| "Nadine (Is it You)?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Chuck Berry | ||||
| B-side | "O Rangutang" | |||
| Released | February 1964 | |||
| Recorded | November 1963 | |||
| Studio | Chess (Chicago) [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:34 | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer(s) | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess | |||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Nadine (Is It You?)" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry. It was released as a single in February 1964 and was the first music that Berry released after finishing a prison term in October 1963.
After his December 1959 arrest under the Mann Act, Berry eventually served a one-and-a-half-year prison term, from February 1962 to October 1963, for transporting a girl, age 14, across state lines. He had not released a single since "Come On" in October 1961.
"Nadine" was recorded at a November 1963 session at the Chess studio in Chicago, his first after his release from prison. Another song from that session, "You Never Can Tell," would also be released as a single. [2]
The composition resembles Berry's first hit, "Maybellene," similarly featuring lyrics about pursuing a girl, though in "Nadine" the pursuit is not by car but on foot and by taxi. As Berry told Melody Maker , "I took 'Maybellene' and from it got 'Nadine.'" [2]
As William Ruhlmann of Allmusic writes, the lyrics are distinguished by an "unusual use of similes," such as: She moves around like a wayward summer breeze; Moving through the traffic like a mounted cavalier; and I was campaign shouting like a Southern diplomat. [3]
The song was released in February 1964 as a single on Chess (catalogue #1883), backed with "O Rangutang". [4] It peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the R&B chart, and #27 on the UK Singles Chart.
According to Allmusic, the song had a "profound influence" on the songwriting of Bob Dylan: "One need only listen to 'Nadine (Is It You?)', released in February 1964, and then to the 1965 Dylan album Bringing It All Back Home , with its surreal story-songs, to hear the similarities." [3]
Cash Box described it as "a hard-driving, rhythmic pop-blues tear-jerker essayed with authority and feeling." [5]
In the 1987 documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (in which Berry performs "Nadine"), Bruce Springsteen praised the song's lyrics. Springsteen singled out the lines, I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back / Started walking toward a coffee-colored Cadillac. "I've never seen a coffee-colored Cadillac, but I know exactly what one looks like," Springsteen says in the film. [6]
The song has been recorded by numerous artists including Steve Forbert, John Hammond Jr., Kevin Dunn, Waylon Jennings, Billy Boy Arnold, Dion, George Thorogood, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Juicy Lucy, Dire Straits, George Benson, Michael Nesmith, Motörhead, Dicky Lee, Stan Ridgway, and The Seldom Scene. [7] Rory Gallagher 1978 Loreley 1982
Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by American musician Chuck Berry. Released as a single, it peaked at number two on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart.
"Back in the U.S.A." is a song written by Chuck Berry that was released in 1959 and was a top 40 hit. A cover version in 1978 by Linda Ronstadt was also a hit.
"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records single, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to be as respected as classical music. The title of the song is an imperative directed at the composer Ludwig van Beethoven to roll over out of the way and make room for the rock and roll music that Berry was promoting. The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Beatles and the Electric Light Orchestra. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 97 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"Maybellene" is a rock and roll song by American artist Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune "Ida Red". Released in 1955, Berry’s song tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing a man driving a V8 Ford and chasing his unfaithful girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe DeVille. It was released in July 1955 as a single by Chess Records, of Chicago, Illinois. Berry's first hit, "Maybellene" is considered a pioneering rock and roll song. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of it, "Rock & roll guitar starts here." The record was an early instance of the complete rock and roll package: youthful subject matter; a small, guitar-driven combo; clear diction; and an atmosphere of unrelenting excitement.
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956.
After School Session is the debut studio album by rock and roll artist Chuck Berry, released in May 1957 by Chess Records. With the exception of two tracks, "Roly Poly" and "Berry Pickin'", all selections had been previously released on 45 rpm singles. It is the second long-playing album released by the Chess label.
"Getcha Back" is a song written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher for the American rock band the Beach Boys, on their 1985 album The Beach Boys. It was the band's first release since the drowning death of Dennis Wilson in 1983. The song peaked at number 26 nationally and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"School Days" is a rock-and-roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry and released by Chess Records as a single in March 1957 and on the LP After School Session two months later. It is one of his best-known songs and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.
