Chuck Berry

• LIMITED EDITION CLASSIC LP

• 180 GRAM VINYL - AUDIOPHILE PRESSING

This essential LP edition compiles 20 of Chuck Berry’s most emblematic and celebrated songs, taped by the Chess label between 1955 and 1961. These recordings helped define the exact nature of early rock & roll.

All-time classics such as Berry’s car songs (“Maybellene”), his calculated and carefully crafted instant smashes for the 1950s teenage market (“Reelin’ and Rockin’,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “School Day”), and his celebrations of the music itself (“Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven”), are some of the greatest rock tunes ever written. Take the aforementioned “Johnny B. Goode” specifically – the intro alone is arguably one of the most iconic pieces of music ever recorded, and the subsequent hand in hand energy of both the vocal and the instrumentation not only form a brilliantly hook throughout the track, but also create something uniquely Chuck Berry. This material will convince even the skeptics of Berry’s brilliance. All of these original gems –which have been brilliantly remastered to achieve the most pristine sound – are simple two-and-a-half-minute songs that convey all the sheer power and emotion of rock & roll. Enjoy!

PERSONNEL:

• CHUCK BERRY, lead vocals and guitar, plus:

• SIDE 1 [1 & 8] / SIDE 2 [1]: Willie Dixon (bass), Lafayette Leake (piano), Fred Below (drums). Recorded on December 29, 1957.
• SIDE 1 [2]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Jasper Thomas or Ebby Hardy (drums), Jerome Green (maracas). Recorded on May 21, 1955.
• SIDE 1 [3] SIDE 2 [4] & [10]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Fred Below (drums), Leroy C. Davis (tenor sax, out on Side 2, track 4). Recorded on April 16, 1956.
• SIDE 1 [4]: Same personnel as on Side 1, tracks 1 & 8. Recorded on May 6, 1957.
• SIDE 1 [5]: Chuck Berry sings and plays all of the instruments (guitar, bass & drums). Recorded on February 27, 1958.
• SIDE 1 [6]: probably Reggie Boyd (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Phil Thomas (drums), Leroy C. Thomas (tenor sax), Martha Berry (second vocals). Recorded on August 3, 1961.
• SIDE 1 [7] / SIDE 2 [6]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Fred Below (drums), Leroy C. Davis (tenor sax on Side 2, track 6), The Ecuadors, feat. Roquel Davis, Harvey Fuqua, Etta James (vocals on Side 2, track 6). Recorded on July 27-29, 1959.
• SIDE 1 [9]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Fred Below (drums). Recorded on January 21, 1957.
• SIDE 1 [10]: Same personnel as on Side 1, tracks 1, 4 & 8. Probably recorded on January 6, 1958.
• SIDE 2 [2]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano and backing vocals), Ebby Hardy (drums and backing vocals), Jerome Green (maracas and backing vocals). Recorded in September 1955.
• SIDE 2 [3] & [9]: Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Fred Below (drums), Harvey & The Moonglows, feat. Harvey Fuqua, Marvin Gaye, Janes Nolan, Reese Palmer, Chuck Barksdale, Chester Simmons, and Etta James (backing vocals).Recorded on February 17, 1959.
• SIDE 2 [5]: Chuck Berry sings and plays all of the instruments (guitar, bass & drums). Recorded in July 1958.
• SIDE 2 [7]: G. Smith (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Ebby Hardy or Jasper Thomas (drums / percussion). Recorded on May 2 or June 12, 1958.
• SIDE 2 [8]: Matt “Guitar” Murphy (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), Johnnie Johnson (piano), Jasper Thomas (drums). Probably recorded on March 29, 1960 (some sources state February 12, 1960).

TRACKS:

• SIDE 1
• 01 Rock & Roll Music
• 02 Maybellene
• 03 Roll Over Beethoven
• 04 Oh, Baby Doll
• 05 ‘Round and ‘Round
• 06 Come On
• 07 Let It Rock
• 08 Reelin’ and Rockin’
• 09 School Day
• 10 Sweet Little Sixteen

• SIDE 2
• 01 Johnny B. Goode
• 02 Thirty Days
• 03 Almost Grown
• 04 Brown Eyed Handsome Man
• 05 Memphis, Tennessee
• 06 Too Pooped to Pop
• 07 Carol
• 08 Our Little Rendezvous
• 09 Back in the U.S.A.
• 10 Too Much Monkey Business