335 Ambulance Chaser Special Edition

iseverynamegone

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252822813864 ;

I found a note , literally the week he passed...

Rox

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fandango

"This listing (252822813864 ) has been removed, or this item isn't available."

Had to enter the item number in Fleabay's search box to get a .... gosh that is opportunistic.

iseverynamegone

That was quick. 67 335 which when he was setting it up  found a note under the truss cover saying " to Chuck Berry " £20K.  

Evilmags

Chuck bought a guitar each year and sold the previous one (at a profit). 

ICBM

Evilmags said:

Chuck bought a guitar each year and sold the previous one (at a profit). 

That sounds like his attitude to money and guitars…

I think it's in the Keith Richards film when Berry is arriving at Heathrow, he's at baggage reclaim and a Gibson case comes bouncing down the conveyor - Berry grabs it and starts to walk off without even looking at it. The interviewer says something like "Do you always travel like this? What would happen if your guitar got broken?" Berry looks like he thinks it's the stupidest question ever and replies "I'd buy another one."

english_bob

ICBM said:

Evilmags said:

Chuck bought a guitar each year and sold the previous one (at a profit). 

That sounds like his attitude to money and guitars…

I think it's in the Keith Richards film when Berry is arriving at Heathrow, he's at baggage reclaim and a Gibson case comes bouncing down the conveyor - Berry grabs it and starts to walk off without even looking at it. The interviewer says something like "Do you always travel like this? What would happen if your guitar got broken?" Berry looks like he thinks it's the stupidest question ever and replies "I'd buy another one."

Legendarily too tight to pay for a proper band either, so would roll up with his guitar (cash up front from the promoter or no show) and lead a band of local players with no rehearsal, and generally be a dick to them. Interesting thread at TGP:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/anyone-else-play-in-chuck-berrys-pickup-band.1756189/#post-22843567

richardhomer

In the interests of balance, a friend of mine who owned a guitar shop was picking up a hire car in LA when he was over for the NAMM show and found himself sitting next to Chuck Berry. He was a massive fan and eventually plucked up the courage to ask, "Mr Berry, Sir - would it be possible to have your autograph, please?" 

Berry fixed him with a steely gaze, then gave him a big smile and said, "Sure!"

ICBM

richardhomer said:

In the interests of balance, a friend of mine who owned a guitar shop was picking up a hire car in LA when he was over for the NAMM show and found himself sitting next to Chuck Berry. He was a massive fan and eventually plucked up the courage to ask, "Mr Berry, Sir - would it be possible to have your autograph, please?" 

Berry fixed him with a steely gaze, then gave him a big smile and said, "Sure!"

Remember that - assuming your friend is white - when Berry was young, it would have been unheard of for a white man to call him 'Mr", let alone "sir"… and I doubt he ever forgot it in later life, which may explain some of his legendary attitude.

english_bob

richardhomer said:

In the interests of balance, a friend of mine who owned a guitar shop was picking up a hire car in LA when he was over for the NAMM show and found himself sitting next to Chuck Berry. He was a massive fan and eventually plucked up the courage to ask, "Mr Berry, Sir - would it be possible to have your autograph, please?" 

Berry fixed him with a steely gaze, then gave him a big smile and said, "Sure!"

Yeah, there are a few fan stories on the TGP thread too, and all about how Chuck was nice to them. Seems it was bands and promoters he didn't like. 

My favourite from TGP was the guy who approached him and asked "say, aren't you... Bo Diddley?"  

english_bob

ICBM said:

Remember that - assuming your friend is white - when Berry was young, it would have been unheard of for a white man to call him 'Mr", let alone "sir"… and I doubt he ever forgot it in later life, which may explain some of his legendary attitude.

Definitely. I was amazed (although on reflection I probably shouldn't have been) to find that the Beatles were still expected to play to segregated audiences on their first American tour. 

Apparently Chuck used to have bad experiences with promoters back then too- he "sounded white" on the radio (presumably because he used big words and made jokes in his lyrics, I don't know...), and got booked on that basis. On several occasions promoters were unhappy when a black man turned up to play these lucrative Chuck Berry gigs.

ICBM

english_bob said:

Apparently Chuck used to have bad experiences with promoters back then too- he "sounded white" on the radio (presumably because he used big words and made jokes in his lyrics, I don't know...), and got booked on that basis. On several occasions promoters were unhappy when a black man turned up to play these lucrative Chuck Berry gigs.

