Chuck Berry Collection 1957-1979

 Biography by Cub Koda

Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none was more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He was its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers. Quite simply, without him there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, nor myriad others. There would be no standard "Chuck Berry guitar intro," the instrument's clarion call to get the joint rockin' in any setting. The clippety-clop rhythms of rockabilly would not have been mainstreamed into the standard 4/4 rock & roll beat. There would be no obsessive wordplay by modern-day tunesmiths; in fact, the whole history (and artistic level) of rock & roll songwriting would have been much poorer without him. Elvis may have fueled rock & roll's imagery, but Chuck Berry was its heartbeat and original mindset.

He was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry to a large family in St. Louis in 1926. A bright pupil, Berry developed a love for poetry and hard blues early on, winning a high-school talent contest with a guitar-and-vocal rendition of Jay McShann's big-band number "Confessin' the Blues." With some local tutelage from the neighborhood barber, Berry progressed from a four-string tenor guitar up to an official six-string model and was soon working the local East St. Louis club scene, sitting in everywhere he could. He quickly found out that black audiences liked a wide variety of music and set himself the task of being able to reproduce as much of it as possible. What he found they really liked -- besides the blues and Nat King Cole tunes -- was the sight and sound of a black man playing white hillbilly music, and Berry's showmanlike flair, coupled with his seemingly inexhaustible supply of fresh verses to old favorites, quickly made him a name on the circuit. In 1954, he ended up taking over pianist Johnny Johnson's small combo, and a residency at the Cosmopolitan Club soon made the Chuck Berry Trio the top attraction in the black community, with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm their only real competition.

But Berry had bigger ideas; he yearned to make records, and a trip to Chicago netted a two-minute conversation with his idol Muddy Waters, who encouraged him to approach Chess Records. Upon listening to Berry's homemade demo tape, label president Leonard Chess professed a liking for a hillbilly tune on it named "Ida Red" and quickly scheduled a recording for May 21, 1955. During the session the title was changed to "Maybellene" and rock & roll history was born. Although the record only made it to the mid-20s on the Billboard pop chart, its overall influence was massive and groundbreaking in its scope. Finally, here was a black rock & roll record with across-the-board appeal, embraced by white teenagers and Southern hillbilly musicians (a young Elvis Presley, still a full year from national stardom, quickly added it to his stage show), that for once couldn't be successfully covered by a pop singer like Snooky Lanson on Your Hit Parade. Part of the secret to its originality was Berry's blazing 24-bar guitar solo in the middle of it, the imaginative rhyme schemes in the lyrics, and the sheer thump of the record, all signaling that rock & roll had arrived and it was no fad. Helping to put the record over to a white teenage audience was the highly influential New York disc jockey Alan Freed, who had been given part of the writers' credit by Chess in return for his spins and plugs. But to his credit, Freed was also the first white DJ/promoter to consistently use Berry on his rock & roll stage show extravaganzas at the Brooklyn Fox and Paramount Theaters (playing to predominately white audiences); and when Hollywood came calling a year or so later, he also made sure that Berry appeared with him in Rock! Rock! Rock!, Go, Johnny, Go!, and Mister Rock'n'Roll. Within a year's time, Berry had gone from a local St. Louis blues picker making $15.00 a night to an overnight sensation commanding over a hundred times that, arriving at the dawn of a new strain of popular music called rock & roll.

