VLVL2 (15): The Great South Coast Plaza Eyeshadow Raid

[Dave Monroe]

"... though more than once she'd been called on for
muscle, notably during the Great South Coast Plaza
Eyeshadow Raid, still being talked about in tones of
wounded bewilderment at security seminars nationwide
..." (VL, Ch. 15, pp. 327-8)

Okay, being in the bidness, maybe this episode is far
more entertaining to me than it is to the rest of you,
but ... well, I won't belabor it, so ...

"It felt like being bionically speeded up, like Jaime
Sommers, barreling through a field of slo-mo
opposition ...." (VL, Ch. 15, p. 328)

... but I've always been fascinated by the equation,
slow motion = fast action.  Yeah, I know, the idea is,
how slow everything seems from a bionic reference
frame, the implication that, were bionic movement NOTR
slowed won, it'd be too fast for us even much to
perceive, but ... brilliant, Orwellianly so ...

"The tune coming out of the speakers as the girls all
dispersed into the evening happened to be a sprightly
oboe-and-string rendition of Chuck Berry's
'Maybellene.'" (ibid.)

In May, 1955, with an introduction from Waters, Berry
went to Chicago to audition for Leonard Chess in hopes
of landing a recording contract.  Berry thought his
blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but
to his surprise it was the hillbilly "Ida Red" that
got Chess' attention. Chess, a great blues label, in
recent years had seen its market shrink and was
looking to move beyond the rhythm and blues market and
Chess thought Berry might be that artist that could do
it. So on May 21, 1955 Berry recorded, "Ida Red"
renamed "Maybellene," the name taken from a line of
cosmetics, with Johnny Johnson, Jerome Green (from Bo
Diddley's band) on the maracas, Jasper Thomas on the
drums and blue legend Willie Dixon on the bass.
Johnson's piano playing, the heavy drums and maracas
and Berry's lead style gave Maybellene the hard rhythm
and blues feel that balanced the country elements.
Maybellene reached the pop charts and #1 on the rhythm
and blues charts. 

To help get airplay Chess gave a copy of the record to
the influential disc jockey Alan Freed.. In return
Freed and his associate Russ Fratto were given
two-thirds of the writing credits, something that
Berry was unaware of until the song was released and
published. Freed aired the single for two hours on
WINS in New York. The song went on to sell over a
million copies, reaching #1 on Billboard's R & B chart
and #5 on the Hot 100. 

http://www.history-of-rock.com/berry.htm

And see as well ...

http://www.chuckberry.com/music/lyrics.html#maybellene

http://www.maybelline.com/


	
		
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