Chuck Berry - Definitive Collection
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Free Music Notes for Definitive Collection
Free Music Review: Chuck Berry Is A Superlative Retro Grab
Hit: 5 Stars
October 24,2008
Back in 1956 as a young boy indicated by the New York City school system as having unusual intuitiveness for playing instruments and having an "ear". The only media we had in our apartment in Upper Manhattan on the West Side was a severely cracked but operable Zenith Am radio. In the many hours of listening to that archaic purveyor of listening pleasure,I was an irrefutable Chuck Berry fan. Although Chuck Berry is still performing the songs on this disc, Maybelline, Roll Over Beethoven,Johnny B. Goode, I knew then in the middle 1950's as played on WMCA, The Good Guys in that tiny room in the yet to be gentrified Upper West Side that this is a man who is not coming around again for centuries if ever. I remember how he used to shuffle across the stage while hitting his electric guitar. I saw a documentary once on the Philco TV my father brought home on our happiest day as kids where they depicted Chuck Berry as a simple man from St Louis who travelled alone from airport to airport with his luggage immaculately lashed to his back. The Stones, Beatles and many British Invasion groups often speak of his incredible and forceful influence on their own songwriting. Johnny Rivers. for me the finest Chuck Berry cover artist ever, actually roamed the Brill Building promoting his talents when Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond and Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector spent their time writing the best music in a mystical place near the Flatiron building we remember, Tin Pan Alley. Two other rockers that are comparable to Chuck Berry are Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. These three are starting to explode on satellite, Ipod cherry pickers and oldies stations all over. Listeners are tired of being exposed to the ersatz amateur-grey line semi-pros that bad penny us all over the place. Chuck Berry is a major Retro Grab in 2008 meaning that we are all starting to look for exceptional quality in the past because that's where we now have to go to get it. Johnny Mathis and Astrud Gilberto walked into studios years ago with no prior musical training. When will we ever see that again?
Jay Adler, Music Critic
Free Music Review: "I'm Chuck Berry, and I Play Chuck Berry"
Hit: 5 Stars
"Chuck Berry: The Definitive Collection," (Chess, 2005) actually is one of the best, most inclusive of the numerous compilations of the great early guitar hero/rocker's work. It gives us 30 songs, including most of the big hits, going way back to the seminal mid 1950's, when they were new, and so was rock and roll, and Berry was helping to make it. "Maybelline," his first hit, for the Chicago studio Chess, reached #5 on the Billboard Pop chart in the summer of 1955, months before Elvis Presley signed with RCA Records. "Roll Over Beethoven," and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," followed in spring, 1956.
Somewhat embarrassing admission: I was a suburban New York high schooler then, and there was the piano in the living room. One day, Dave Goddard, a friend from Valley Stream Central High School, who'd had his very own rock and roll hit with his group "The Aquatones," was over visiting. Mom found out he could play, and begged him: he sat down and asked, "Mozart or Beethoven?" "Oh, Beethoven," she said. "Roll Over Beethoven" came booming out; it was the greatest moment of my teen-aged life. (By the way, Goddard can still play a mean "Roll Over Beethoven;" I've got it in "My Music".)
Well, shortly after that, Chuck Berry got himself into trouble, serving 20 months in prison for violating the federal Mann Act, supposedly taking a young girl across state lines for immoral purposes. The man did write "Sweet Little Sixteen,""Schoolday," and "Sweet Little Rock & Roller," after all, not to mention, "Almost Grown."
Be that as it may, Berry still tours, I believe: I caught him a few years ago, in New York. He was a long way from high school, but he still had that swaggering duck walk. Can't personally vouch for the truth of it, but the professional musician with whom I caught that show said that, almost unique among touring performers, Berry didn't carry a band with him. All he had to do in any city was walk into the local musicians' union hiring hall, and say, "I'm Chuck Berry and I play Chuck Berry, any questions?" There never were any. How could there be?
Free Music Review: What a compilation! Definitive indeed!
Hit: 5 Stars
The title of this CD represents a tall order to fill. With a title like "The Definitive Collection" of one of the key progenitors of rock and roll, one expects a great deal. This CD delivers. The liner notes begin by stating that "Chuck Berry cooked up the basic recipe for rock n' roll." Berry was made a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, as one of the very first members--and justifiably so. As the notes continue, ". . .it was Berry who set the template for the songwriter-artist. . ."
