If you had to sweat all of Chuck Berry's early albums on Chess (and some, but not all, of his subsequent greatest-hits packages), this would be the one to own. The song lineup is exemplary, cobbling together classics like "Maybellene,""Carol,""Sweet Little Rock & Roller,""Little Queenie,""Roll Over Beethoven,""Around and Around,""Johnny B. Goode," and "Almost Grown." With the addition of the Latin-flavored "Hey Pedro," the steel guitar workout "Blues for Hawaiians,""Anthony Boy," and "Jo Jo Gunne," this serves as almost a mini-greatest-hits package in and of itself. While this may be merely a collection of singles and album ballast (as were most rock & roll LPs of the 1950s and early '60s), it ends up being the most perfectly realized of Chuck Berry's career. [Cub Coda]
"There she is again standin' over by the record machine
Lookin' like a model on the cover of a magazine
She's too cute to be a minute over seventeen..."
Lookin' like a model on the cover of a magazine
She's too cute to be a minute over seventeen..."
This really is one of the purest examples of rock `n' roll ever made, from its gorgeous cover to its unassailable songs. This is swinging, greasy, rollicking, dance-all-night juke joint bliss, a sizzling slab of musical mayhem that'll be rocking across the ages until the end of time. It's the blueprint for everything from the Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath to the Clash to the White Stripes, and just about anybody else that picked up a guitar after 1957. [ACR]
"Mean while I was thinkin'
She's in the mood, no need to break it
I got the chance, I oughta take it
If she will dance, we can make it
C'mon Queenie let's shake it"
I got the chance, I oughta take it
If she will dance, we can make it
C'mon Queenie let's shake it"
HEY PEDRO, Dig!!!
"You know, my temperature's risin'
The jukebox's blowin' a fuse.
My heart's beatin' rhythm
And my soul keeps a-singin' the blues.
Roll Over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news."
The jukebox's blowin' a fuse.
My heart's beatin' rhythm
And my soul keeps a-singin' the blues.
Roll Over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news."