It happened here too. Jazz bandleader Chris Barber often brought American performers over to play with his band in the UK, and booked them into hotels who had no idea who they were… and didn't like it when Barber showed up with a black person.

On the 'sounding white' subject, when I was a kid my grandmother was a fan of country singer Charley Pride… it was only much later that I found out he was black.

fandango

Evilmags said:

Chuck bought a guitar each year and sold the previous one (at a profit). 

So, Chuck Berry a serial flipper. Who'd have known, eh?

Fretboard scoop.

english_bob

ICBM said:

On the 'sounding white' subject, when I was a kid my grandmother was a fan of country singer Charley Pride… it was only much later that I found out he was black.

I know I was a bit dismissive of the idea in that last post, but I think you do build a mental picture of what a person looks like when you hear them sing or speak that might turn out to be inaccurate (Mrs_bob did this quite recently with Rory "Rag 'n' Bone Man" Graham, who turned out to be much whiter, British-er and fatter than she thought), and what makes a person sound the way they do is going to be a combination of their physical features and cultural influences.

Chuck (who didn't have the stereotypical black facial features) was from a middle class background in a majority-white city that wasn't in the south, and sang about cars and high school with a fairly sophisticated vocabulary. Many of his black contemporaries, even if they lived in Chicago or some other big urban centre, were still singing about farming or cotton picking and being down on their luck with the accents and vocabulary of majority-black southern working class rural communities. You can see how people got the impression they did. Still, it's a long way from "you don't look like I imagined you did" to "you aren't going to be playing for these white kids".

richardhomer

ICBM said:Remember that - assuming your friend is white - when Berry was young, it would have been unheard of for a white man to call him 'Mr", let alone "sir"… and I doubt he ever forgot it in later life, which may explain some of his legendary attitude.

I'm sure you're right - my friend is a very gentle, respectful sort of person - and in fact had an image of Chuck duck-walking with a Gibson ES350 in his shop's logo. I suspect he came across very sincerely - and it seems CB recognised that.

Basher

I just liked the idea....

Ancient_Mariner

english_bob said:

ICBM said:

Evilmags said:

Chuck bought a guitar each year and sold the previous one (at a profit). 

That sounds like his attitude to money and guitars…

I think it's in the Keith Richards film when Berry is arriving at Heathrow, he's at baggage reclaim and a Gibson case comes bouncing down the conveyor - Berry grabs it and starts to walk off without even looking at it. The interviewer says something like "Do you always travel like this? What would happen if your guitar got broken?" Berry looks like he thinks it's the stupidest question ever and replies "I'd buy another one."

Legendarily too tight to pay for a proper band either, so would roll up with his guitar (cash up front from the promoter or no show) and lead a band of local players with no rehearsal, and generally be a dick to them. Interesting thread at TGP:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/anyone-else-play-in-chuck-berrys-pickup-band.1756189/#post-22843567

I have a film on DVD of Chuck Berry in concert with what looks like a scratch band (of all white guys) and the other guitar player is using a Les Paul that has the legendary 'wasp in a beercan' sound when ever he's given an opportunity to be heard. I've always wondered who these guys were and why they were playing with him.

ICBM

Ancient_Mariner said:

I have a film on DVD of Chuck Berry in concert with what looks like a scratch band (of all white guys) and the other guitar player is using a Les Paul that has the legendary 'wasp in a beercan' sound when ever he's given an opportunity to be heard. I've always wondered who these guys were and why they were playing with him.

Because, wouldn't you? He was a living legend, and the chance to be on stage with him trumps the desire to be paid much (or anything sometimes, apparently) or treated decently. If I'd been in the position I would have done it too, even knowing that. Not sure I would do it twice though .

english_bob

ICBM said:

Ancient_Mariner said:

I have a film on DVD of Chuck Berry in concert with what looks like a scratch band (of all white guys) and the other guitar player is using a Les Paul that has the legendary 'wasp in a beercan' sound when ever he's given an opportunity to be heard. I've always wondered who these guys were and why they were playing with him.

Because, wouldn't you? He was a living legend, and the chance to be on stage with him trumps the desire to be paid much (or anything sometimes, apparently) or treated decently. If I'd been in the position I would have done it too, even knowing that. Not sure I would do it twice though .

I reckon it would have been challenging, but fun. Simple chord progressions, but in odd, un-announced keys and in a random order. Watch the bandleader (who is- or was- a pretty good boxer) at all times for the emphatic foot-down "stop" gesture.