Sunday, February 26, 2012

I'm going crazy, out of my head.....



I've written before about New Orleans artist Chuck Johnson. Unfortunately, information on the man is still non-existent.....and I still have a big question concerning his discography which apparently can only be solved by hunting down another 45. That is, unless someone out there can tell me if the recordings on Booker 301-Chuck Johnson "The Way You Treat Me/Your Little World" are the same as those released on C&E 400???

C&E 401 is one of Johnson's records I've bought just to flesh out my understanding of the discography. I had heard that it contained re-cut versions of two songs initially recorded for the Invicta label, but wasn't sure if that was the truth having never heard the original 45.

And yeah, that's exactly the case. Johnson re-recorded both tunes several years later. Possibly even ten years [?] later. The dating on the Invicta 45's is basically unknown. Certainly the man's voice is much lower on the C&E release.

The interesting thing here is that this song didn't exactly grab me the first time around. But repeated listenings [for comparison sake] have made me quite fond of both versions. Johnson was obviously a very talented piano player and I've mentioned before how much I like his voice.

So, here they are, both versions of "Trying Hard To Forget"......the first off of Invicta 509, the second off of C&E 401. Admittedly obscure choices, but I hope ya'll enjoy nonetheless.....


8 comments:

  1. I really like the Invicta version. For whatever that's worth ;-)

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    1. I prefer it myself Holly, however I do appreciate the production values of the second version. Very sophisticated for someone so little known.

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  2. >The dating on the Invicta 45's is basically unknown

    Invicta 509 can be dated based on the Dover (pressing) info : 193-891, where 193 if the Dover client account (same as Booker and Big Bee) and where 891 is the pressing number.

    The nearest number i've found in my Dover list is #877(Ace 667, reviewed in Billboard on October 26, 1963).

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers

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    1. Thank you Bob, that info is very helpful. I didn't think to associate Booker/Invicta releases with Dover. Basically, this confirms what I've thought all along, that Johnson's Invicta releases date from the mid-sixties.

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  3. Lot of info on the Booker label here http://www.justmovingon.info/LABELS/Booker.html

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    1. Indeed, I've had a copy of that discography on my desktop for at least a year. As you can see, the records are listed sequentially by issue number, however, there is little or no evidence to show that they were actually issued in that order.

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    2. I should point out that virtually all Booker 45s are rare as hens teeth and I doubt very much that any one person has ever seen them all. For my part, I'm fairly certain that some of the lower numbered secular releases date from the late sixties-early seventies.

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  4. Hi ana-b, just a crazy thought....

    earlier this year I heared about a old geezer that collected old records and has a website called 'www.record-rama.com'. Perhaps he can be helpful in your search for answers.
    Or if you make him an offer, you can buy his entire collection (I know I would, but sadly I'm no millionair). Greetings from Holland

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