rather than making an actual live album with one of their star performers, why not just take his original studio recordings and add overdubs of applause and cheers? And they did just that. If you listen carefully, you'll note just how sharply the screams from the audience rise and fall when he begins the iconic hook, as if a real audience would simply fade to black during the verses (which are fairly iconic in their own right). Needless to say, this wouldn't be the Chuck Berry live experience we would recommend. Interestingly, Geffen would later rerelease the album with bonus instrumental tracks...you know something's up when a "live" performance comes with instrumental versions of the same hits.
Chuck Berry Live in Concert (1978)
It's interesting to note how musicians choose to include or dis-include hits from their live sets...Berry released two other live albums following On Stage—Live at The Fillmore Auditorium and The London Chuck Berry Sessions (both actually live this time)—neither of which happened to include "Maybellene" ("Johnny B. Goode" had become his go-to single soon after the release of "Maybellene"). We've got proof that his performance on Chuck Berry Live In Concert was real, thanks to the video you can watch below. The record was released in 1978, nine years after Berry had performed at the Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival during 1969 (yes...rock revival movements have been going on since the genre was invited). Berry has more fun onstage, not quite duckwalking but getting real low during his solo, before finishing up the final verse in call-and-response fashion...his voice calls and his guitar responds.
Alive and Rockin' (2000)
We're somewhat blessed in this day and age: Not only have we realized that any given live music performance could become iconic, we also have the technology to record nearly all of it. Unfortunately, outside of jazz, very few club shows from the '50s and '60s were given the chance to be enjoyed by later generations, and Chuck Berry as much as any artist could have used more live exposure. The Alive and Rockin' set attempts to offer a new look at hits such as "Maybellene" by taking master recordings from live TV and radio performances but, either due to bad recording technique or bad mastering on behalf of the label that released this collection, the quality is shoddy at best.
Chuck Berry Live! (2001)
When you've got as deep a discography as Chuck Berry has, sometimes you can still bust out the hits without wasting too much time on them. The solution is to make a medley—play little bits of numerous songs so that your fans can't totally complain (rappers have increasingly turned to this method as well, due to the increasing popularity of guest verses and those guests not being in attendance to perform them live). Blues and rock 'n' roll have always been the best for medleys because the songs can easily be bridged by improvised solos or segues, so the shift from one to the other isn't as awkward as it could be. The song that Berry most often liked to package "Maybellene" with was "Mountain Dew," an Appalachian folk song that had long since been adapted for the electric guitar ("mountain dew" was a reference for moonshine long before it became a successful soft drink franchise). Berry opens with his hit before going old-school, cramming it all into less than three minutes on this 1983 recording.
Live Goode! (2005)
You've got to be wary when buying live Chuck Berry albums. Almost half of the live albums bearing Berry's name feature the same 1969 Toronto festival appearance featured on the aforementioned Chuck Berry Live in Concert. Live Goode! also came from a 1969 Toronto recording—from where we can't tell for sure (no "Goode" music hall seems to have existed in the city, suggesting it's just referencing his hit of the same name)—however you can tell from the acoustics of the recording that its made in an actual music club, and not an open-air stadium as was the case in the more popular Toronto recording. All we know is that Berry goes back to leading off his set with "Maybellene" for this concert, resulting in it being a touch more aggressive than during his stadium performance.
