Various Artists - Covered: Chuck Berry, Volume 3: 1977-2017

This is the third and last of my "Covered" albums highlighting the songwriting of Chuck Berry.

I've said pretty much all I wanted to say with my post for the first album. I'll just add some comments relevant to this album.

One problem with Berry's own recordings is that there isn't a lot of variety from song to song. He had a successful formula and he stuck with it. It was rare when he would vary things up with a slow blues or a country song or the like. But one nice thing about listening to covers of his songs is that you naturally get more variety.

That's especially true on this album. It seems that as the years passed and straight rock and roll fractured into more sub-varieties, covers of Berry songs became less common, but also more adventurous.

Perhaps the best song to exemplify this is Peter Tosh's reggae version of "Johnny B. Goode." This is one of my favorite cover versions of all time. It takes the song to a totally different place, yet remains true to the spirit of the original. I said in a previous post that the only song I included two versions of was "Johnny B. Goode," mostly because this version is so very different. (I also included Jimi Hendrix's version on the second album.)

By the way, the Joe Jackson and Larkin Poe versions are officially unreleased. But in terms of sound quality, I think they sound as good as the rest.

01 [You Can Never Tell] C'Est La Vie (Emmylou Harris)
02 Tulane (Steve Gibbons Band)
03 It's My Own Business (Dave Edmunds)
04 Back in the U.S.A. (Linda Ronstadt)
05 Come On (Joe Jackson)
06 Oh What a Thrill (Rockpile)
07 Johnny B. Goode (Peter Tosh)
08 Havana Moon (Santana)
09 Wee Wee Hours (Eric Clapton)
10 13 Question Method (Ry Cooder)
11 Move It (George Thorogood)
12 Little Queenie (Bruce Springsteen)
13 No Particular Place to Go (Larkin Poe)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15833380/CoveredChuckB_1977-2017_Volum3_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo dates to 1984.