Chuck Berry

INCLUDES 2 BONUS TRACKS AND FREE MP3 ALBUM DOWNLOAD

Long unavailable on vinyl, this quintessential collector’s edition includes the largely forgotten yet outstanding LP New Juke Box Hits, which was originally released by Chess Records in March 1961. Although the album was recorded in the midst of the legal difficulties that would put him in jail the following year (Berry was sentenced to three years in prison for offenses under the Mann Act — he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines) that distraction did not prevent Berry from composing top-flight material. It features him celebrating the work of contemporaries B.B. King, Nat “King” Cole, and Little Richard, alongside nine of his own tunes.

There’s a quaintness to early rock & roll’s lyrics, but Berry’s guitar work – his distinctive, trebly licks and the straight forward single coil chords atop that driving shuffle rhythm – show us why he was such a great influence. The record begins with a Chuck Berry lick leading us to the straightforward sock-hop number “I’m Talking about You” (later successfully recorded by The Rolling Stones). The album features a diversity of styles from the ballad-like “Diploma for Two” to the faux island-rhythms of “Thirteen Question Method” and the slow dance number “Away from You,” which has a surprisingly aggressive solo for a ballad that truly captures the feeling of missing a loved one. All of the songs boast the classic Berry guitar sound, yet each tune is unique. The immortal “Route 66” was a big hit for Nat “King” Cole in the mid-‘40s, and has been a semi-standard ever since. One of the highlights of the album is Berry’s cover of Little Richards’ “Rip It Up,” because the song has been pared down from the heavy brass of the original to its rock & roll essence: guitar, bass and drums.

PERSONNEL:

CHUCK BERRY, lead vocals and guitar, plus:

A1, B2 & B6:
possibly Reggie Boyd (electric bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano),
Ebby Hardy (drums).
Produced by Leonard and Phil Chess.
Recorded in Chicago, January 10 or 19, 1961.

A2-A4, A6, B1, B3 & B5:
Matt “Guitar” Murphy (guitar), Willie Dixon (double bass),
Johnnie Johnson (piano), Jaspar Thomas (drums), Leroy C.
Davis (tenor sax).
Unidentified backing vocals on side 2, track 5.
Produced by Leonard and Phil Chess.
Recorded in Chicago, February 15 and/or April 12, 1960.

A5 & B4:
Matt “Guitar” Murphy (guitar), Willie Dixon (double bass),
Johnnie Johnson (piano), Jaspar Thomas (drums), Leroy C. Davis (tenor sax).
Chuck Berry also plays steel guitar on side 2, track 4.
Produced by Leonard and Phil Chess.
Recorded in Chicago, February 12 and/or March 29, 1960.

A7 & B7:
Reggie Boyd (electric bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Phil Thomas (drums),
Leroy C. Davis (tenor sax), Martha Berry (second vocal).
Produced by Leonard and Phil Chess.
Recorded in Chicago, July 29, 1961

SIDE A
1 I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU 1:52
2 DIPLOMA FOR TWO 2:32
3 THIRTEEN QUESTION METHOD 2:16
4 AWAY FROM YOU 2:41
5 DON’T YOU LIE TO ME 2:10
6 THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE 2:55
7 COME ON 1:50 *

SIDE B
1 LITTLE STAR 2:49
2 ROUTE 66 2:48
3 SWEET SIXTEEN 2:49
4 RUN AROUND 2:34
5 STOP AND LISTEN 2:28
6 RIP IT UP 2:13
7 GO-GO-GO 2:35*

*BONUS TRACKS

All tracks composed by Chuck Berry, except:
B2: B. Troup
B3: A. Nugetre
B6: R. Blackwell-J. Marascalco