Reff, M: Chuck Berry International Directory Volume III

The crusade by Morten Reff (indefatigable Norwegian collector, writer and Berry authority), to set in stone for posterity just about every known fact about Chuck Berrys musical career, continues apace. Although the first two volumes could be bought as stand-alone books, they were presented as the first thousand pages and nineteen chapters of the overall monograph. This third volume now adds, in one single Chapter 20, a listing of worldwide cover versions of The Brown-Eyed Handsome Mans records which its further 600-plus pages struggles to contain! Despite, unsurprisingly, finding no obvious omissions, I still kept on dipping-in and re-visiting and will doubtless continue to do so, which is the main attraction of any book like this. Presentation follows that of the preceding volumes, in the usual attractive Music Mentor format and including around 250 label and cover shots, itself an area of fascination for many. Brian Smth