ChuckBerryAnthology+FreddieKing:Just Pickin+Speciality:Rock\'n\'Roll Fever.[3-CDs]

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ChuckBerryAnthology+FreddieKing:Just Pickin+Speciality:Rock\'n\'Roll Fever.[3-CDs]:
$23.41

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[Threeseparate CDs:Chuck Berry - The Anthology (1955-1973),Freddie King -Let\'s Hide Away and Dance Away With Freddie King(1961) /Freddie King Gives You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals(1961-1964), and the compilation CD,Rock\'n\'Roll Fever, The Wildest From Speciality(1956-1958)]
CD 1Chuck Berry - The Anthology(1955-1973):Tracklist:Disc 1(1955-1959):1. Maybellene2. Wee Wee Hours3. Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)4. You Can\'t Catch Me5. Down Bound Train6. No Money Down7. Brown Eyed Handsome Man8. Roll Over Beethoven9. Too Much Monkey Business10. Havana Moon11. School Day12. Rock And Roll Music13. Oh Baby Doll14. Sweet Little Sixteen15. Guitar Boogie16. Reelin\' And Rockin\'17. Johnny B. Goode18. Around And Around19. Beautiful Delilah20. House Of Blue Lights21. Carol22. Jo Jo Gunne23. Memphis, Tennessee24. Sweet Little Rock \'N\' Roller25. Little Queenie26. Almost GrownDisc 2(1959-1973):1. Back In The U.S.A.2. Do You Love Me3. Betty Jean4. Childhood Sweetheart5. Let It Rock6. Too Pooped To Pop7. I Got To Find My Baby8. Don\'t You Lie To Me9. Bye Bye Johnny10. Jaguar And Thunderbird11. Down The Road Apiece12. Confessin\' The Blues13. I\'m Talking About You14. Come On15. Nadine (Is It You?)16. You Never Can Tell17. Promised Land18. No Particular Place To Go19. Dear Dad20. I Want To Be Your Driver21. Tulane22. My Ding-A-Ling23. Reelin\' And Rockin\'24. Bio
A really good comp selection of one of the seminal originalgenius guitarists ofrock\'n\'roll, an African-American steeped in country music and r&b, who melded the two into a fresh and unique hybrid becoming the first major black rock\'n\'roller to crossover unto the white record and audience market in 1955, and becoming one of the most influential rock guitarists ever. Born in St.Louis (Missouri),Charles Edward Anderson\"Chuck\"Berrywas the fourth child in a family of six. He grew up in a predominantlymiddle classneighborhoodat the time. His father was a contractor and deacon of a nearby Baptistchurch, his mother was a certified public school principal. His middle class upbringing allowed him to pursue his interest in music from an early age and he gave his first public performance in 1941 (age 15) while in High School.In 1944, while still in High School, he was convictedin Kansas Cityof armed robbery forrobbing three shopsand then stealing a car at gunpoint with some friends.Sent to a reformatory for boys at Algoa, (Missouri)where he formed a singing quartet and did some boxing.Released from prison on his 21st birthday in 1947, Berry soon met and married Themetta \"Toddy\" Suggs in 1948.Berry supported his wife and newborn daughter in St. Louis doing a number of jobs: briefly as a factory worker at two automobile assembly plants, as well as being janitor for the apartment building where he and his wife lived. Afterwards he trained as a beautician.He bought a house in a middle-class neighborhood in 1950.By the early 1951, Berry was working with local bands in the clubs of St. Louis as an extra source of income.He had been playing bluessince his teens, and he borrowed both guitar riffs andshowmanship techniquestechniques from blues guitaristT-Bone Walker,as well as taking guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris that laid the foundation for his guitar style.By early 1953 Berry was performing withJohnnie Johnson\'s trio, starting a long-time collaboration with the pianist.Although the band played mostly blues and ballads, among whites in the area country wasthe most popular music. Berry wrote, \"Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering \'who is that black hillbillyat the Cosmo?\' After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the \'hillbilly stuff\' and enjoyed dancing to it.\"Berry\'s calculated showmanship, along with mixing country tunes with R&B tunes, and singing in the style ofNat King Coleto the music ofMuddy Waters, brought in a wider audience, particularly affluent white people.In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago where he met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonardof Chess Records. Berry thought his blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording by Bob WillsentitledIda Redthat got Chess\'s attention. Chess had seen the r&bmarket shrink and was looking to move beyond it to something new/fresh, and he thought Berry might be the artist for that purpose. So later that month Berry recorded an adaptation of Ida Red,Maybellene,which featuredJohnnie Johnsonon piano,Jerome Green(from Bo Diddley\'s band) maracas,Jasper Thomas(drums), andWillie Dixon(bass). \"Maybellene\" sold over a million copies, reaching No. 1 on Billboard\'s Rhythm and Blues chart and #5 in September \'crossing-over\' to white audiences on the Billboard National Chart.In June 1956, the seminalRoll Over Beethovenreached #29 on the Billboradchart, and Berry toured in a nationwide tour,\"Top Acts of \'56.\" He andCarl Perkinsbecame friends. Perkins said that \"I knew when I first heard Chuck that he\'d been affected by country music. I respected his writing; his records were very, very great.\" As they toured, Perkins discovered that Berry not only liked country music, but knew about as many songs as he did.Jimmie Rogerswas one of his favorites. Perkins: \"Chuck knew every Blue Yodel and most ofBill Monroe\'s songs as well.\"In late 1957, Berry took part in Alan Freed\'sBiggest Show of Stars for 1957US tour with the Everly Brothers, Buddy Hollyand others.He also guest starred on TV\'sGuy Mitchell Showhaving sung his hit songRock \'n\' Roll Music.The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the top 10 US hitsSchool Days, Sweet Little Sixteenand the seminalJohnny B. Goode. He appeared in two early rock and roll movies,Rock Rock Rock,(1956) in which he singsYou Can\'t Catch Me. He had a speaking role as himself inGo, Johnny, Go!(1959) as well as performingMemphis TennesseeandLittle Queenie.By 1959, Berry was a high-profile established star with several hit records and film appearances to his name, as well as a lucrative touring career. He had opened a racially integrated St. Louis-based nightclub, called Berry\'s Club Bandstand, and was investing in real estate.But in December Berry was arrestedafter questionable allegations that he had sexual intercourse with a 14-year-oldwhom he had transported over state lines.After an initial two-week trial in March 1960, Berry was sentenced to five years in prison.Berry\'s appeal that the judge\'s comments and attitude were racist and prejudiced the jury against him was upheld,and a second trial was heard in May and June 1961,which resulted in Berry being given a three-year prison sentence.After another appeal failed, Berry served until October 1963.Berry had continued recording and performing during the trials, though his output had slowed down as his popularity declined; his final single released before being imprisoned wasCome On(1961).


