Chuck Berry - Anthology

By all rights, Chuck Berry should be walking on red carpets and playing palaces around the world. Of course, for various, often unseemly reasons, this is not the case in 2000 and it's a shame. In a weird way, Berry's legacy--his influence and his innovation--often obscures the brilliance of the music itself. He didn't just pave the way for rock & roll's domination, he also created some of the genre's best songs regardless of historical impact. With an arsenal that included slashing boogie-woogie-inspired guitar leads, a forceful, convincing vocal delivery, and an incredible knack for lyrical flow, Berry set awfully high standards for rock. If the three-disc Chess Box is more than you're looking for, this 50-song, two-CD set gives you all of the high points (except for the Christmas songs), all nicely remastered in a way that restores the music's rhythmic intensity. Berry's career enjoyed many peaks: his earliest triumphs from the mid-1950s proved the appeal of his country-and-R&B hybrid; in 1958 he delivered an astonishing run of creative and commercial successes from "Johnny B. Goode" to "Carol"; in 1964, after watching from prison as the Beatles jump-started their career on his engine, Berry returned with a vengeance, reeling off "Nadine," "You Never Can Tell," "Promised Land"--each one a gem--along with other ferociously energetic romps like "Dear Dad." Berry's music is all about momentum, and his brilliantly building, universally resonant three-minute narratives fused with the driving music to powerful effect, churning into eternity like the locomotive in "Let It Rock." "Can't stop the train, gotta let it roll on," he sings, and you can actually feel the train bearing down on you. --Marc Greilsamer Amazon.com

Chuck

I purchased this album along with a few other vintage performers albums in the hope that with the aid of modern technology the recordings may be actually capable of being listened to without the need for grimacing at the four thousand clicks, whistles and hums. I find this collection terrific and the sound quality is really good too. Who ever remastered this album certainly knew their stuff. If you like Chuck Berry and the music of our time then you will really like this album.
Gerry May 26, 2008

THIS SET NOW SUPERCEDED BY A NEW 2007, 3CD BOX FOR LESS $$'S

In 2007, a new three-disc import compilation, Chuck Berry: The Ultimate Collection, was released. The audio on the Ultimate discs is virtually identical to that of the 2000 Anthology 2CD set, and the 2004 Chess remasters; it's very good.

While Ultimate has six more total tracks, there are many songs that don't appear on both sets (most notably, the two famous Christmas hits, sorely missing on Anthology):

Anthology-only tracks:
Guitar Boogie
Do You Love Me
I Got To Find My Baby
Don't You Lie To Me
Confessin' The Blues
I Want To Be Your Driver

Ultimate-only tracks:
Merry Christmas Baby
Run Rudolph Run
Anthony Boy
Mad Lad
Route 66
Go Go Go
Go Bobby Soxer
Little Marie
Things I Used To Do
Lonely School Days
It Wasn't Me
Club Nitty Gritty

At this writing, the "used & new" price for the Ultimate 3CD set is actually lower than the Anthology set. So, with the inclusion of the two Christmas essentials, it's definitely the better deal. October 8, 2007

Love it!

Can't stop moving as you listen to this CD. I forgot how many great hit's Chuch's had. January 10, 2007

Ridding Around In My Automobile

Hail Chuck Berry. The Father of Rock N Roll. Enough said. October 17, 2006

An excellent culling from the larger Chess Box

In October of 2006 Chuck Berry will be 80 years old. Of the founders of rock `n' roll, he is today the one whose honor and esteem is most out of whack with his actual contributions. By any standards, Chuck Berry is one of the founding titans of rock. Musically, he contributed more than any other of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Elvis put rock `n' roll on the map, but Chuck is the one who drew it. Before Bob Dylan and the rash of great rock `n' roll song writers to spring up in the wake of Beatlemania, Chuck Berry was hands down the finest rock songwriter, with the lone exception of his equal Buddy Holly. It is only a slight over implication to state that most rock since Berry has been a variant of his original adaptation of rhythm and blues. And lyrically Berry was the most gifted lyricist before the advent of Bob Dylan. Of all the rock and roll performers, Berry was the easiest to understand when he sang, precisely pronouncing every word and for a very good reason: they were good words. Indeed, his diction was so superb that his earliest listeners refused to believe that he was a black man; they were convinced he was white. Chuck Berry has long been criticized for his lack of involvement in the Civil Rights movement and for reinforcing some negative images of black males, but by presenting himself as an undeniably intelligent and gifted black at a time when many whites were denying that blacks were as intelligent was itself an important contribution. Besides, working as a black crossover artist he was sometimes able to get his own back by subtle messaging. We all know, for instance, that in "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" he wasn't really talking about eye color. My hope is that for his birthday Berry will be recognized for what he was: the equal of anyone in making rock the popular musical form it became.