Some of the major cuts:
"Maybellene" was recorded in 1955, one of his first major hits. Talk about class: Willie Dixon played bass. The thumping rhythm and driving rock beat makes this a quintessential Chuck Berry song. This song reached # 5 on the Pop Chart, making Berry a recognizable figure.
In 1956, "Roll Over Beethoven" Another great rocker: "Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news." An infectious beat and driving singing.
"Up in the mornin' and off to School,
Teacher teachin' the golden rule."
So "School Day" goes, with the expectation of a lot more fun once the School Day is done.
"Rock and Roll Music" (1957) has the estimable Willie Dixon and Fred Below supporting Berry. Another rollicking early rock song that set the stage for what was to follow.
More greats from 1957--"Sweet Little Sixteen," a teaser of a song with a compelling pace; also from 1957, one of the greatest rock songs ever--"Johnnie B. Goode." "Go, Johnnie, go, go."
A number of these songs were covered by the "British invasion." British groups, such as the Rolling Stones and Beatles, covered such songs as: "Roll over Beethoven," "Little Queenie," "Come on," and so on.
This CD contains 30 of Chuck Berry's greatest hits, from "Maybellene" to "My Ding-a-Ling." If anyone is unfamiliar with Berry's oeuvre, this is a great place to start. For those who appreciate his role in rock and roll, this is a good addition, to pull together some of his best works. A good compilation. . . .
Free Music Review: The foundations of rock 'n' roll!
Hit: 5 Stars
It's often hard to find a good compilation by an artist with original recordings of all their biggest and best known hits (it especially annoys me when I pick up a compilation CD in a store, read the track listing and just when I think it's good enough to buy I see the words "live version" next to a song). Thankfully, this CD has original recordings of all the Chuck Berry songs I hoped for, and what a CD it is too! Along with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry has always been one of my favorite artists from the early rock `n' roll era of the mid to late 1950's. In fact, I credit those three as the pioneers of rock. Other great artists of that era, such as Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, helped establish rock `n' roll, but the birth of rock itself came from Elvis, Buddy and Chuck (with a little help from Bill Haley, I must admit).
It's only really from seeing the full track listing on this CD that I can fully appreciate just how many truly great rock `n' roll classics Chuck Berry wrote. He gave us "Maybellene", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Memphis Tennessee", "Johnny B. Goode", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "No Particular Place To Go", and it's a testimony to the man and his talent that his songs have been recorded by some of the most legendary names in music history - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Even Queen and T. Rex each borrow a line from Chuck's "Little Queenie" during the fade-out on their hits "Now I'm Here" and "Get It On", respectively. Chuck Berry laid the foundations for rock `n' roll and paved the way for every subsequent singer-songwriter to follow. I feel indebted to him and his genius.
Free Music Review: Over Two Dozen "Berries" - Ripe for the Pickin'!
Hit: 5 Stars
If you love Rock and Roll, you're going to love this CD. It's really that simple. Chuck Berry isn't the only early rock guitarist worth listening to (Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and Gene Vincent's guitar players immediately jump to mind)but it's hard to think of another songwriter and performer from the era who contributed so many of the building blocks of the style. Before this CD was introduced, the best Chuck Berry collection was the legendary "Great Twenty Eight" but "Definitive Collection" is slightly longer, has better liner notes, and contains practically all the best-known Chuck Berry songs.
Listen closely and you will hear where Angus Young, Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards got the foundations of their guitar licks from. Listen to the lyrics and you'll be treated to some clever vignettes, surreal 1950s imagery, and playful rhyming with an exceptionally lighthearted touch. To me, it's no wonder why so many songwriters and musicians from rockabilly, the British Invasion, and punk rock love this stuff. Chuck Berry practically invites you to play and sing along with him.
I strongly recommend buying this CD (or the Great 28) rather than going on the cheap and picking up one of the questionable, shorter compilations. There's always the chance you will get burned with mid-1960s recordings of these hits or sketchy live versions with bad sound. Stick with the original recordings.
The only better-known Berry track that isn't included here sadly enough is "Run Rudolph Run," and I suspect that's because Chuck Berry didn't actually write that song. You can find it on various Christmas-themed compilation CDs, however.