When Berry was released from prison in 1963, he was able to return to recording and performing due to the British Invasionacts of the 1964 —most notably the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (whose first single released was an inferior 1963 version ofCome On, but the Stones also went on to record about a dozen amazing mostly, better than Berry, covers)having kept up an interest in his music by literally hundreds ofbandsreleasingcovers of his songs (between 1963-1966);along with other bands reworking of his songs, such as the Beach Boys breakthrough1963 hitSurfin\' USA.Between 1964–65 Berry released eight singles, includingNo Particular Place To Go,Promised Land,Chuck\'s Beat,Nadine,andDear Dad.In May 1964, he did a hugely successful tour of the UK,but when he returned in January 1965 his behavior was erratic and moody, and his touring style of using unrehearsed local backing bands (varying from really good to way below expectation), and a strict non-negotiable contract, was earning him a reputation as a difficult and less-exciting performer.

Between 1966 and 1969 Berry released five albums on the Mercurylabel, including hisfirstLive album Live At Fillmore(San Francisco)Auditoriumin which he was backed by theSteve Miller Band.While not a successful period for studio work,Berry was still a top live draw.He also played at large events such as the Schafer Music Festivalin Central Park(New York City)in July 1969, and theToronto Rock\'n\'Roll Festivalin October.

Berry returned to Chess from 1970 to 1973. There were no hit singles from the 1970 albumBack Home, then in 1972 Chess released a live recording ofMy Ding-A-Ling,(a lame novelty song)becoming Berry\'s only ever #1 single (go figure..). Also a live recording ofReelin\' And Rockin\'was issued and was Berry\'s final top-40 hit in both the US and the UK. Both singles were featured on the part-live/part-studio albumThe London Chuck Berry Sessions(1972). Berry\'s second tenure with Chess ended with the 1975 albumChuck Berry.In 1979 he released his last ever studio LPRock Iton Atco.At the request of President Jimmy Carter,Chuck Berry performed at the White House in mid-1979.Then soon after, facing criminal charges for the third time(Berry\'s type of touring style, traveling the \"oldies\" circuit in the 1970s, where he was often paid in cash by local promoters, added ammunition to the IRS\'s accusations that Berry was a chronic income tax evader)., Berry pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to four months in prison and 1,000 hours of community service—doing benefit concerts.In the 1980s Berry continued to play 70 to 100 one-nighters per year, still traveling solo and requiring a local band to back him at each stop.In the late 1980s, Berry bought a restaurant inMissouri,and in 1990 he was sued by several women for a his installation of a video camerain the ladies\' bathroom. Berry settled out of court with 59 women, for $1.2 million.But then police in a raid on his house found the bathroom videotapes (including of one minor) pointing to his guilt, plus two ounces of marijuana. Berry plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was given a suspended jail sentence, and ordered to donate $5,000 to a hospital.In late 2000, Berry was sued by his former pianist Johnnie Johnson, who claimed that he co-wrote over 50 songs but the case was dismissed when the judge ruled that too much time had passed since the songs were written.
CD 2Freddie King -Let\'s Hide Away and Dance Away With Freddie King(1961) /Freddie King Gives You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals(1961-1964):Freddie King(Frederick Christian), andnicknamed\"The Texas Cannonball\", was a really great and This compilation of his instrumentals shows his truly unique rocking\' blues style that one can see how he influenced very wide range of countless UK and American r&b and blues guitarists and rocksters in the early-mid 1960s, including instrumental bands and british r&b-ers.Hebased his guitar style on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band onstage with him at live performances.He also inspired many musicians such as Jimi Hendrix,Jerry Garcia,Stevie Ray Vaughan,Eric Clapton,Peter Green,andChicken Shack.And unlike many blues-rockers who had a hey-day of innovative style for a number of years and then spent the rest of their days playing variations on that, he got more innovative and better until his death in 1976.Note: The back paper insert (only) of the CD (not the CD case itself or any other part) is slightly warped, it came like that (due to some water damage,I provideda photo of it above).Tracklist(highlights in bold font):Let\'s Hide Away and Dance Away With Freddie King(LP, 1961):
