first of all I want to thank you, also on Maha’s behalf, once again for your good wishes and your understanding - we appreciate them more than you might imagine.
Like I wrote there won’t be many contributions to the forum this year - this one took many months to accomplish and we were lucky that Maha had some better days a couple of weeks ago, so she could do the mixing and appear in two smal scenes in the video. I’m afraid it might take quite some time before she’ll be able to go on with all that.
Maybe I will post one or two earlier songs/videos, but I’ll have to check them first wether or not they’re good enough for your ears end eyes.
As to ‘Heck, I Was Just Dreaming’: Got the idea to write a Chuck Berry hommage when Janice & Bud & Peter poblished a song using the Chuck Berry style - I think it was C. C. Rider.
I’ve been a huge Chuck Berry fan ever since - in fact I’m pretty sure it was him resp. his marvellous songs that lit my fire of love for Rock ‘n’ Roll and guitar playing in general.
And I still think that he was one of the greatest story tellers of them all - lyrics like ‘Too Much Monkey Business’ are immortal, aren’t they...
So here’s my humble attempt to bring the names of 51 great Chuck Berry tunes into a (more or less) reasonable order.
Hope y’all gonna have some fun listening and watching even in times like these that stifle any laughter for so many reasons whenever you switch on your TV.
Take good care,
Stefan
========================================
Musical data:
Bass: RT 2149 (New Orleans Boogie) Piano: RT 2151 (New Orleans Boogie) Guitar 1: RT 1718 (Texas Blues Rock) Drums: Written in MIDI played by MTPowerDrums
Vocals: Me Guitar solos: Me (Fender Strat Jeff Beck Signature, Vox VT 20
Like always designed in Band-in-a-box and worked out in RealBand.
Maha mixed the thing using Reaper for the first time. Also for the first time she used one or two CLA plug-ins. I really admire her for having the will to accomplish the song despite being ill. She tried to keep the sound rougher than usual - my tinnitus ears are completely satisfied with it. Thank you so much, honey - whatever you do: I love it!
Floyd beat me to the punch ... said pretty much what I was thinking. He just said it better than i would have.
You're not just a songer/songwriter.musician ... you're a world-class entertainer. You've never posted anything I didn't think was fabulous. And this one is so good!
Before I moved from St. Louis about 10 years ago, I lived across the highway from Chuck Berry ... about 4KM between us. (That's 2 1/2 miles). We actually lived in Wentzville, Missouri ... a western suburb of St. Louis. When I was still playing in a band, he dropped in and sat in with us 4 or 5 times over a period of about 3 years.
You perfectly captured the CB sound! That was an amazing video and fantastic song. Loved every second of it!
Also, it was so nice to see Maha well enough to participate. Di and I think of the two of you everyday. We send our best and most special wishes to her. You already know my thoughts about you're deteriorating eyesight.
Wishing everything good for both of you. Take care and be safe ...
Well, that was a ton of fun! An awesome idea wonderfully executed in all respects . . . and I can only imagine the amount of work that went into this. It shows. Everything about it was top notch. Simply outstanding!
I had the honour of watching this marvellous video and your song before, but this one is even better than that one. You did a tremendous job! I know what time and effort it had cost Maha and you to get it all how you wanted it to be, but -WOW- what a good video you both made! All those funny things in it. You have to watch it severall times and still you have missed something.
When you placed your latest post I was afraid this video wouldn't come in the Forum, but luckily you have to say goodbye about a dozen times before you really do. And even then I'm not sure.
It's really cool how you managed to assemble this Chuck Berry collage. Anything that hearkens back to a simpler time always feels like a more enjoyable listen for me. Thanks for posting.
PURE FUN and some excellent Berry n more riffing...extremely well done.
I did a tribute to Brian Wilson building a lyric on Beach Boy.Wilson lyrical snippets and titles. I even did it in mono - but had to remix it to stereo as NO ONE wanted to hear mono. Philistines! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-oL9YQQ3mc&ab_channel=raycochrane It was in the days of dead simple vids for me.
This song AND video represent a major effort - Maha did a brilliant job. Fun, rockin', fun and also a good brain tease trying to match titles to the songs in my head. My fave Berry album is a Chess remaster 2 x CD thing at present...really good sound and Johnny Johnson can be heard pretty clearly in them. EXCELLENT
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Hi Stefan Love the video. You did an amazing job getting all those titles into the very clever lyrics. Excellent vocal and the guitar work is brilliant. Regards, Leon
Floyd beat me to the punch ... said pretty much what I was thinking. He just said it better than i would have.
You're not just a songer/songwriter.musician ... you're a world-class entertainer. You've never posted anything I didn't think was fabulous. And this one is so good!
Before I moved from St. Louis about 10 years ago, I lived across the highway from Chuck Berry ... about 4KM between us. (That's 2 1/2 miles). We actually lived in Wentzville, Missouri ... a western suburb of St. Louis. When I was still playing in a band, he dropped in and sat in with us 4 or 5 times over a period of about 3 years.
You perfectly captured the CB sound! That was an amazing video and fantastic song. Loved every second of it!
Also, it was so nice to see Maha well enough to participate. Di and I think of the two of you everyday. We send our best and most special wishes to her. You already know my thoughts about you're deteriorating eyesight.
Wishing everything good for both of you. Take care and be safe ...
Alan
Hi Alan, if your intention was making me blush: success. You're far too kind, thank you so much for that heck of a comment. Maha and I are so glad that Di and you enjoy our stuff ...
Unbelievable: I know someone who played with Chuck Berry? Several times? I guess that must have been very exciting!
Please give Di a huge hug - all the best to you both.
Well, that was a ton of fun! An awesome idea wonderfully executed in all respects . . . and I can only imagine the amount of work that went into this. It shows. Everything about it was top notch. Simply outstanding!
My best to you both!
Deej
Hi Deej,
thank you so much, Maha and I really appreciate your positive comment a lot and we're happy you enjoyed watching and listening.
Wow! The amount of love and labor put into this! Totally fun to listen and to watch. Packed to the top with creativity and humor. Damn, you solved one hell of a word puzzle Excellent playing and production.., just cool stuff in a raw. I think CB would approve it! Thank you for sharing. Stay well and take good care of Maha.
I had the honour of watching this marvellous video and your song before, but this one is even better than that one. You did a tremendous job! I know what time and effort it had cost Maha and you to get it all how you wanted it to be, but -WOW- what a good video you both made! All those funny things in it. You have to watch it severall times and still you have missed something.
When you placed your latest post I was afraid this video wouldn't come in the Forum, but luckily you have to say goodbye about a dozen times before you really do. And even then I'm not sure.
Give Maha my best wishes, We'll talk again, Hans
Hi Hans,
thanks a lot for those very kind words you found for the song / video.
Yes, due to Mahas illness I don't think there will be anything new in the near future. One video we started to work on already in 2019 is waiting for her to act in the missing scenes; the video recording of another one (starring the usual suspects) had been scheduled for February but that session had to be cancelled because of the first Corona wave and old farts like us didn't want to take any risk. And the respective song is also waiting for Maha to get back to the computer again, too.
Unlike you who seems to be coming up with a new great song every week, I feel pretty empty... But whenever I manage to assenble a new video you will be the first to have a look at it (which is not an honour as you wrote, but pretty normal,because we're friends.)
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
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Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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Love your Berry-style guitar playing.
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