CHOBA B CCCP

[The Big Guy]

Released on CD in 1991.

[mervap]

This is the last of Macca's albums to get a proper review here....wonder why that is? Maybe it doesn't engender very strong feelings in most people.

When it was announced that this album would be released on CD, I felt just a little sad...it was almost like Macca was going back on his word to the Russians about the album being an exclusive release for them. But if he had kept his word, we wouldn't have this nifty little CD.

Most rock-n-roll musicians are very aware of the debt that is owed by everyone that picks up an axe or a pair of sticks to the originators of the artform. Quite a number of them have felt compelled to record albums that show the world that appreciation....the results can vary widely, but the mark is the same: these guys LOVE these songs!

So it is with "CHOBA"...Macca assembled a rock-solid group of musicians, made a list of the songs that inspired him and they set to. The result is a sparkling effort marked by some of the finest 'shouting' vocals Paul has yet done, some ripping guitar work and great drumming, all delivered in a production package that is unfussy and 'to the point'.

Most of Paul's heroes get a nod here: Little Richard, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Eddie Cochran and, of course, Elvis Presley. Some of the song choices are quite obvious (Kansas City, Twenty Flight Rock, That's All Right Mama, Ain't That a Shame) while others aren't so much (Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Summertime). On a musicianship note, all these guys are great, but I have to single out drummer Chris Whitten...just superb! Paul must have thought so also, as Whitten was tapped as the timekeeper for Macca's next studio album, "Flowers In the Dirt".

If this album, as has been said, is Paul's "Rock and Roll", he has bettered JL's effort by sticking with clean sounds and not letting production get in the way of the songs. 

[lampie1970]

I know I say this all the time...but this is one of my favorites! I love Lawdy Miss Clawdy on this one, mostly because I just feel the excitement of him just belting out :) It feels like first takes, even though I have no reason to suspect that they are, but I like it like that anyway.

Thanks merv! And who knew you'd like the drumming most? ;)

[mervap]

Well.......er........um.........uh.......you?   

[EddieV]

I am not so happy with these cover albums The songs are OK!!

[lampie1970]

I am not so happy with these cover albums The songs are OK!!

..and in my mind i do kind of seperate the covers from the original material, too...it is subconscious, but i do it...but on it's own i love it, cause he is so excited to play the music of his influences and it comes across that way.

[chris]

this album paved the way for the much finer run devil run. however, i have no problems hearing paul do a cover album of old rock classics. clapton does covers...so do the stones. paul owes just as much to the peeps before him as anyone else does.

one thing i find ironic, though. john lennon was considered the gruffier, more intense, and generally more rock and roll than mccartney ever was. so why is it...when you compare old classic cover albums...john's rock and roll seems to be mellower, softer and even safer than either one of paul's cover albums? could it be that paul has a little bit more raw rock and roll attitude than anyone...myself included...ever gave him credit for?

[mervap]

It would be fair to point out that both of these albums, JL's in particular, are products of the times in which they were recorded....I wonder what a JL cover album with Cheap Trick might have sounded like!

[chris]

recall...on john's anthology album...there is a butt kicking early version of losing you (later released on double fantasy?)
if this was his backing band...he would have opened some eyes to those who never really gave any of the solo beatles a chance.

[lampie1970]

I don't know if it is fair to say that John had more rock and roll in him, if that is in fact what is being said (I sometimes have a penchant for misinterpreting)...some of The Beatles' most rock and rollers were Paul's: Helter Skelter, Back in the USSR, I'm Down, Get Back...

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong....

[chris]

i didn't mean to suggest that paul couldn't rock out when he wanted to...

i suppose i meant that paul had earned himself a...reputation...for being mellower, love songier, and lets be honest here...a wee bit sappier.

for every helter skelter or back in the ussr, paul also had an i will, a honey pie, and a martha my dear (all fine songs, mind you...)

just saying...that paul's songwriting reputation for the last 30 years was of one who wrote silly love songs. and while just because that is the stereotype doesn't neccessarily make it so...but there is a little bit of truth in stereotypes, isn't there?

and i know that john wrote some slow, lovie, sap songs...his reputation was of the serious, hard edged rocker.

and for the record...i'm not correcting anyone. just speaking my mind...the way i see it. feel free to think i'm a bonehead. 

[lampie1970]

and for the record...i'm not correcting anyone. just speaking my mind...the way i see it. feel free to think i'm a bonehead. 

I meant correct me if I was wrong about what I thought you were saying, which I was and which you did, and in a kind way...

[chris]

and in a kind way...

and a polite tip of the hat to you, dear...for not publicly calling me a bonehead.

i guess thats what mervap and 2 of 3 are for.

[2 of 3]

I have this one on cassette. Now for you young folks, a cassette has tape in it. No, not 8 track, I'm not that old. OK, I have 8 track too. So, yeah...used to drive around listening to this one cranked up on the car stereo...has some goodies on it for sure, but in the end, it got put away for some Pauly originals. I have no idea where the cassette is now...but I still have Rock and Roll on an LP. OK, an LP is a black disc with tiny grooves on the surface, that when........