''Rockit'' is the nineteenth studio album by Chuck Berry, released in 1979 by Atco Records. It was his only release for the label, following Berry's departure in 1975 from Chess Records and his last studio album for 38 years, until ''Chuck (Chuck Berry album), Chuck'' in 2017.

Title and packaging

The album cover depicted Berry's guitar in the image of the ''Millennium Falcon'' starship, from the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars''. According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the artwork bizarrely (and somewhat appealingly)" capitalized on "the post-''Star Wars'' wave as it features Chuck's Gibson ES-335, signature Gibson orbiting the Earth (which also nicely plays into the pun of the title, a pun so slight that it's possible to not realize it's a pun without the artwork)".

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Rockit'' in 1979 for ''The Village Voice'', Robert Christgau gave the album a B-plus grade and was surprised by its quality: Along with 1964's ''St. Louis to Liverpool'', Christgau considered ''Rockit'' one of two full-length albums recorded by Berry in his lifetime that were "worthy of the name", a "groove" record "sharpened by two back-end songs skewering the racist society he'd striven so audaciously to integrate and enlighten". ''Observer (online newspaper), Observer'' journalist Ron Hart named it among Berry's five best albums. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Erlewine gave ''Rockit'' three-and-a-half out of five stars and said, despite conceding to contemporary music trends with a somewhat "bright and tight" production, Berry offered "three or four terrific songs and a bunch of enjoyable straight-ahead rockers that aren't quite as memorable but sure sound good as they play".

Track listing

All songs written by Chuck Berry # "Move It" – 2:27 # "Oh What a Thrill" – 3:06 # "I Need You Baby" – 3:09 # "If I Were" – 3:02 # "House Lights" – 4:28 # "I Never Thought" – 3:50 # "Havana Moon" (re-recording) – 5:05 # "Wuden't Me" – 2:41 # "California" – 2:16 # "Pass Away" – 5:33

Personnel

Musicians

* Chuck Berry – guitar, vocals * Kenny Buttrey – Drum kit, drums * Johnnie Johnson (musician), Johnnie Johnson – piano * Jim Marsala – Bass guitar, bass * Bob Wray – bass

Technical

* Tony Gottlieb – production assistance * Doug Morris – executive producer * Kyle Lehning – audio engineer, engineer, Mixing engineer, mixing * Bob Defrin – art direction * Don Brautigam – cover illustration

References

External links

* Chuck Berry albums 1979 albums Albums produced by Chuck Berry Atco Records albums {{1970s-rock-album-stub