The hits started coming thick and fast over the next few years, every one of them about to become a classic of the genre: "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thirty Days," "Too Much Monkey Business," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," "You Can't Catch Me," "School Day," "Carol," "Back in the U.S.A.," "Little Queenie," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Johnny B. Goode," and the tune that defined the moment perfectly, "Rock and Roll Music." Berry was not only in constant demand, touring the country on mixed package shows and appearing on television and in movies, but smart enough to know exactly what to do with the spoils of a suddenly successful show business career. He started investing heavily in St. Louis area real estate and, ever one to push the envelope, opened up a racially mixed nightspot called The Club Bandstand in 1958 to the consternation of uptight locals. These were not the plans of your average R&B singers who contented themselves with a wardrobe of flashy suits, a new Cadillac, and the nicest house in the black section of town. Berry was smart, with plenty of business savvy, and was already making plans to open an amusement park in nearby Wentzville. When the St. Louis hierarchy found out that an underage hat-check girl Berry hired had also set up shop as a prostitute at a nearby hotel, trouble came down on Berry like a sledgehammer on a fly. Charged with transporting a minor over state lines (the Mann Act), Berry endured two trials and was sentenced to federal prison for two years as a result.

He emerged from prison a moody, embittered man. But two very important things had happened in his absence. First, British teenagers had discovered his music and were making his old songs hits all over again. Second, and perhaps most important, America had discovered the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, both of whom based their music on Berry's style, with the Stones' early albums sounding like a Berry song list. Rather than being resigned to the has-been circuit, Berry found himself in the midst of a worldwide beat boom with his music as the centerpiece. He came back with a clutch of hits ("Nadine," "No Particular Place to Go," "You Never Can Tell"), toured Britain in triumph, and appeared on the big screen with his British disciples in the groundbreaking T.A.M.I. Show in 1964.

Berry had moved with the times and found a new audience in the bargain, and when the cries of "yeah-yeah-yeah" were replaced with peace signs, Berry altered his live act to include a passel of slow blues and quickly became a fixture on the festival and hippie ballroom circuit. After a disastrous stint with Mercury Records, he returned to Chess in the early '70s and scored his last hit with a live version of the salacious nursery rhyme "My Ding-A-Ling," yielding Berry his first official gold record. By decade's end, he was as in-demand as ever, working every oldies revival show, TV special, and festival that was thrown his way. But once again, troubles with the law reared their ugly head and 1979 saw Berry headed back to prison, this time for income tax evasion. Upon release this time, the creative days of Chuck Berry seemed to have come to an end. He appeared as himself in the Alan Freed biopic American Hot Wax, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but steadfastly refused to record any new material or even issue a live album. His live performances became increasingly erratic, with Berry working with terrible backup bands and turning in sloppy, out-of-tune performances that did much to tarnish his reputation with young and old fans alike. In 1987, he published his first book, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, and the same year saw the film release of what will likely be his lasting legacy, the rockumentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, which included live footage from a 60th-birthday concert with Keith Richards as musical director and the usual bevy of superstars coming out for guest turns.

ChuckFor the next three decades, Berry devoted himself to the oldies circuit, regularly appearing at the Blueberry Hill bar/restaurant in his hometown of St. Louis and sometimes embarking on tours of the U.S. or Europe. In several interviews he promised the existence of a new record, but nothing was made official until he announced the 2017 release of Chuck on his 90th birthday. Berry didn't live to see its release: he died at his home on March 18, 2017. Chuck became a posthumous album, seeing the light of day in June 2017; it peaked at 49 in the US and number nine in the U.K.

For all of his off-stage exploits and seemingly ongoing troubles with the law, Chuck Berry remains the epitome of rock & roll, and his music will endure long after his private escapades have faded from memory. Because when it comes down to his music, perhaps John Lennon said it best, "If you were going to give rock & roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

Chuck Berry Collection 1957-1979 (flac; stream - deezer)

