Albatross

[BklynBlue]

Fascinating that no one has ever brought this up. I admit that I was unaware of the Berry piece, or that he ever recorded a number playing a pedal steel guitar.

Berry was of course hugely influential on any number of Green’s contemporaries, Keith Richards most prominent, and John Lennon, but also, to a lesser degree, Clapton and Jeff Beck. Of the early rock ‘n rollers, Green always mentioned Little Richard as his favorite and of course performed a number of his songs during the Fleetwood Mac years.
But just because he never performed any Chuck Berry songs (that were captured on tape), doesn’t mean he did not know, or enjoy them.
Berry was heavily influenced by T-Bone Walker, who was also a model for Green’s personal favorite, B.B. King.

‘Deep Feeling’ was the B-side of ‘School Day (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)’ released in 1957 – the A-side is a classic, and it is easy to imagine an eleven year old Green enjoying Berry’s alliterative rhyming verse describing a typical school day and the joy and release found in playing songs on a jukebox when it was over.
The number was also released on a U.K. LP in 1964, called “The Latest and The Greatest”.

We will most likely never know where, or even if Green had heard ‘Deep Feeling’, but I believe that he did, and it lodged itself in his subconscious, and then was recalled when he began composing his own number.
I don’t believe that he “used” Berry’s piece as a foundation, in the way that he took Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Look Who’s Talkin’’ for ‘I Loved Another Woman’ or the coda from Otis Rush’s ‘All Your Love (I Need Loving)’ for ‘Black Magic Woman’.

As to the story in Celmins’ book, it was Stan Webb who claims that he confronted Clapton accusing him of ripping off Matt “Guitar” Murphy with his playing on the Bluesbreakers LP without acknowledgement.
He does not give any specifics, and I’ve never seen anyone else level that particular charge against Clapton. I can’t imagine Green ever bad mouthing someone to make himself, or another musician look better.