Gold (CD - 2000)

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.

Falling squarely between the 71-track triple-disc Chess Box and numerous single-album distillations of Chuck Berry's hits, most notably The Great Twenty-Eight, is this 2000-released, chronologically compiled double-disc set. Its 50 tunes include all of Berry's seminal Chess hits plus key album tracks like "Beautiful Delilah," "Jo Jo Gunne," and "Jaguar & Thunderbird" that were influential but never cracked the charts. The 20-page booklet features a fascinating, extensive essay that provides crucial insights into Berry's work as well as rare pictures and track-by-track personnel listing. Since virtually all of Berry's essential work was done for the Chess label, now part of the Universal empire, there's no reason to decry the lack of anything from Berry's Mercury years, even though those tracks are now owned by the same company and could have been included, especially tacked onto disc two that times out at a relatively conservative 64 minutes. But with a lineup like this, who's complaining? Berry is the undisputed father of rock & roll and his music, much of it blues based and in a few cases like "Havana Moon" even Caribbean inspired, remains timeless as well as inspirational decades after it was recorded. The joys of discovering forgotten, relatively obscure cuts like "Come On" or "I'm Talking About You," both of which are easily on par with any of his more popular hits, is one of life's little bonuses. Berry's lyrics remain intriguingly descriptive, and the remastered sound brings these songs alive with every instrument, especially Willie Dixon's dynamic, jazzy stand-up bass clearly defined. The savvy track selection makes this a better, more consistent listen than the bulky box and stands as the best introduction to one of the most significant pop musicians of 20th century music and the single most important rock & roller ever. ~ Hal Horowitz

Universal's 2005 release Gold is a repackaged reissue of their excellent 2000 release Anthology, containing the same 50 tracks over two CDs, the same mastering, and the same liner notes. The only difference is the title and the artwork, which are tailored to be part of Universal's ongoing Gold series (which somehow is more extensive than their ongoing Platinum series, even if it isn't as precious a metal). Clearly, anybody who owns that previous compilation has no need to repurchase this set, but anybody who's looking for a good compilation of Chuck Berry's classic Chess recordings of the '50s and '60s should get this, since this contains all of the hits plus the great majority of such excellent non-hit singles as "Jaguar & Thunderbird," "Tulane," and "Jo Jo Gunne," none of which are on the seminal Great Twenty-Eight comp (all 28 songs from that collection are here, however). While it's not as exhaustive as the triple-disc Chess Box, there's not a bad cut here outside of the abominable "My Ding-A-Ling" -- a novelty that grows worse with each passing year, but is regrettably (yet somehow fittingly) Chuck's only number one single -- and it comes as close to being a definitive Chuck Berry anthology as a double-disc compilation can be. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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. minimize