1957. After School Session

01. School Day (Ring Ring Goes The Bell)

02. Deep Feeling

03. Too Much Monkey Business

04. Wee Wee Hours

05. Roly Poly

06. No Money Down

07. Brown Eyed Handsome Man

08. Berry Pickin'

09. Together (We Will Always Be)

10. Havana Moon

11. Down Bound Train

12. Drifting Heart

***

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1958. One Dozen Berrys

01. Sweet Little Sixteen

02. Blue Feeling

03. La Jaunda (Espanola)

04. Rockin' At The Philharmonic

05. Oh Baby Doll

06. Guitar Boogie

07. Reelin' And Rockin'

08. Ingo

09. Rock And Roll Music

10. How You've Changed

11. Low Feeling

12. It Don't Take But A Few Minutes

***

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1959. Chuck Berry Is on Top

01. Almost Grown

02. Carol

03. Maybellene

04. Sweet Little Rock & Roller

05. Anthony Boy

06. Johnny B. Goode

07. Little Queenie

08. Jo Jo Gunne

09. Roll Over Beethoven

10. Around And Around

11. Hey Pedro

12. Blues For Hawaiians

***

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1960. Rockin' at the Hops

01. Bye Bye Johnny

02. Worried Life Blues

03. Down The Road A Piece

04. Confessin' The Blues

05. Too Pooped To Pop

06. Mad Lad

07. I Got To Find My Baby

08. Betty Jean

09. Childhood Sweetheart

10. Broken Arrow

11. Driftin' Blues

12. Let It Rock

***

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1961. New Juke Box Hits

01. I'm Talking About You

02. Diploma For Two

03. Thirteen Question Method

04. Away From You

05. Don't You Lie To Me

06. The Way It Was Before

07. Little Star

08. Route 66

09. Sweet Sixteen

10. Run Around

11. Stop And Listen

12. Rip It Up

***

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1963. Chuck Berry on Stage

01. Go Go Go

02. Memphis, Tennessee

03. Maybellene

04. Surfin' Steel (Cryin' Steel) (Instrumental)

05. Rockin' On The Railroad

06. Brown Eyed Handsome Man

07. Still Got The Blues

08. Sweet Little Sixteen

09. Jaguar And Thunderbird

10. All Aboard

11. I Just Want To Make Love To You

12. Trick Or Treat

13. The Man And The Donkey

14. How High The Moon

15. Go Go Go

16. Memphis, Tennessee

17. Surfin' Steel

18. Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Instrumental)

19. Still Got The Blues

20. Jaguar And Thunderbird (Single Version)

21. I Just Want To Make Love To You

22. Trick Or Treat

23. I Just Want To Make Love To You

24. The Man And The Donkey (Album Version)

***

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1964.  Two Great Guitars (Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry)

01. Liverpool Drive

02. Chuck's Beat

03. When The Saints Go Marching In

04. Bo's Beat

05. Fireball

06. Stay Sharp

07. Chuckwalk

08. Stinkey

***

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1964. St. Louis to Liverpool

