Chuck Berry - The Definitive Collection

Great Chuck Berry Anthology

As long as Chuck Berry as been around, you know that there will always be multiple greatest hits collections released, and people will always argue over which one is best. I haven't heard of these collections, so I can't or won't even try to venture as to which one is best or most complete, but I can say that this collection is 99% percent complete of the songs that the great Mr. Berry had as hit singles, with the exception of "Run, Run Rudolph," which should be included in any Berry anthology.

But "Johnny B. Goode" is here. And so is "Maybelline," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Rock and Roll Music," "No Particular Place To Go," "School Day," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Thirty Days," and yes, "My Ding-A-Ling," which should be included for completeness, even if it's far from being the favorite of most Berry fans.

This is a wonderful collection, and comparisons are fine to make, so please check out the others and make your case for which one is best. For this reviewer, this one is just fine. June 25, 2008

Never too much Chuck Berry

Every song is wonderful on this CD. It has all of my favorites and much more. I love this CD. April 21, 2008

Lots of good music

Ordered this CD so I could put in on my IPOD Touch.
Lots of old good songs on it. Typical Chuck Berry
music. March 25, 2008

"I'm Chuck Berry, and I Play Chuck Berry"

"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?
February 15, 2008

Long Live Rock n' Roll

Chuck's the man! Always has been. This is the best compilation of his seminal contributions to the genre. February 5, 2008

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