''Chuck Berry on Stage'' is the first live album by
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
, released in 1963 by
Chess Records. Although promoted as a live album, it is a collection of previously released studio recordings (except for 5 songs..."All Aboard", "Trick or Treat", "I Just Want To Make Love To You", "Still Got The Blues", and a previously unreleased alternate take of "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man") with overdubbed audience sounds to simulate a live recording. One track on the album labelled "Surfin' USA", is "Sweet Little Sixteen", originally released in 1958, the melody of which was used in
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
' 1963 hit "Surfin' USA". Chuck's cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You" was later re-recorded and released on the very rare Chess LP CH60032 ''Chuck Berry'' in 1975.
Track listing
All songs composed by Chuck Berry except as noted
# "
Maybellene
"Maybellene" is a rock and roll song. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune " Ida Red". Berry's song told the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing ...
" (Berry,
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
, Russ Fratto) – 2:25
# "Memphis, Tennessee" – 2:17
# "Surfin' Steel" – 2:32
# "Rockin' on the Railroad" (Let It Rock) (Edward Anderson, pseudonym of Chuck Edward Anderson Berry) – 1:51
# "Go, Go, Go" – 3:31
# "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (alternate take) – 1:46
# "Still Got the Blues" – 2:08
# "Surfin USA" ("Sweet Little Sixteen") – 3:13
# "Jaguar and Thunderbird" – 1:49
# "
I Just Want to Make Love to You" (
Willie Dixon) – 2:13
# "All Aboard" – 2:15
# "Trick or Treat" – 1:37
# "The Man and the Donkey" – 2:07
Personnel
* Chuck Berry –
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
*
Fred Below
Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic struc ...
–
drums
* Martha Berry –
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
* Reggie Boyd –
bass
* Leroy C. Davis -
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
*
Willie Dixon – bass
*
Jerome Green
Jerome Green (c.1934 – c.1973) was an American percussionist and occasional lyricist and vocalist, known for playing maracas and acting as Bo Diddley's foil in his performances and on his recordings in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
G ...
–
maraca
A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair.
Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...
s
* Ebbie Hardy - drums
*
Johnnie Johnson –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
*
Lafayette Leake
Lafayette Leake (June 1, 1919 – August 14, 1990) was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chic ...
– piano
*
The Moonglows
The Moonglows were an American R&B group in the 1950s. Their song " Sincerely" went to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Juke Box chart.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
...
– backing vocals
* George Smith – bass
*
Otis Spann – piano
* Phil Thomas – drums
References
Chuck Berry live albums
1963 live albums
Chess Records live albums
Albums produced by Leonard Chess
Albums produced by Phil Chess
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