4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The King Of Rock & Roll, Sep 7 2003
This review is from: Blues (Audio CD)
Chuck Berry was the master, the true King of Rock & Roll, and this album, which has few of the big Top 40 hits found on most Berry compilations, demonstrates his regency better than most.
In the late 50s and early 60s, and then again in the late 60s and early 70s, Berry recorded dozens of songs that were filled with the smoke and BBQ ribs of the East St. Louis he came from; they were spicy and smart and grooved. Some of the best, if least well known, of those records are collected on BLUES. "House of Blue Lights," "Wee Wee Hours" and others display Berry's master of traditional Blues, the form he converted into the chugga-chugga Rock & Roll that altered American Pop for decades to come.
There are uptempo tunes here, too, and some of them will be familiar to most Rock fans: "I Just Want To Make Love To You" was a standard cover for most Rock groups in the 60s and 70s, and "Down The Road Apiece" was covered--photo copied, some would say--by the early Rolling Stones, as was "Route 66," though Berry slips in a nifty bit of guitar dissodence that makes his version unforgettable.
The CD ends on a piece of pure gold, one of Berry's greatest records which, as far as I know, never hit the charts. "St. Louis Blues" chugs like a steam train; the band smokes and Berry's guitar sings in that sloppy, happy way that his fans have always loved, but it has a nasty edge to it here, too.
He was thE King of Rock & Roll.
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