Chuck Berry -Wow!!!

A couple of days ago on a whim I loaded Chuck Berry on Spotify. This was my first time (intentionally) listening to his music. I picked a compilation, let it play, and.. wow!!! So much energy, so much oomph! No sappy slow ballads, just tons of dancy, rocking energy. I was incredibly impressed, and my girls (7 and 6) loved it too.

I would love to collect his albums, but I see he has a big catalog, so I am a bit daunted.

Is there a good starting point, ideally a career-spanning comp so that I can get a sense of what eras of his I like most?

And also, is there a must-have book and/or documentary to provide context?

Thanks!

 

"Rocks" on Bear Family Records is an enjoyable 1CD introductory compilation which also includes an informative small booklet.

If you want to dig deeper, I highly recommend the 16CD comprehensive box set on Bear Family Records.

 

There are nice sets on HipO Select of the 50s and 60s, then there is the massive BEar Family set, plus the 3cd UNiversal/MCA set.

 

The Great Twenty-Eight is a stellar compilation. Cover-to-cover classics.

 

Yup! This is a great place to start.

 

The Chess Box is good and you can pick it up relatively cheaply, some have commented on sound quality issues on some early tracks but for the money you can't go too far wrong, it's got a booklet in the set too.



There are a couple of LP's too called Rock and Roll Rarities (Vol 1 & 2) which have excellent SQ. I don't want to belittle the rest of his recording career but the earlier stuff is the best with all the classics.

 

I have listened to Chuck all my life and consider the man one of the alltime greatest songwriters within rock n roll. Also as a lyricist he has a poetic edge that sets him apart. Guess the giant Bear family box is the real deal. However I have stuck with the three Hip o select sets that in their own way tells the story as good as it gets.
Chuck might have been a flawed person but as a songwriter and ocassinaly performer is among the real cream of the cream

 

Here's a lisi of his actual albums with star ratings:

Chuck Berry | Album Discography | AllMusic »

 

Chuck Berry peaked in an era when albums typically consisted of that year's singles plus a few extra songs, so you'd be better off starting with a comp like The Great Twenty-Eight, The Definitive Collection, Gold, Rocks, etc. before possibly upgrading to boxes from Bear Family or Hip-O. A more obscure but affordable box-set option is The Chess Years (nine discs) from Charly.

 

Chuck is among the very greatest of songwriters and performers. I would second the recommendations for Bear Family Rocks series and the Great Twenty Eight.

 

I disagree with whomever says that --and especially if it's Allmusic.

 

I had this on CD about 28 years ago, I loved it, those were the great days of CD's.

Some hog was in the bins taking 50 out of the 60 new records and I saw the Great 28 in his pile, I almost cried, ha.

 

Must have book:



Also enjoyed this one as well:

 

and absolutely must have doc...hopefully you can nab the 4 DVD Deluxe Version.



The deluxe set has stuff like this:

 

That's what I was thinking. Box sets are for the already committed, not for someone just getting started.

 

this is a must have documentary for Chuck! Still great even all these years on. It explains things from his perspective
too and how he came a wise money making musician.
beautifully shot too, like old film is.

 

You really can't got wrong with any of his first four albums. IMO the best of those is 1959's Chuck Berry Is On Top.

 

I always liked this collection. This was my first main collection on Cd:



It's on Universal/Chess and I think it sounds pretty good.
The Bear Family set is hands down on quality though.
You get all the hits on the 2CD's and some nice little gems as well.
But if your gonna spend the big bucks!???? BF all the way.

 

Hard to complain about that track line-up.

 

it's not one of these silly 'jasmine' or needle drop dull sounding releases either, and for 10 bux or so?? for the new fan who doesn't wan't to spend much,
it's the ticket

 

This is a nice little compilation also.

 

Such a brilliant lyricist.

 

The actual FEAR in the faces of Eric and Keith in that youtube clip above is absolutely priceless.

As Lennon said, "if you want another name for rock'n'roll, you could call it Chuck Berry"

 

It was good for its time, but it's got a few lesser tracks (Havana Moon, Oh Baby Doll) and it's missing some absolute essentials (Promised Land, You Never Can Tell).

 

Here is the track listing for Rocks:

1. Maybellene
2. Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)
3. You Can't Catch Me
4. No Money Down
5. Brown Eyed Handsome Man
6. Roll Over Beethoven
7. Too Much Monkey Business
8. School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes The Bell)
9. Rock And Roll Music
10. Oh Baby Doll
11. Sweet Little Sixteen
12. Reelin' And Rockin'
13. Johnny B. Goode
14. Around And Around
15. Beautiful Delilah
16. Carol
17. Memphis, Tennessee
18. Sweet Little Rock And Roller
19. Run Rudolph Run
20. Little Queenie
21. Almost Grown
22. Back In The U.S.A.
23. Betty Jean
24. Let It Rock
25. Bye Bye Johnny
26. Jaguar And Thunderbird
27. Go-Go-Go
28. Nadine (Is It You?)
29. You Never Can Tell
30. Promised Land
31. No Particular Place To Go
32. Dear Dad