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Ronnie Wood With His Wild Five - Mad Lad: A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry


by Kevin Wierzbicki

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As one of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll and the creator of a unique guitar sound, the late Chuck Berry influenced an untold numbers of rockers; the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix are just a few of the stars that have covered Berry. Now Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood offers up this fun 11-song tribute to Berry, all covers except for the set's opening song, the Wood-penned "Tribute to Chuck Berry." The entire effort is live, and "Tribute to Chuck Berry" is basically what Woody would have said about Berry to introduce the show, except that it is set to music. Rather than fill the set with all of Berry's familiar hits, Wood chooses some lesser-heralded cuts like the instrumental "Mad Lad," the bluesy "Wee Wee Hours" where Wood turns the vocals over to an expressive Imelda May, and the rollicking "Almost Grown." The big hits are here too though; "Back in the USA," the twangy "Little Queenie" and "Rock N Roll Music," again sung by May, among them. There's no video component here so listeners don't know if Wood attempted Berry's famous "duck walk," but whether crying the blues on "Blue Feeling" or rocking out on "Johnny B Goode," Wood captures the spirit of Berry very nicely here

Ronnie Wood With His Wild Five - Mad Lad: A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry

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