Artist: Chuck Berry
Album: The Complete Chess Singles: As & Bs 1955-61
Label: Acrobat
Release Date: 03/10/2015
Everyone from The Beatles to Jimi Hendrix to Elton John has paid homage to Chuck Berry, and for good reason. Berry was the torch-bearing pioneer for rock n’ roll that brought about a new era in music, and the masses responded accordingly. Due in part to the technological advances of the time such as electric guitars and amplifiers, Berry’s ripping guitar solos and catchy hooks catapulted him to the forefront of popular music.
This distinctive sound is flawlessly demonstrated on Acrobat’s upcoming release The Complete Chess Singles As & Bs 1955-61. The album is a double disc set that contains a whopping fifty tracks, complete with everything that you could ask for in a Chuck Berry collection. Yes, the classics are all here and accounted for. This collection features everything from “Roll Over Beethoven” to “Johnny B. Goode” and, of course, “Run Rudolph Run.” This release spans what most would consider his musical prime and Berry is in excellent form throughout.
Though Elvis Presley would become known as “the King of Rock and Roll,” this compilation allows listeners to both hear and feel the power of Berry’s music and the uncanny similarities between his style of rock and those that soon followed. Whether you are a Chuck Berry aficionado or you have yet to delve into ‘50s rock n’ roll this collection is an excellent addition to any music library.
– Landon Gampel
Berry’s style of rock and roll, tremendous as it is, was but one of the five which sprang simultanoeulsy in five US cities,none depending on the other as they all sprang from the many forefathers of rock and roll, most of whom didnt even know each other. From 1952 onwards, Chicago, New Orleans, Macon, Philadelphia and Memphis, those five cities produced Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley, And they all sounded differently, not just the sound of their bands, or the voices as well, the the songs{s were structured differently becaue the forefathers for each of the 5 were different. Chuck’s contribution was enormous but had our ears NOT been lucky to hear the others, let alone see them in action, rock would have been a totally different proposition, certainly not lasting as long as it has…