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There have been many, many Chuck Berry compilations released by Chess over the years, but as of the spring of 2006, there was no comprehensive single-disc set in print; there was the double-disc 2005 set Gold, which itself was a retitled reissue of 2000's Anthology, but the classic comp The Great Twenty-Eight was long out of print, and nothing had replaced it until the 2006 release of The Definitive Collection. This generous 30-track selection offers nearly everything that was on The Great Twenty-Eight and in nearly the same sequence -- "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "Roll Over Beethoven" are swapped, for instance, but it's not really a noticeable change. "Bye Bye Johnny" is the only song missing from The Great Twenty-Eight, which is not a huge omission, especially since it's been replaced with two great singles, "You Never Can Tell" and "Promised Land." "My Ding-A-Ling" is also here and, while it is a worse song than "Bye Bye Johnny," it was Chuck's only number one single, so its inclusion makes sense -- and it hardly sinks a collection that is by far the best, most comprehensive single-disc Chuck Berry set yet assembled. Sure, there are some great Berry songs that are absent, but all the major songs are here; plus, if you need more than 30 songs, turn to either Gold or The Chess Box. If you want a single-disc best-of collection of all of Chuck's finest, this is the one to get.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Jerome Green, Maracas, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1955 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jasper Thomas, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Jerome Green, Maracas, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1955 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Otis Spann, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1955 UMG Recordings, Inc.
L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jimmy Rogers, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Hubert Sumlin, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1957 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Lafayette Leake, Piano, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1996 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Fred Below, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Lafayette Leake, Piano, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1958 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Martha Berry, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Ebby Harding, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1961 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1964 Geffen Records
James Robinson, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Unknown, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Odie Payne, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Geffen Records
Unknown, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Lafayette Leake, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Odie Payne, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Geffen Records
Unknown, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Williams, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Odie Payne, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1965 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Esmond Edwards, Producer
℗ 1972 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
There have been many, many Chuck Berry compilations released by Chess over the years, but as of the spring of 2006, there was no comprehensive single-disc set in print; there was the double-disc 2005 set Gold, which itself was a retitled reissue of 2000's Anthology, but the classic comp The Great Twenty-Eight was long out of print, and nothing had replaced it until the 2006 release of The Definitive Collection. This generous 30-track selection offers nearly everything that was on The Great Twenty-Eight and in nearly the same sequence -- "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "Roll Over Beethoven" are swapped, for instance, but it's not really a noticeable change. "Bye Bye Johnny" is the only song missing from The Great Twenty-Eight, which is not a huge omission, especially since it's been replaced with two great singles, "You Never Can Tell" and "Promised Land." "My Ding-A-Ling" is also here and, while it is a worse song than "Bye Bye Johnny," it was Chuck's only number one single, so its inclusion makes sense -- and it hardly sinks a collection that is by far the best, most comprehensive single-disc Chuck Berry set yet assembled. Sure, there are some great Berry songs that are absent, but all the major songs are here; plus, if you need more than 30 songs, turn to either Gold or The Chess Box. If you want a single-disc best-of collection of all of Chuck's finest, this is the one to get.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 30 track(s)
- Total length: 01:16:22
- Main artists: Chuck Berry
- Composer: Chuck Berry
- Label: Geffen
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2006 UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2006 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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