01. Little Marie

02. Our Little Rendezvous

03. No Particular Place To Go

04. You Two

05. Promised Land

06. You Never Can Tell

07. Go Bobby Soxer

08. The Things I Used To Do

09. Liverpool Drive

10. Night Beat

11. Merry Christmas Baby

12. Brenda Lee

13. Fraulein

14. O'Rangutang

15. The Little Girl From Central

***

=========================

1965. Chuck Berry in London

01. My Little Love-Lights

02. She Once Was Mine

03. After It's Over

04. I Got A Booking

05. Night Beat

06. His Daughter Caroline

07. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis

08. St. Louis Blues

09. Jamaica Farewell

10. Dear Dad

11. Butterscotch

12. The Song Of My Love

13. Why Should We End This Way

14. I Want To Be Your Driver

***

==========================

1965. Fresh Berry's

01. It Wasn't Me

02. Run Joe

03. Every Day We Rock & Roll

04. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

05. Welcome Back, Pretty Baby

06. It's My Own Business

07. Right Off Rampart Street

08. Vaya Con Dios

09. Merrily We Rock & Roll

10. My Mustang Ford

11. Ain't That Just Like A Woman

12. Wee Hour Blues

***

==============================

1967.  Chuck Berry's Golden Hits

01. Sweet Little Sixteen

02. Memphis

03. School Days (Ring Ring Goes The Bell)

04. Maybelline

05. Back In The U.S.A.

06. Around And Around

07. Brown Eyed Handsome Man

08. Johnny B. Goode

09. Rock And Roll Music

10. Roll Over Beethoven

11. Thirty Days

12. Carol

13. Let It Rock

14. Reelin' And Rockin'

15. Club Nitty Gritty

***

================================

1967. Chuck Berry in Memphis

01. Back To Memphis

02. I Do Really Love You

03. Ramblin' Rose

04. Sweet Little Rock And Roller

05. My Heart Will Always Belong To You

06. Oh Baby Doll

07. Check Me Out

08. It Hurts Me Too

09. Bring Another Drink

10. So Long

11. Goodnight Well It's Time To Go

12. Flying Home

***

==============================

1967. Live at Fillmore Auditorium 

(Chuck Berry and  Steve Miller Band)

01. Medley: Rockin' At The Fillmore / Everyday I Have The Blues

02. C.C. Rider

03. Driftin' Blues

04. Feelin' It

05. Flying Home

06. Hoochi' Coochi' Man

07. It Hurts Me Too (Duet With Steve Miller)

08. Good Morning Little School Girl

09. Fillmore Blues

10. Reelin' And Rockin'

11. My Ding-A-Ling

12. Medley: Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight / Johnny B. Goode

***

==============================================

1968. From St. Louie to Frisco

01. Louies To Frisco

02. Ma Dear

03. The Love I Lost

04. I Love Her, I Love Her

05. Little Fox

06. Rock Cradle Rock

07. Soul Rockin

08. I Can't Believe

09. Misery

10. Almost Grow

11. My Tambourine

12. Laugh And Cry

13. Oh Captain

14. Campus Cookie

15. Mum's The Word

16. Song Of My Love

***

=========================

1969. Concerto in B. Goode

01. Good Looking Woman

02. My Woman

03. It's Too Dark In There

04. Put Her Down

05. Concerto In B Goode

***

=========================

1970. Back Home

01. Tulane

02. Have Mercy Judge

03. Instrumental

04. Christmas

05. Gun

06. I'm A Rocker

07. Flyin' Home

08. Fish & Chips

09. Some People

***

====================

1971. San Francisco Dues

01. Oh Louisiana

02. Let's Do Our Thing Together

03. Your Lick

04. Festival

05. Bound To Lose

06. Bordeaux In My Pirough

07. San Francisco Dues

08. Viva Rock & Roll

09. My Dream (Poem)

10. Lonely School Days

***

==========================

1972. The London Chuck Berry Sessions

01. Let's Boogie

02. Mean Old World

03. I Will Not Let You Go

04. London Berry Blues

05. I Love You

06. Reelin' And Rockin'

07. My Ding-A-Ling

08. Johnny B. Goode

***

======================

1973. Bio

01. Bio

02. Hello Little Girl, Goodbye

03. Woodpecker

04. Rain Eyes

05. Aimlessly Driftin'

06. Got It And Gone

07. Talkin' About My Buddy

***

===========================

1975. Chuck Berry

01. Swanee River

02. I'm Just A Name

03. I Just Want To Make Love To You

04. Too Late

05. South Of The Border

06. Hi Heel Sneakers

07. You Are My Sunshine

08. My Babe

09. Baby What You Want Me To Do

10. A Deuce

11. Shake Rattle And Roll

12. Sue Answer

13. Don't You Lie To Me

14. Turn On The House Lights

15. Jambalaya

16. The Song Of My Love

17. Johnny B. Blues

18. Dust My Bloom

19. Here Today

20. Rockin'

***

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1979. Rockit

01. Move It

02. Oh What A Thrill

03. I Need You Baby

04. If I Were You

05. House Lights

06. I Never Thought

07. Havana Moon

08. Wuden't Me

09. California

10. Pass Away

***

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Source: deezer ---> rutracker ; uploader glueleg

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