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The two classic cuts that bookend this album should be enough to attract the uninitiated -- Berry at his best wrote danceable little "vest-pocket" screenplays dealing with teen life, of which "Bye Bye Johnny" and "Let It Rock" were two of his best; but because they've been so heavily anthologized, those two cuts don't have the pulling power here that they would have had 40-some years back. So get this record for everything else that's on it -- Rockin' at the Hops not only has no filler, but it's chock full of records that show off a bluesy side of Berry's output that was never fully appreciated at the time. His version of Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues" shows how good a bluesman Berry might've been had he been more the Muddy Waters-type player and singer that Chess had been looking for; "Down the Road a Piece," a song written by Don Raye (of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" fame), is a lost Berry single that could've rated right up there with "Roll Over Beethoven," except that its roadhouse ambience and story line were more mature than a lot of kids might've embraced in 1959; and Walter Brown's "Confessin' the Blues" and "Driftin' Blues" fit into the same category, Berry the adult bluesman rather than the teen-oriented teaser. "Childhood Sweetheart" is a sequel to "Wee Wee Hours," Berry's very first blues side, lifting a fragment or two from Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" for its guitar break. "Too Pooped to Pop" and "Betty Jean," by contrast, are a pair of enjoyably upbeat rock & roll numbers, each featuring uncharacteristic elements, a sax solo on the former, and a male chorus on the latter; in between them is "Mad Lad," an instrumental that presents Berry drifting into what would later be defined as a surf guitar mode -- a quicker tempo would have done it (and does anyone want to bet that a young Carl Wilson didn't wear out a copy or two listening to this track?).
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1960 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - MACEO MERRIWEATHER, ComposerLyricist - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Don Raye, ComposerLyricist - Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - JAY MCSHANN, Composer - Walter Brown, Author - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Billy Davis, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Berry, MainArtist - Billy Davis, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1960 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1960 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.
L.C. Davis, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Unknown, Saxophone, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - EDDIE WILLIAMS, ComposerLyricist - Chuck Berry, Guitar, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - JOHNNY MOORE, ComposerLyricist - WILLIE DIXON, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Charles Brown, ComposerLyricist - Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Johnny Dudley Moore, ComposerLyricist - Johnnie Johnson, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Edward E. Williams, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Ebby Hardy, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1960 Geffen Records
Chuck Berry, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1959 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Albumbeschreibung
The two classic cuts that bookend this album should be enough to attract the uninitiated -- Berry at his best wrote danceable little "vest-pocket" screenplays dealing with teen life, of which "Bye Bye Johnny" and "Let It Rock" were two of his best; but because they've been so heavily anthologized, those two cuts don't have the pulling power here that they would have had 40-some years back. So get this record for everything else that's on it -- Rockin' at the Hops not only has no filler, but it's chock full of records that show off a bluesy side of Berry's output that was never fully appreciated at the time. His version of Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues" shows how good a bluesman Berry might've been had he been more the Muddy Waters-type player and singer that Chess had been looking for; "Down the Road a Piece," a song written by Don Raye (of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" fame), is a lost Berry single that could've rated right up there with "Roll Over Beethoven," except that its roadhouse ambience and story line were more mature than a lot of kids might've embraced in 1959; and Walter Brown's "Confessin' the Blues" and "Driftin' Blues" fit into the same category, Berry the adult bluesman rather than the teen-oriented teaser. "Childhood Sweetheart" is a sequel to "Wee Wee Hours," Berry's very first blues side, lifting a fragment or two from Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" for its guitar break. "Too Pooped to Pop" and "Betty Jean," by contrast, are a pair of enjoyably upbeat rock & roll numbers, each featuring uncharacteristic elements, a sax solo on the former, and a male chorus on the latter; in between them is "Mad Lad," an instrumental that presents Berry drifting into what would later be defined as a surf guitar mode -- a quicker tempo would have done it (and does anyone want to bet that a young Carl Wilson didn't wear out a copy or two listening to this track?).
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:26:39
- Main artists: Chuck Berry
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Geffen*
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 1960 Geffen Records ℗ 1960 Geffen Records
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