"You Never Can Tell", also known as "C'est La Vie" or "Teenage Wedding", is a song written by Chuck Berry. It was composed in the early 1960s while Berry was in federal prison for violating the Mann Act. Released in 1964 on the album St. Louis to Liverpool and the follow-up single to Berry's final Top Ten hit of the 1960s: "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell" reached number 14, becoming Berry's final Top 40 hit until "My Ding-a-Ling", a number 1 in October 1972. The song performed slightly better in Canada, and also reached the Top 40 in the United Kingdom.
"Memphis, Tennessee", sometimes shortened to "Memphis", is a song by Chuck Berry, first released in 1959. In the UK, the song charted at number 6 in 1963; at the same time Decca Records issued a cover version in the UK by Dave Berry and the Cruisers, which also became a UK Top 20 hit single. Johnny Rivers's version of the song was a number two US hit in 1964.
"Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released by Chess Records in September 1956 as his fifth single. It was also released as the third track on his first solo LP, After School Session, in May 1957; and as an EP. The single reached number four on Billboard magazine's Most Played R&B In Juke Boxes chart, number 11 on the Most Played R&B by Jockeys chart and number seven on the R&B Top Sellers in Stores chart in the fall of 1956.
"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is a rock and roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, originally released by Chess Records in September 1956 as the B-side of "Too Much Monkey Business." It was also included on Berry's 1957 debut album, After School Session. The song title was also used as the title of a biography of Berry.
American rock and roll musician Chuck Berry's discography includes 20 studio albums, 12 live albums, 31 compilation albums, 50 singles, 8 EPs, and 2 soundtrack albums.
"Wee Wee Hours" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry in 1955. Originally released as the B-side of his first single, "Maybellene", it went on to become a hit, reaching number 10 in the Billboard R&B chart.
"The Promised Land" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. It was released as a single in Europe, backed by another song from Darkness on the Edge of Town, "Streets of Fire", the third single from the album after "Badlands" and "Prove It All Night". "The Promised Land" was also included on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen. The song has been a staple of Springsteen's live shows since 1978, and has been included on several concert albums and videos. The live album Live/1975–85 includes a 1985 performance of "The Promised Land" from a concert in Los Angeles, California. A performance of the song from a 2003 concert in Barcelona is included on the Live in Barcelona video. A June 28, 2009 live performance in London from the Working on a Dream Tour was included on the London Calling: Live in Hyde Park DVD. The box set The Promise contains video of three live performances of "The Promised Land", a 2009 performance from the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey, without an audience, a 1978 performance from a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and another 1978 performance from a concert in Houston, Texas. Darren Hanlon covered "The Promised Land" on Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool. Eddie Vedder has also covered this song live.
"Cadillac Ranch" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen that was first released on Springsteen's 1980 album The River. In 1981 it was released as a single in Europe, backed by "Be True" in France and by "Wreck on the Highway" in the UK. Although it was not released as a single in the US, it did reach #48 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. A favorite in concert, a live version was included on Live/1975–85. A version was also included on the documentary film Blood Brothers.
The Born in the U.S.A. 12" Single Collection is a box set of 12" singles from the album Born in the U.S.A. by rock artist Bruce Springsteen. It was released in the UK in 1985 courtesy of CBS Records to help promote the Born in the U.S.A. album. It originally came with a poster of Springsteen and a bonus 7" single previously unreleased in the UK. It contains all the singles from Born in the U.S.A. except for "My Hometown" and "Born in the U.S.A." All songs written by Springsteen and mixed by Bob Clearmountain except where noted.
"Reelin' and Rockin'" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry. It was originally recorded in 1957 and released as the B-side of "Sweet Little Sixteen".
"No Money Down" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry in December 1955. The recording session at Universal Recording Corporation was organized by Chess Records following the success of "Maybellene" and "Wee Wee Hours" singles the same year. "No Money Down" was first released as a single in January 1956, with "Down Bound Train" on the B-side, reaching number 8 in the Billboard R&B chart. The song was later included into Chuck Berry's 1957 album After School Session.
