Gold

Performer: Chuck Berry
Artist: Willie Dixon; Bo Diddley; Matt Murphy; Etta James; The Marquees
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Chuck Berry (vocals, guitar); Jimmie Rogers, Hubert Sumlin, Bo Diddley, Matt Murphy, Owen McIntyre, Wayne "Tex" Gabriel (guitar); L.C. Davis (tenor saxophone); James Robinson, Stan Bronstein (saxophone); Johnnie Johnson, Otis Spann, Lafayette Leake, Paul Williams, Dave Kafinetti, Adam Ippolita (piano); Willie Dixon, G. Smith, Reggie Boyd (bass); Nic Potter, Gary Van Scyoc (electric bass); Jasper Thomas, Ebby Hardy, Fred Below, Odie Pain, Robbie McIntosh, Rick Frank (drums); Jerome Green (maracas); Etta James, The Marquees, The Ecuadors, Martha Berry (background vocals). Producers: Esmond Edwards, Leonard Chess, Phil Chess. Compilation producer: Andy McKaie. Recorded between 1955 and 1973. Includes liner notes by Mark Humphrey. Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (Universal Music Studios-West, North Hollywood, California). Personnel: Chuck Berry (vocals, guitar); Jimmy Rogers , Matt Murphy, Owen McIntyre (guitar); L.C. Davis (tenor saxophone); Johnnie Johnson, Lafayette Leake, Otis Spann (piano); G. Smith (bass instrument); Willie Dixon (double bass); Nic Potter (bass guitar); Fred Below, Hubert Sumlin, Odie Payne, Robbie McIntosh , Jasper Thomas, Ebby Hardy (drums); Jerome Green (maracas); Etta James (background vocals); Elephant's Memory, The Marquees. Liner Note Author: Mark Humphrey. It would be an overstatement to say that Chuck Berry, like some guitar-slinging Dr. Frankenstein, single-handedly built the body of rock n' roll. Still, it is very likely that the monster's heart might have never started pounding properly had it not been for Berry's wholly revolutionary synthesis of R&B and rockabilly, his infectious, propulsive songs, his flashy, rock & roll attitude, and his no-nonsense approach to electric guitar solos. The definitive collection of Berry's music, this two-disc, 50-track set is peppered with a few lesser-known cuts such as the dark, churning "Downbound Train" and the calypso-tinged "Havana Moon," as well as some entries from Berry's later period, such as the terrific "Tulane." But once Berry's classics start stacking up, there's not room for much else. Rock archetypes such as "Johnny B. Goode," "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Rock and Roll Music," and "Roll Over Beethoven" are merely the tip of the iceberg. Chess Records luminaries the likes of Willie Dixon, Hubert Sumlin, Otis Spann and Etta James and the Marquees lend bluesy, punchy, in-the-pocket back-up support. THE ANTHOLOGY is an utterly essential collection.

Elvis may have brought rock and roll to a mass (i.e. caucasian) audiences, but if the genre has a father--someone who could truly be crowned its king--it is undoubtedly Chuck Berry, the man who wrote the genre's entire vocabularly in riffs. Not just a guitar dynamo and consummate showman, Berry was a masterfully wry songwriter whose songs displayed a narrative wit as infectious as their hooks. His run of singles from 1955 to 1965--including his debut "Maybelline," "Rock and Roll Music," "Roll Over Beethoven," and "Johnny B. Goode" among many others--turned on generations of rockers from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to AC/DC and the Sex Pistols. While his chart presence waned after 1972's lewd novelty hit "My Ding-a-Ling," Berry continued to duck walk across stages the world over in the ensuing decades.

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