How about Sarasota, Florida!!!
The Van Wezel..

Glad I didn't make the drive from Santa Barbara for this gig...sounds like exactly what I was expecting. Love em while they're on stage...but they'll be gone in a flash. At least LR didn't complain for 30 minutes about people taking pictures like he did at the Doheny Blues Festival several years ago.

BTW...whatever happened to that new record Chuck was blabbing about several years ago? Much like his live performance, it too was gone in a flash.

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Who's Driving Your Plane?
How about Sarasota, Florida!!!
The Van Wezel..

Same thing holds true. There just needs to be enough fan interest the promoters start smelling money like a Shark smells blood or hears thrashing.

CBII

To CBII

Charles, do you know whatever became of Chuck's Gibson 350ET from 1955-56? Was it stolen? Did Chuck have to give it up during a difficult period?

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Carnaby
To CBII

Charles, do you know whatever became of Chuck's Gibson 350ET from 1955-56? Was it stolen? Did Chuck have to give it up during a difficult period?

He has them both (yes both) to this day. The one with P-90's is tucked away and the one with the PAF's is on display at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis.

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CBII
Hopefully, you will get to see the regular core band behind him.

Yes, I was comforted at the thought that Chuck would be up next with his core group and was kinda dissapoitned when the curtain unveiled the "hired" group, sans Jim of course. Any reason why you and the rest of the band weren't there Thursday?

On a technical question, Charles, I've always been curious why Jim's style doesn't include playing that normal blues bass line that is so commonly used in these songs (both LR's and CB's) but rather he plays the root note in kind of couplets? (not sure on the technicality) Perhaps it's just personal preference/style but I often wondered if this was every discussed or mentioned within the band or with Chuck. Not a huge deal but at times I do miss it...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-08-29 03:27 by Justin.

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CBII

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Carnaby
To CBII

Charles, do you know whatever became of Chuck's Gibson 350ET from 1955-56? Was it stolen? Did Chuck have to give it up during a difficult period?

He has them both (yes both) to this day. The one with P-90's is tucked away and the one with the PAF's is on display at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis.

Thank you!! Do you have ANY idea what a mystery that has been in the world of collector guitars? And all I had to do was ask... Did Chuck consider using them in the movie Hail! Hail! ?

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Justin

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CBII
Hopefully, you will get to see the regular core band behind him.

Yes, I was comforted at the thought that Chuck would be up next with his core group and was kinda dissapoitned when the curtain unveiled the "hired" group, sans Jim of course. Any reason why you and the rest of the band weren't there Thursday?

On a technical question, Charles, I've always been curious why Jim's style doesn't include playing that normal blues bass line that is so commonly used in these songs (both LR's and CB's) but rather he plays the root note in kind of couplets? (not sure on the technicality) Perhaps it's just personal preference/style but I often wondered if this was every discussed or mentioned within the band or with Chuck. Not a huge deal but at times I do miss it...

My father likes the root note for the bass line. The main reason is due to the incredible volume on stage. I'll match a Dualshowman rig with ANY Marshall, Hywatt or anything else for sheer sound pressure levels. Dad is from the era before stage monitors and still has everything on 11. With that being the case, Jimmy doing much more than the Root stuff will get lost in the shuffle. Don't get me wrong, the stuff Willie Dixon was doing on the original recordings is simply fantastic however, it just comes down to being able to hear the bottom line beat.

Jimmy is really an excellent bass player and guitarist. He's played in many bands over the years. During the sound checks we all get to clown around and play anything that comes to mind. When the show is on, we have to cater to the needs of our front man.

Believe me dude, we all wanted to go. The adrenaline was still on full tilt after the shows in Brazil and in Columbia Missouri. Alas, that's the way the cards were dealt.

CBII

Charles, a big THANK YOU for that info...now that is some VERY valuable info about Chuck and his preferences. VERY COOL!

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Justin
Charles, a big THANK YOU for that info...now that is some VERY valuable info about Chuck and his preferences. VERY COOL!

No problem man.

CBII

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Carnaby

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CBII

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Carnaby
To CBII

Charles, do you know whatever became of Chuck's Gibson 350ET from 1955-56? Was it stolen? Did Chuck have to give it up during a difficult period?

He has them both (yes both) to this day. The one with P-90's is tucked away and the one with the PAF's is on display at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis.

Thank you!! Do you have ANY idea what a mystery that has been in the world of collector guitars? And all I had to do was ask... Did Chuck consider using them in the movie Hail! Hail! ?

I don't think he wanted to use either one of them. As I remember Keith Richards brought a 350T for my dad to play but dad went with the ES-355 instead. That same 350T became the guitar Eric Clapton used during his part of the show. Eric's work on Wee, Wee Hours made the ground shake.

He still has a few of the old original ES's but most of them literally wore out, had broken necks, got run over by a Cadillac (very true story), were destroyed in fires at Berry Park and one or two were traded in for newer ones. The one that really stands out as a real loss was his one and only Les Paul. It burned when the house caught fire at Berry Park in 1969. Some guy said he had it a couple of years ago but dad said that's impossible, it was fried.

He still plays the wine red 78 ES-355 he bought new here in St. Louis. That thing is beat to death and is missing parts (the tone knobs) however, it has a tone that is the closest match to the 58 - early 60's models with PAF's I have ever heard in my life. He's played other guitars off and on over the past 31 years, but the guitar that defines his sound since 78 is that particular 355.

There's a 350T with PAF's on the market here in town. With the economy being so bad right know it's going for dirt and I'm really thinking about picking it up. Not that I'll be able to play it, it's just a really cool guitar and is 100% original.

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CBII
He will go where ever they ask him to play.

