Chuck Berry:

On Stage: (1963)

Chuck Berry, one of the fathers of this religion known as Rock'n'Roll, and a formidably force of nature. When I first got an electric guitar the opening riff to Maybelline was one of two riffs I desperately wanted to learn to play. On Stage isn't really a live album, oddly enough, it's a studio album with audience sounds overdubbed on it. Why? I'm not sure. Probably a clever attempt to rerelease some of Chuck's back catalogue. Never the less it's a cool record of previously released tunes, and one alternate take. Another curiosity is that Surfin' USA is listed on the cover, but isn't on the album. In its place is the Berry song Sweet Little Sixteen, the song on which Surfin' USA was based. This to me is such a Punk Rock tactic to try and steal back what was stolen from him, and bring some of that young white audience back with it. Genius!

San Francisco Dues: (1971) 

While Chuck's heyday may have been the late 50's, I find his 70's stuff to be more interesting. The hits had dried up, except for the song My Ding-a-Ling, and the albums during this time period, while searching, seem freer than pervious efforts. Case in point, My Dream (Poem). A six minute recitation that wouldn't be totally out of place on a Lou Reed record. I also like the trend of this era of just adding Wah-Wah guitar for the hell of it, simply because it was the "in" thing to do, and on this record, like so many, interesting things happened.

The London Chuck Berry Sessions: (1972)

Of Chuck Berry's 70's output, this is the high point. Half studio, half live, it was certified gold after being out only two weeks. Mainly because of the success of the single My Ding-a-Ling, a sexually naughty song like only Chuck Berry could make seem so innocent and dirty all at once on radio airwaves. This is a cool album, even if Chuck's voice seems a little worn out, he's still going for it. I saw hime a couple years ago, and he's still going for it, even when he has no real intention of hitting it. So very Rock'n'Roll.

Rock It:(1979)

Will this be the last Chuck Berry studio record? As of right now it looks that way. This is kind of a stagnant album. It seems like the inspiration was running low here. The musicianship is on, but lacking a real spark. The rerecording of Havana Moon is nice. I suppose this is the retirement record for Chuck, even though he has continued to perform regularly up to the present.