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Post by Buck on Mar 21, 2017 13:41:01 GMT
When SWU played Generation and backed Chuck Berry, I thought BB King looked old, but he must have been in his early forties or younger. Chuck Berry probably wasn't 40 yet.
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Post by duckbarman on Mar 21, 2017 14:11:01 GMT
Regarding the possibility that BOC once shared a stage with Chuck Berry (on 1 Sept 1972 in Annapolis), I just heard this from Joe Bouchard: I distinctly remember opening a show in a tin roofed pavilion on the Maryland shore. True to legend Chuck pulled up in a rented car and got his guitar out of the trunk. He sat on the rear of the trunk and talked to people very casually. (He must have gotten his money already.)
We played our set which was very good. Then Chuck took the stage with the pick-up band. He played his set of CB standards. I remember he played his current hit my Ding-a-Ling for a half hour. We'll it seemed like it. But he entertained the crowd very well.
I thought we could have backed him up much better than whoever they had play with him. But as soon as it was over Chuck got into the rented car and drove away. Bruce Springsteen tells a similar story about backing up Chuck in a tin roofed gig on the Maryland shore. It might have been Springsteen, but I'm not sure.
Yeah the date sounds about right. :-)Also, Eric Bloom has said he remembered Chuck doing "My Ding-a-Ling" at the gig, so it looks like this on the face of it, strange-seeming double-bill definitely happened.  |
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Post by markus on Mar 21, 2017 17:44:01 GMT
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Post by sirrastus on Mar 21, 2017 18:24:57 GMT
My Ding-A-Ling seemed like it went for a half hour too LOL.Originally called Toy Bell in the early 50's it morphed into the crowd pleasing My Ding-A-Ling.
BTW Nice Johnny B Goode the other night in memorium.
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Post by Buck on Mar 22, 2017 11:53:35 GMT
I remember that gig. It was as reported, down to Chuck showing up in a rental car with only his guitar, and leaving as soon as he was done.
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Post by duckbarman on Mar 22, 2017 15:22:48 GMT
I really like that you could get such pretty diverse acts on the same bill back in those days - BOC sharing a bill with the likes of Ike & Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Byrds, Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker etc etc - it doesn't seem to happen so much nowadays... Actually, I suppose when you boil it down, BOC and Chuck Berry aren't that diverse, not really - it just probably seems like it - incidentally on his radio show last night, Albert picked up his guitar and played/sang the original version of Tattoo Vampire which he said was "a Chuck Berry inspired rip-off"... By the way, Albert talked a lot on that show about the Generation gigs, and I loved the way he described what it was like getting up to do the short set that the SWU did of their own material at that first gig (prior to the Chuck Berry part) - they had to come on after an ecstatically well-received BB King set to a somewhat suspicious and slightly hostile crowd: "We were pretty nervous - we were going like holy f*ck, BB King just tore the crap out of this crowd - they're going crazy - he played three encores, and now we gotta go up and do our lame white boy's sh*t..." However, Les managed to get them on side, from all accounts, and the SWU part of the set went pretty well... just one more gig on my "Wish I'd been there to see it" list... (it's a long list)... |
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