Chuck Berry discography, 1960-66

Chuck Berry's 1960s discography with Chess Records is not dissimilar from his 1950s output in that there was a lot of scrambling of songs from different recording sessions. As I did with my previous post on Chuck Berry last month, I try to rectify that here.


ROCKIN' AT THE HOPS
In February 1960, Chuck recorded seven songs. Not enough for an album. But during his next sessions in March and April, he recorded 14 songs. Now we've got too many! For Chuck's first album of the 1960s, we took his Rockin' the Hops album and rearranged it slightly. We'll use the seven songs recorded that year that were originally on the album, and we'll add the rest of the February session. Most importantly, we do not include the songs that had been recorded the previous year, having already used them on our Let It Rock album.

SIDE A
1. Bye Bye Johnny
2. Worried Life Blues
3. Down the Road a Piece
4. Confessin' the Blues
5. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
6. Mad Lad

SIDE B
1. I Got to Find My Baby
2. Our Little Rendezvous
3. Run Around
4. Sweet Sixteen
5. Driftin' Blues
6. Jaguar and Thunderbird


NEW JUKE BOX HITS
New Juke Box Hits from 1961 is almost perfect, but two songs from older sessions are jettisoned, and two newer tunes take their place. Specifically, I removed "Thirteen Question Method" from the first side and replaced it with "I Still Got the Blues"; and on the second side I replaced "Run Around" with "Crying Steel."

SIDE A
1. I'm Talking About You
2. Diploma for Two
3. I Still Got the Blues
4. Away from You
5. Don't You Lie to Me
6. The Way It Was Before

SIDE B
1. Little Star
2. Route 66
3. Crying Steel
4. Stop and Listen
5. Rip It Up


GO GO GO (EP)
In 1963, Chess released a ridiculous album titled Chuck Berry on Stage. It's ridiculous because not only is it not a live album, but someone took Chuck Berry's songs and audience sounds were overdubbed on the tracks. There were six new songs that Chuck had recorded at this time (and were used on the Chuck Berry on Stage album), but they really don't fit on any album. So, I give you an EP. Six new songs plus a re-recorded version of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." For the cover, I took the Chuck Berry on Stage album and messed with it.

SIDE A
1. Come On
2. Adulteen
3. The Man and the Donkey

SIDE B
1. Go Go Go
2. Trick or Treat
3. All Aboard
4. Brown Eyed Handsome Man


ST. LOUIS TO LIVERPOOL
The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands were playing and recording Chuck Berry songs, and Chess saw an opportunity to connect to a new young audience, hence the album title. Quite a few changes were needed to make this an album with contemporary cuts. The first two songs on the first side are changed, and three more are changed on the second side. I can't believe Chess and Chuck didn't include "Big Ben" on this album originally as it connects at least a bit to the theme of the album's title. The cover is the same as the original, but I changed the song titles to reflect the track list changes.

SIDE A
1. Nadine
2. Crazy Arms
3. No Particular Place to Go
4. You Two
5. Promised Land
6. You Never Can Tell

SIDE B
1. Big Ben
2. The Things I Used to Do
3. Liverpool Drive
4. Fraulein
5. O Rangutang
6. Brenda Lee


CHUCK BERRY IN LONDON
In another attempt to jump on the British Invasion bandwagon, Chuck invaded Britain and recorded eight of the tracks in London. The other six tracks originally on this album were recorded in Chicago, so the album title is a little misleading. Originally, this album had 14 tracks, but that's a stretch with some songs included that weren't from this period. Since most of Chuck's albums have 12 tracks, I kept this one with that number as well. I removed the track "Night Beat," which was recorded in 1957, and I've no idea why it was decided to include it here. Other tracks removed include "His Daughter Caroline," "Butterscotch" and "The Song of My Love."

The single version of "Chuck's Beat" has been added. The full-length version is on the album Two Great Guitars, a jam album Chuck recorded with Bo Diddley.

SIDE A
1. My Little Love-Light
2. She Once Was Mine
3. After It's Over
4. I Got a Booking
5. Little Girl from Central
6. You Came a Long Way from St. Louis

SIDE B
1. St. Louis Blues
2. Jamaica Farewell
3. Dear Dad
4. Chuck's Beat
5. Why Should We End This Way
6. I Want to be Your Driver


FRESH BERRYS
Fresh Berrys was released in November 1965, and it was indeed fresh. All the songs had been recorded over two days, Sept. 1 and 2. This, in my opinion, is the only Chuck Berry album Chess Records got right during the period 1955-1965. As such, I didn't change anything.

SIDE A
1. It Wasn't Me
2. Run Joe
3. Every Day We Rock and Roll
4. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
5. Welcome Back, Pretty Baby
6. It's My Own Business

SIDE B
1. Right Off Rampart Street
2. Vaya Con Dios
3. Merrily We Rock and Roll
4. My Mustang Ford
5. Ain't That Just Like a Woman
6. Wee Hour Blues


VIVA ROCK AND ROLL
In April 1966, Chuck recorded his last songs for Chess Records before switching to Mercury Records. Chuck would return to Chess two years later. During his absence, Chess released one compilation album, but there were enough songs to issue one more studio LP. However, to do so we have to include both his most recent tracks as well as a few leftovers from 1965. I created this "all-new" album, and I really like the cover. Found this picture on the web and knew right away this was the cover.

SIDE A

1. Ramona Say Yes
2. I'm in the Danger Zone
3. Sad Day, Long Night
4. Go Bobby Soxer
5. Butterscotch
6. Shake, Rattle and Roll

SIDE B

1. Viva Rock and Roll
2. Lonely School Days
3. His Daughter Caroline
4. The Song of My Love
5. Honey Hush
6. Little Marie
Bonus: Spending Christmas

NOTE:
 Information about Chuck Berry's recording sessions was provided by
    The Chuck Berry Database at http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/cbdb
    © 2018 by Dietmar Rudolph, Fred Rothwell, Morten Reff