Very interesting, CBII. Can you tell us a bit more at what drives your dad at his respectfull age to still play so many shows in the US and even Europe?
I find it fascinating that those guys keep on going, very cool!

Cheers,
Wuudy

It's all he knows. Back in the fifties it was playing two or maybe three times in the same night for 200 days straight or more. The touring schedule stayed like that seemingly forever. For the longest, it was that same pace the only difference being a single show per day 99% of the time.

At this point in the game, he's still wants to play but is more selective in where. If he accepted every offer that came in he'd be at the same pace B.B. King is playing which is an ungodly 150 shows a year. He did around fifty or sixty shows in Europe and Brazil last year. There were a bunch more public and private shows here in the US.

I guess it really just comes down to he still loves to do it and would not know what to do with himself if he stopped. I can't ever see him voluntarily stopping, its become part of his nature.

CBII

CBII, thanks for being so open about this stuff. Really fascinating. I'm sorry if I'm prying, but can I ask: Does your dad listen to music nowadays? If so, what? Does he have an iPod or have any views on downloading music?

Thanks very much

Patrick

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Guitarshredder41
CBII, thanks for being so open about this stuff. Really fascinating. I'm sorry if I'm prying, but can I ask: Does your dad listen to music nowadays? If so, what? Does he have an iPod or have any views on downloading music?

Thanks very much

Patrick

Oh yes, lots of music. Mainly its the music of his youth, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan stuff like that. Dad is in the twenty first century and does have a solid state music player with plenty of music on it.

As far as downloading music it's fine as long as it's paid for. Most artists are in agreement on this one. In my opinion the unpaid downloading of music is a tough one. Yes, the artists should be compensated for the efforts however, in the case of Youtube, the fact there's a bunch of documentary footage created by fans for fans to view it’s actually created higher demand for concert tickets.

I've been told by people at shows they had no idea my father was still touring or for that matter even STILL ALIVE until they saw a clip on Youtube. Talk about free product marketing! There's so much material from the tour of Brazil earlier this month it's kind of hard to imagine. The most recent clip is from Sao Paulo with him playing my green metal flake Strat. The video and audio quality are both horrible, by the end of the day there will be one posted that's nearly perfect.

CBII



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-08-30 19:37 by CBII.

Oppsie

CBII



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-08-30 19:33 by CBII.

thanks very much CBII!

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CBII

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Carnaby

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CBII

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Carnaby
To CBII

Charles, do you know whatever became of Chuck's Gibson 350ET from 1955-56? Was it stolen? Did Chuck have to give it up during a difficult period?

He has them both (yes both) to this day. The one with P-90's is tucked away and the one with the PAF's is on display at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis.

Thank you!! Do you have ANY idea what a mystery that has been in the world of collector guitars? And all I had to do was ask... Did Chuck consider using them in the movie Hail! Hail! ?

I don't think he wanted to use either one of them. As I remember Keith Richards brought a 350T for my dad to play but dad went with the ES-355 instead. That same 350T became the guitar Eric Clapton used during his part of the show. Eric's work on Wee, Wee Hours made the ground shake.

He still has a few of the old original ES's but most of them literally wore out, had broken necks, got run over by a Cadillac (very true story), were destroyed in fires at Berry Park and one or two were traded in for newer ones. The one that really stands out as a real loss was his one and only Les Paul. It burned when the house caught fire at Berry Park in 1969. Some guy said he had it a couple of years ago but dad said that's impossible, it was fried.

He still plays the wine red 78 ES-355 he bought new here in St. Louis. That thing is beat to death and is missing parts (the tone knobs) however, it has a tone that is the closest match to the 58 - early 60's models with PAF's I have ever heard in my life. He's played other guitars off and on over the past 31 years, but the guitar that defines his sound since 78 is that particular 355.

There's a 350T with PAF's on the market here in town. With the economy being so bad right know it's going for dirt and I'm really thinking about picking it up. Not that I'll be able to play it, it's just a really cool guitar and is 100% original.

Man, I thought that solo Clapton did in that song was one of the best solo's he's ever done! The 2nd show (the one that ended up in the film). I remember the first show, was a good solo, the second one pretty much the same and he stepped back and your dad kind of motioned for him to keep going, so he stepped forward again and just unleashed!

Wished they would've filmed a lot of the music between the actual planned performances, Etta James singing, with your dad, Keith, Clapton, Robert Cray, all up there jamming and taking turns doing solos, good stuff. Again, that was the 2nd show, I don't remember any of that during the first show.

Thank you, CB11, for all that interesting information!

How does your father decides if plays with his usual back up band or new `'hired hands`'?

Cheers,
Wuudy

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Wuudy
Thank you, CB11, for all that interesting information!

How does your father decides if plays with his usual back up band or new `'hired hands`'?

It's been a mystery to me too. Coin toss maybe?

CBII

I am the drummer you were not happy about. Sorry, but i was told to keep it very simple because i had a 50% chance of being fired on stage! So i played as simple as i could. As far as loudness, ok i could have played a bit louder, yes but again i was constantly thinking i might be fired any minute if i dont play the song as rehearsed.
Again, i was very happy at the end because......I DIDN'T GET FIRED, which evidently was a normal thing for the Chuck backup bands.
By the way, i am still playing the drums at age 64 and still loving it!

OP:

I have heard that there is a strict time limit on concerts in most casino showrooms and auditoriums, usually 90 minutes.

I'm just happy that I got to see Chuck Berry play - only once, but I treasure the moment.

Pretty amazing that the drummer of that show turns up ten years after

I missed this thread on its first go-around...some fascinating information here. And thanks are in order once again to Charles for his input. It's an honor to have him here.