1. Hide Away2. Butterscotch3.Sen-Sa-Shun4.Side Tracked5. The Stumble6. Wash Out7.San-Ho-Zay8. Just Pickin\'9. Heads Up10. In the Open11. Out Front12. SwooshyFreddie King Gives You A Bonanza Of 7515.Low Tide16. The Sad Nite Owl17. Surf Monkey21. Freddy\'s Midnite Dream22. Fish Fare23. Cloud Sailin\'24.Remington Ride When King was only six, his mother Ella Mae and his uncle began teaching Freddie guitar. In autumn 1949 King and his family moved fromDallasto theSouth SideofChicago.In 1952 King started working in a steel mill, the same year he married fellow Texas native Jessie Burnett, with whom he eventually had six children.By the mid-1950s he was so musically ambitious that he changed his surname to King, to ride on the coat tails ofB.B. King. Almost as soon as he had moved to Chicago, King started sneaking into South Side nightclubs, where he heard blues performed byMuddy Waters,Howlin\' Wolf,T-Bone Walker,Elmore James, andSonny Boy Williamson. King formed his first band, theEvery Hour Blues Boys, with guitaristJimmie Lee Robinsonand drummerFrank \"Sonny\" Scott. In 1952, while employed at the steel mill, an eighteen-year-old King occasionally worked as asidemanwith such bands as theLittle Sonny Cooper BandandEarl Payton\'s Blues Cats. In 1953 he recorded with the latter for Parrot Records, but these recordings were never released. As the 1950s went on, King played with several of Muddy Waters\'s sidemen and other Chicago mainstays, including guitaristsJimmy Rogers,Robert Lockwood, Jr.,Eddie Taylor,Hound Dog Taylor, bassistWillie Dixon, pianistMemphis Slim, and harpistLittle Walter.In 1956 he cut his first record as a leader, for El-Bee Records. The A-side was aduetwith a Margaret Whitfield,Country Boy.King was repeatedly rejected in auditions for the South Side\'sChess Records, the premier blues label, which was home to Muddy, Wolf, and Walter. The complaint was that Freddie King sang too much like B.B. King. A newer blues scene, lively with nightclubs and upstart record companies, was burgeoning on the West Side, though. Bassist and producerWillie Dixon, during a late 1950s period of estrangement from Chess, had King come toCobra Recordsfor a session, but the results have never been heard. Meanwhile, King established himself as perhaps the biggest musical force on the West Side. King played along withMagic Samand supposedly did uncredited backing guitar on some of Sam\'s tracks for the Chief and Agelabels.King Recordssigned King to the subsidiaryFederallabel in 1960. King recorded his debut singleHave You Ever Loved a Woman. From the same recording session at the King Studios inCincinnati, Ohio, King cut the instrumentalHide Awaywhich the next year reached #5 on theR&B Chartsand #29 on thePop Singles Charts, an unprecedented accomplishment for a blues instrumental at a time when the genre was still largely unknown to white audiences.The song\'s title comes fromMel\'s Hide Away Lounge, a popular blues club on the West Side of Chicago.
After their success with Hide Away, King andSonny Thompsonrecorded thirty instrumentals.Vocal tracks continued to be recorded throughout this period, but often the instrumentals were marketed on their own merits as albums, thebrilliant ahead of their time instrumental blues/rock LPs\'Let\'s Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King(1961), and the fantastic compilation LPFreddy King Give You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals(1965). During the Federal period King toured with many of the R&B acts of the day such as,Sam Cooke,Jackie WilsonandJames Brown (who was influenced by King himself to start recording his own instrumentals). King\'s contract with Federal expired in 1966, and his first overseas tour followed in 1967. SaxophonistKing Curtissigned King toAtlanticin 1968, which resulted in twoLPs,Freddie King Is a Blues Master(1969) and laterMy Feeling for the Blues(1970).
In 1969 King appeared at the Texas Pop Festival, alongsideLed Zeppelinand others,and this led to King\'s being signed to Shelter Records. For a change, the company treated King as an important artist, flying him to Chicago to the formerChess studiosfor the recording of the LPGetting Readyand gave him a backing line-up of top session musicians, including rock pianistLeon Russell.
King thenshifted towards more of a hard, rock-like styleperforming alongside the big rock acts of the day, such asEric Claptonand for a young, mainlywhiteaudience, along with whitetour drummer Gary Carnes for three years, before signing toRSO.
In 1974 he recorded the LPBurglarwhich featuredClapton on some of the tracks anddisplayed King\'s mature versatility as both player and singer in a range of blues and funk styles, then in 1975 the LPLarger than Lifewas released.. Vernon had brought in other notable musicians for both albumsto complement King, asKing had an intuitive style, often creating guitar parts with vocal nuances,achieving this by using the open string sound associated with Texas blues and the raw, screaming tones of West Side Chicago blues. As King combined both the Texas and Chicago sounds, this gave his music a more contemporary outlook than many Chicago bands who were still performing 1950s-style music, and he befriended the younger generation of blues musicians. Kinghad a relatively more aggressive and creative style of improvisation than others such as,B.B KingandAlbert King, and was considered by many to be a more exploratory and less traditional.