Apart from Berry's musical contributions, which were formidable, he brought a sense of playful theatricality that was key in defining early on that rock `n' roll, whatever else it was, was fun. Many of the early rock `n' rollers were great, great showmen in a way that few today aspire to be. Most contemporary performers rely on light shows, gimmicks, and props for their shows, but several early performers were precisely that: performers. To this day few guitarists have been as much fun to watch as Berry, not just during his legendary duck walks, but in a myriad of minor antics onstage.

But most of all, Chuck Berry has established a legacy of great, great songs. Most people know that the lone rock `n' roll song put on Voyager's data disc for any extraterrestrial who happens upon it was none other than Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Perhaps one day it will be as big a hit in Alpha Centauri as it has been on earth. What many today may not know is just how much very great music he produced. In fact, his string of hits outstrips nearly any of his contemporaries other than Elvis. His notorious stint in prison probably kept him from charting a few more hits (that he transported an underage girl across state lines is undeniable, but it is hard today to realize how vigorously he was prosecuted by St. Louis authorities and he certainly seems innocent of incitation to prostitution charges), but he eventually recovered from his ordeal to generate a second run of hits in the sixties.

Luckily, though in my and others' opinion Berry is not today given the credit he deserves for his major role in creating rock `n' roll, he has been exceedingly well served by a host of absolutely first rate anthologies. What I would like to do here is map out the five Chuck Berry collections I would most recommend. Each has its virtues and none any vices and it would be very hard to go wrong with any of them. I do think a couple of choices are better than others. Here are the main Chuck Berry collections available today:

CHESS BOX--If price is no consideration and you want almost all of the great music that Chuck Berry, this is unquestionably the one to get. The 3-CD set collects over 70 songs and has every one of the songs that the vast majority of music fans will have heard, all the way to his Christmas hit "Run Rudolph Run." There are a few cuts that are less than essential, but no current collection gives such a great view of his work as a whole, except for the complete collection of his Chess work, but in my opinion it collects too much that is of at most secondary interest.

ANTHOLOGY--Chess released this superb 2-CD culling from the larger CHESS BOX. Though less than half the price of the box, it collects over two-thirds of the songs, though without the Christmas songs that I frankly find endearing. But if you are willing to live without "Run Rudolph Run," this has just about all the Chuck Berry that most fans could crave.

GOLD--This is the big bargain of Chuck Berry anthologies. It contains all the major hits and familiar songs--though, again, without "Run Rudolph Run," which for some reason is omitted from almost all hits collections--and several nice extras as well. Though its 50 songs are slightly different than the one from the ANTHOLOGY, the heart of both collections is the same. If you don't own any Chuck Berry and are not sure that you want to spring the bucks for the CHESS BOX, this is probably the safest best. Lots of Chuck Berry for not very much money.

THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION--Well, no, this isn't definitive, but this newest Chuck Berry is arguably the finest single-disc edition. But here is the problem: The GOLD collection is only a buck more and contains 20 more songs. Plus, one of the 30 songs on this disc is the dreadful gimmick song "My Ding-A-Ling," a slightly ribald and not very good song that was Berry's last hit in the early seventies. My own belief is that shorter anthologies are improved by its exclusion.

THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT--This is back in print after being unavailable for a long time. Unlike THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, this is pretty much definitive. Most anthologies basically take the songs off this disc and then add to it. It is canonical in a way that none of the other discs is. Nonetheless, while I think it deserves five stars simply for the role it has played in introducing fans to Berry and for its historical importance, I think it has been surpassed by other collections. Also, the sound on the later discs is better than what you will find on this disc. (Caveat: I own an earlier version of this disc, and it is not impossible that on its re-release the remastered versions of the recordings have been utilized.) Still, for a long, long time this was the Chuck Berry disc to get.

So, if I were buying my first Chuck Berry disc and couldn't afford the CHESS BOX, which one would I go for? I would probably go with the GOLD collection. It is cheap, contains a heap of songs, and has decent sound quality. Then, if I were sufficiently moved to the point where I wanted more, I would go for the CHESS BOX. That really is the best one to get, but there are some really inexpensive compromises that one can make and still get a lot of music by one of the towering figures in rock `n' roll. June 6, 2006

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