Chu Berry Commodore sessions

[romualdo]

Can anyone help me with the track timings for the two Chu Berry sessions (Nov 10, 1938 & Aug 28, 1941) from the first Commodore box (123)

There were also two titles (original 78 release versions) on box 134 (Monday At Mintons & Blowin' Up A Breeze) that were omitted from box 123

I'm trying to sort these two sessions out, especially the August one - are there actually 5 versions of Blowin' Up A Breeze?

There was a thread about this back in 2009

[Stereojack]

Can anyone help me with the track timings for the two Chu Berry sessions (Nov 10, 1938 & Aug 28, 1941) from the first Commodore box (123)

There were also two titles (original 78 release versions) on box 134 (Monday At Mintons & Blowin' Up A Breeze) that were omitted from box 123

I'm trying to sort these two sessions out, especially the August one - are there actually 5 versions of Blowin' Up A Breeze?

There was a thread about this back in 2009

As far as I can tell, there are four takes of Blowin' Up a Breeze:

4178 (2:32) master take omitted from box 123, issued on box 134

4178-3 #2 (2:37) box 123

4178-2 #3 (2:40) box 123

4178-? #4 (2:43) misidentified as master take on box 123

There are three takes of Monday at Minton's:

4180 (2:56) master take, omitted from box 123, issued on box 134

4180-2 #2 (2:54) box 123

4180-? #3 (2:59) misidentified as master take on box 123

Actual take numbers for the misidentified takes are not provided. The numbers (#) are given as part of the song titles

Edited April 13, 2011 by Stereojack

[Chuck Nessa]

I made a cdr of the tracks in the first box - here are the times:

Sittin' In 2:13

Sittin' In #2 2:07

Stardust 3:58

Body and Soul 3:55

Forty Six West Fifty Two 2:33

Forty Six West Fifty Two #2 2:30

Blowing Up a Breeze 2:45

Blowing Up a Breeze #2 2:34

Blowing Up a Breeze #3 2:42

On the Sunny Side of the Street 4:00

On the Sunny Side of the Street #2 3:57

On the Sunny Side of the Street #3 5:42

Monday at Minton's 3:01

Monday at Minton's #2 2:56

Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You 4:16

Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You #2 4:19

I don not have the other box.

[brownie]

The Commodore box III has:

Blowin' Up a Breeze 2:32

Monday at Minton's 2:56

The booklet/discography has the following note:

The performances presented as masters for these tunes in Volume I are actually 'Blowin' Up a Breeze No.4' and 'Monday at Minton's No.3'. The real master takes, included here, were last issued in the early sixties on Mainstream. All subsequent issues which claim to carry th master takes of these titles actually have the performances that we are now calling No.4 and No.3.

Edited April 13, 2011 by brownie

[brownie]

All this may look confusing but that's because Mosaic made a mistake in their Commodore box I.

The booklet that announced the release of Volume III and detailed its content had the following note:

The real Chu Berry master takes.

Due to a 30-year old bookkeeping error, all post '61 releases of 'Blowin' up a Breeze' and 'Monday at Minton's' from Chu Berry's 1941 sessions have used alternate takes. The legitimate master takes are, at long last, presented here.

Hope this clears things up!

[romualdo]

Many thanks for all of the information

My brother in law recently found me the complete Commodore Vol1 series as MP3's from a torrent site.

He knew of my interest in the label & downloaded it.

I was a bit wary but had a listen anyway - what a waste!! - all of the files appear corrupted - track times varied greatly from the ones you gave Chuck.

If this series was officially released in digital format, I would snap it up at a moment's notice.