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Chuck Berry-The Great Twenty-Eight is a collection of some of his best music from the period covering 1955 through 1965. It's probably the ultimate "greatest hits" collection, but I'm probably exaggarating a little--it's just that most of his songs are so recognizable and ingrained in ... Read review
Advantages: Great rock 'n roll by a guitar legend Disadvantages: None
...first to do it. Many great guitarists would come to emulate his licks and his sounds, and his songs were covered by so many artists that it's impossible to list them all. Suffice it to say that his influence was pervasive, to say the least.
Chuck Berry-The Great Twenty-Eight is a collection of some of his best music from the period covering 1955 through 1965. It's probably the ultimate "greatest hits" collection, but I'm ... ...are so recognizable and ingrained in our collective conciousness that they all seem like smash hits. Whatever the case, this collection defines the music of Chuck Berry and gives the listener a good idea of why this man's influence is still being felt today.
Highlights Of The Album (This album is hard to highlight because all of the songs are great, so actually these are the "super" highlights!)
A Chuck Berry concert in the 1950's must have been a sight to behold--with his distinctive "duck walk", his big pompadour hairdo and his flamboyant style of playing rock 'n roll guitar, I know that his shows must have been charged with energy and electricity. Although he was the ultimate showman, his importance in the field of rock 'n roll music cannot be discounted--in my opinion, Chuck Berry was the single most important rock 'n roll guitarist that ever lived. He created guitar licks that formed the basis for most of the rock music that was to follow--even today, most guitarists are playing licks that are just recycled versions of those raw, primal chops that Chuck Berry invented.
Early on in his career, Chuck Berry discovered that if you rolled all of the controls on those old tube amps all the way to the right, you could get that distortion that made his sound distinctive--putting the amp into overdrive created a guitar sound that would be recreated in the future by pedals and other effects, but he was the first to do it. Many great guitarists would come to emulate his licks and his sounds, and his songs were covered by so many artists that it's impossible to list them all. Suffice it to say that his influence was pervasive, to say the least.
Chuck Berry-The Great Twenty-Eight is a collection of some of his best music from the period covering 1955 through 1965. It's probably the ultimate "greatest hits" collection, but I'm probably exaggarating a little--it's just that most of his songs are so recognizable and ingrained in our collective conciousness that they all seem like smash hits. Whatever the case, this collection defines the music of Chuck Berry and gives the listener a good idea of why this man's influence is still being felt today.
Highlights Of The Album (This album is hard to highlight because all of the songs are great, so actually these are the "super" highlights!)
Maybelline was Chuck Berry's first hit, and the start-stop framework of the song became a model that many future artists copied. Roll Over Beethoven was a tune that was covered by such diverse artists as The Beatles, Mountain, and Electric Light Orchestra, but no one has ever matched the throbbing, primal energy of the original version. Rock And Roll Music matched up wonderful lyrical imagery with the pulsating beat, while Reelin' & Rockin" was a tune that Chuck Berry improvised on in live performances--his lyrics were much more racy than anything the record industry would have allowed on a recording.
Johnny B. Goode was Chuck Berry's tribute to Elvis Presley, complete with a jumped up beat and a rocking guitar line. Memphis was one of his most famous tunes, while Back In The USA has been covered by numerous artists--one of the most memorable (and unlikely) was Linda Ronstadt. Little Queenie lets Chuck Berry show off his rock 'n roll guitar skill, while Bye Bye Johnny was another tune loosely based on the career of Elvis Presley.
Nadine was a bluesy tune, complete with a powerful horn section, while Carol had distinct pop overtones (if you get a chance, check out John Lennon's cover of Carol on the BBC Sessions--it's really a treat). Sweet Little Sixteen is one of Chuck Berry's most endearing numbers, while No Particular Place To Go captured the imagination of a generation with its' wandering, carefree theme.
As the title indicates, there are twenty-eight tracks on this album, and believe me when I say that there's not a loser in the bunch. Each track is instantly recognizable by anyone who professes to love rock 'n roll music, and all of the songs demonstrate the guitar genius of Chuck Berry.
The booklet that accompanies the album has a brief history of the career of Chuck Berry--I've certainly seen more comprehensive histories, but this one is fairly complete, albeit with brevity. The track listing gives the year of each recording and the personnel who participated (Willie Dixon played bass guitar on many of these songs!). All in all, the insert has enough information to educate the listener.
If you want a good look at the music of a true guitar legend, this album is for you. Chuck Berry remains one of the most important figures in the history of rock 'n roll music, and this collection shows why.
Product Information for "Great 28 Hits, The - Chuck Berry" »
Product details
Title
Great 28 Hits, The
Performer
Chuck Berry
Genre
Oldies
Sub Genre
Rock 'N' Roll
Release Date
01/1994
Original Release Year
1982
Label / Distributor
Chess / Universal Music
Producer
Leonard Chess; Phil Chess
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Mixed
Format
Performer
EAN
8811911621
Additional notes
Album Notes
Personnel: Chuck Berry (guitar, vocals); Jimmy Rogers, Matt Murphy (guitar); L.C. Davis (tenor saxophone); Gene Barge (saxophone); Johnny Johnson, Lafayette Leake, Otis Spann, Paul Williams (piano); Willie Dixon, G. Smith (bass); Ebby Harding, Fred Below, Jasper Thomas, Odie Payne (drums); Jerome Green (percussion); The Equadors, The Moonglows (background vocals); Martha Berry. Recorded at Chess Studios, Chicago, Illinois and London, England. Includes liner notes by Michael Lydon. A seminal figure in the evolution of rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry's influence as songwriter and guitarist is incalculable. His cogent songs captured adolescent life, yet the artist was 30 years old when he commenced recording. In 1955, during a chance visit to Chicago, Berry met bluesman Muddy Waters, who advised the young singer to approach the Chess label. Berry's demo of 'Ida May', was sufficient to win a recording contract and the composition, retitled 'Maybellene', duly became his debut single. Berry enjoyed further hits with 'Thirty Days' and 'No Money Down', but it was his third recording session that proved even more productive, producing a stream of classics, 'Roll Over Beethoven', 'Too Much Monkey Business' and 'Brown-Eyed Handsome Man'. The artist's subsequent releases read like a lexicon of pop history - 'School Days', 'Rock And Roll Music' (all 1957), 'Sweet Little Sixteen', 'Reelin' And Rockin', 'Johnny B. Goode' (1958), 'Back In The USA', 'Let It Rock' (1960) and 'Bye Bye Johnny' (1960) are but a handful of the peerless songs written and recorded during this prolific period. Berry was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1986. His stature as an essential figure in the evolution of popular music cannot be underestimated.
Album Reviews
Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.105) - Ranked #4 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records" - "...This man and these songs are the reason cool lives..."
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