The London Chuck Berry Sessions
This 1972 Chess release is Chuck Berry's bestselling album in nearly 50 years of hot-wax work. Buoyed by the playfully lewd No. 1 hit single "My Ding-A-Ling," one of three live recordings here, the success of these sessions marked a comeback for the mercurial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immortal, whose R&B; preeminence had been supplanted in the mid-1960s by Chicago-based blues bossesMuddy WatersandHowlin' Wolfin the mainstream rock world. The first five tracks, all Berry compositions except forLittle Walter's powerful "Mean Old World," were recorded in London's Pye Studios with theFaces' Kenny Jones and Ian McLagen on drums and piano, and each track crackles with the master's creative fire. Check out the rollicking "Let's Boogie" and the hard-charging "London Berry Blues" among the studio gems, then kick back to the live funfest in Coven-try, England, where Chuck reinvents "Reelin' & Rockin'" and "Johnny B. Goode."--Alan Greenberg