Chuck Berry’s First No. 1’s A Real Stinker, Plus…

Another remarkable day in the studio with The Fab Four -- Chuck Berry goes horribly wrong -- A legendary guitarist has a birthday (and boy, is this guy cool) -- Suck up the tasty goodness of your Wednesday Rocktober 21st Coffee Break Calendar...

10/21/1965 (55 years ago today) - The boys wanted to improve upon a previous session, so they started from scratch: The Beatles end up finishing a new song called "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" in just three takes! They also start work on a new John Lennon song with the working title "Nowhere Man". Both songs in the same afternoon!?!? It's unreal, that's what it is. Meanwhile, you'll notice the boys' metamorphisis is well underway here:

10/21/1972 (48 years ago today) - The bar has just gotten noticeably lower: Chuck Berry starts a two week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "My Ding-A-Ling". How sad and pathetic is this fact: it is Chuck's only U.S. and U.K. No. 1, 17 years after his first chart hit. "Maybelline" went as high as No. 3 in 1955, spending 11 weeks in the R&B Top 10, so it is not unreasonable to say that the decline in quality of product is heart-breakingly vomit-inducing. Ugh. See for yourself:

10/21/1941 - Happy Birthday to guitarist Steve Cropper, 79 years old today -- Steven Lee is probably best known for his licks with Stax records house band Booker T. & The M.G.'s ("Green Onions", "Time Is Tight"), but a quick check on the number of landmark classic American recordings that feature his guitar work is positively breathtaking: "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" - Otis Redding, "Soul Man" - Sam & Dave (and later with The Blues Brothers), "In The Midnight Hour" - Wilson Pickett, "Knock On Wood" - Eddie Floyd, plus session work with John Lennon, Jose Feliciano, Tower Of Power, The Jeff Beck Group, Sammy Hagar, Ringo Starr and many, many, many, many more. The point, we think, has been made...

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"Take your time, don't hurry/Leave it all 'til somebody else lends you a hand...", xoxo!