Name me a guitarist who didn’t think they’d conquered the world once they’d mastered a Chuck Berry lick. There must be one, possibly two. Somewhere.
Rock & roll might would have been a very different scene without the man. From most accounts he wasn’t a nice man. His iconic sliding double note guitar riffing can be heard in Robert Johnson, his famous duck walk originated with T-Bone Walker. Hell, they reckon his piano player Johnnie Johnson really wrote ‘Johnny B Goode’.
But putting the package together in one man was marketing genius. And it took true genius to keep delivering the goods consistently.
The trouble is, once everyone gets to grips with the tricks of Berry’s trade, they think they can start bettering the originals. Dismissing the real thing as being quaint, and of its time. That’s bull of course.
And so, one comes to Mike Zito’s most recent record with some trepidation, it being a cover of some 20 songs made famous, and mostly hits, for the late Chuck Berry.
It’s called a tribute, but as Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?” The fact that Zito invited a host of other artists to play on this generally means it’s going to sound like all those other all-star jams where it looks good on paper but doesn’t play well, or it’s well-intentioned but frankly boring.
The truth of the matter is, they live up to the spirit of that word “tribute”. The songs are what count, and in most cases the presentations on this record remind us just how clever, fun, and downright horny some of those songs really are.
For the list of guest guitarists involved alongside Zito there’s less grandstanding than you’d expect. It’s about interpreting the songs for the most part, and enjoying playing them. There’s also an unexpected Cajun feel to most of this record, and that’s at least in part got to be down to the main band that guitarist/vocalist Mike Zito has used on all the tracks – Terry Dry on bass, Lewis Stephens – Keyboards, and Matthew Johnson drums and percussion
Since there’s going to be few people reading this that aren’t vaguely familiar with most of the songs, my descriptions are going to be brief, so too the guest contributor. What I’ll do is list the tracks in the order they appear on the record and attempt to sum up what’s been brought to the table or left off in each case.
‘St. Louis Blues’ saunters in to start things off with a smooth Cajun rock groove and a comfortable swing. Fittingly, it features Charlie Berry III. Shifting up a gear but in the same mood, with added horns and a pleasing female harmony courtesy of Joanna Connor is ‘Rock And Roll Music’.
‘Johnny B Goode’ hollers out like it should. A song that’s become overused and abused by the great and the good as well as every bar band going. Here Zito and Walter Trout share vocals as well as guitar licks and sounds like they had a whole lot of fun doing so.
‘Wee Wee Hours’ features Joe Bonamassa, thus the balmy slow blues with guitars set to crush and destroy; scaling and wailing as they play throughout this long rendition, is not unexpected. I will add that it has a great vocal delivery by the guys, and while it may not be for purists anyone who dug the original Jeff Beck Group’s debut back in the 60s wouldn’t be too disappointed with this.
On safer ground ‘Memphis’ featuring Anders Osborne returns us to that Cajun groove, veering being mild-mannered and subtle. Where Ryan Perry jumps on board for ‘I Want To Be Your Driver’ that go-go raving and sexual to its very core (Thank you, God). ‘You Never Can Tell’ with Robben Ford is mild-mannered rock & roll with a slight experimentation in its arrangement, and while I’m not entirely sure that works you actually find yourself listening to the story in the song more. There’s a strong vocal delivery, with horns blowing away in a blues swing arrangement of ‘Back In The USA’ with Eric Gales.
‘No Particular Place To Go’ with Jeremiah Johnson is possibly most faithful rendition of the originals on this record. However, maybe it’s because of vocal exchanges going on that you listen more carefully to the lyrics, and in this self-conscious world we live in we’re asking was it mutual consent to get in the back of the car? In the words of David Coverdale, “Would I lie to you… just to get into your pants?”
It’s the vocal exchanges and later the same with guitar solos from Zito and Luther Dickinson that draw your attention with ‘Too Much Monkey Business’. ‘Havana Moon’ features Sonny Landreth and I don’t think I know the song. The South American rhythm this has is not what I’d expect Berry to play, but then we haven’t reached the last track yet.
‘Promised Land’ features Tinsley Ellis and is faithful if a little bolshy, ‘Down Bound Train’ with Alex Skolnick) is evocatively West Coast styled with haunting, jazz rock guitar virtuoso displays, while Richard Fortus joins for a blues shouting version of ‘Maybellene’ that’s heavy on the snare with an upbeat kick throughout.
The opening guitar riff to ‘School Days’ is an unmistakable sound but when a female voice perks up I the shape of Ally Venable – She adds fey innocence and sexual allure of the kind that’s again probably downright wrong for this day and age, but you keep on listening regardless. The outro musical scenario where the guitar duel then duet work well too.
‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’ is another bopping Cajun story song with Kirk Fletcher and Josh Smith playing along, Tommy Castro’s turn comes on ‘Reelin’ And Rockin’ that actually doesn’t rock as much as the original, but rather rolls with the blues, and it’s another one where you can hear the co-vocalists having fun. There’s a nice guitar attack when Jimmy Vivino joins in for ‘Let It Rock’, and it’s Albert Castiglia’s turn on ‘Thirty Days’ – A wild bopping rock ‘n roll boogie with a little gospel in the vocals near the beginning and more like a hell of a party after a drunken night out on the tiles by the end. Rather gloriously so.
It ends with ‘My Ding A Ling’ and a guest appearance from Kid Andersen. I woke up one Christmas morning as a nipper to discover Father Christmas had left me and my brother a little gramophone player and some singles. Chuck Berry’s hit single of this being one of them. Today you’d be in therapy if your mother had purchased this. Maybe we were just made of different stuff back then. It’s a comedy song littered with innuendo. This version? It has a Christmas party feel, and I guess it’s best to end on a celebration like that but it’s the weakest song on the record.
So, a little light-hearted Cajun rock? This has got it. The tracks featuring females stand out, not least because of how they interpret some acceptable-for-their-time misogynistic lyrics. Guitar fireworks? Try ‘Wee Wee Hours’ but more so ‘Down Bound Train’. Surprisingly, this works, mostly, both as a tribute and something you want to play for its own enjoyment.