CD 3Rock\'n\'Roll Fever, The Wildest From Speciality(1956-1958):Tracklist:1. Justine - Don & Dewey
2. Moose on the Loose - Roddy Jackson
3. Thunderbird - Rene Hall
4. My Baby\'s Rocking - The Monitors (previously unreleased)
5. Cherokee Dance - Willie Joe & His Unitar/Bob Landers
6. She Said Yeah - Larry Williams
7. Don\'t Stop Loving Me - Eugene Church (previously unreleased)
8. Don\'t You Just Know It - The Titans
9. Twitchy - Willie Joe/Rene Hall
10. Haunted House - Johnny Fuller
11. Chicken Baby Chicken - Tony Harris
12. Sack - Ben Hughes
13. Arlene - The Titans
14. A - Hollywood Flames Little Bird
15. I\'ve Got My Sights on Someone New - Roddy Jackson
16. Lights Out - Jerry Byrne
17. It\'s Spring Again - The Pentagons
18. Goodbye Baby Goodbye - Sonny Lowery
19. Ooh Little Girl - Floyd Dixon
20. Rock & Roll Fever - Floyd Dixon
21. Swingin\' at the Creek - Johnny Fuller
22. Frankenstein\'s Den - Hollywood Flames
23. Carry On - Jerry Byrne
24. Hiccups - Roddy Jackson
25. Satisfied - Casualairs
A really good to excellent selection of 1950s black rock\'n\'roll singles from 1956-1958 (gritty yet polished) on theSpecialty Recordslabelbased in Los Angeles. It was originally launched asJuke Box Recordsin 1946, but later renamed by its owner Art Rupe in 1955 when he parted company with a couple of his original partners. Specialty is noted for it\'s influential rhythm and blues, gospel and early rock\'n\'roll output (most of the artists on the CD were playingthemusic, a kindaraucous r&b,before a white radio DJ Alan Freed labelled it \'rock\'n\'roll\' in 1954.Art Rupe was known for being one of the most honest owners of an independent R&B record company in the 1950s.He waswell respected among black artists,known for always paying his artists, recording them well, and allowing some of the wildest R&B to be issued on any label of the day.Unusual for the time, hewas also known for hating the \'payola\'(bribe) music-industry/radio Environment at the time and never paid it, which hindered some potential sales.Some artists that either started out on Speciality and went on to become big stars, or recorded on the label are: Sam Cooke, J.W. Alexander, Little Richard, Percy Mayfield, John Lee Hooker, King Perry, Percy Mayfield, Art Neville, Lloyd Price, Larry Williams...

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ChuckBerryAnthology+FreddieKing:Just Pickin+Speciality:Rock\'n\'Roll Fever.[3-CDs]:
$23.41