Sonny Holliday "School Days" (Constellation,1963) aka Hal Davis covers Chuck Berry!

While much has been made on Chuck Berry’s influence on rock bands, particularly British rock bands, and his audience was primarily white, he was a fixture on the r&b charts since the beginning. Not only were there countless covers, answer songs, and references to his material all over the black market since Berry emerged on the scene with “Maybellene”, but also his deep cultural impression could still be felt at the dawn of the soul era.

Sonny Holliday is a pseudonym for legendary producer, Brenda Holloway discoverer, and architect of the Motown West sound, Hal Davis. Davis’ fascinating early 1960s pre-Motown output is chock full o’masterpieces like Patrice Holloway’s “Do The Del Viking,” The Watesians “I Told You Baby,” and Hal and Brenda’s “It’s You.” While you’re listening to an L.A. record, this particular novelty appeared on Chicago’s Constellation imprint.