Chuck Berry, CHUCK (2017) A Review

Chuck Berry, CHUCK (2017) A Review

By: Ghost Writer

Rock N Roll Animal

A great posthumous recording simply called "Chuck" by the great Chuck Berry, who ironically after three decades was ready to deliver a whole record of new material when he passed away last March, Berry, one of the founding members of rock n roll and the indisputable father of rock n roll guitar left some great tunes that were finished thanks to the help of his family (his son Charles Berry Jr can be heard here playing some mean guitar on some of the songs) so in case someone though Berry was a thing of the past, there are here some big surprises here, just think about the album's first single Big Boys, a rock and rolling tune featuring ex Rage Against the Machine Tom Morello on guitars and you are confronted by a sort of a space travel thru the evolutionary stages of rock n roll guitar, Berry bringing back his trademark guitar style but refusing to become a nostalgia act, as first track Wonderful Woman just arriving casually along the DC Comics super heroine blockbuster movie, but on the Berry record the only super hero is Chuck, who brilliantly plays the guitar here just like in the old days, a great singer himself also, Chuck delivers here an impressive tune setting the mood for the rest of the album, where you also have to praise the powerful playing of Jimmy Marsala on bass and Keith Robinson on drums (from Berry's The Blueberry Hill Band), also we must consider Robert Lohr trading amazing licks on piano on top of every song in an spectacular rock n roll display of greatness, just as the aforementioned Big Boys a dynamic song that might remind us of Roll Over Beethoven while featuring blistering guitars, hyped vocals and ear piercing soloing, providing the sense that Berry was undoubtedly one of the direct forefathers of punk rock.

There are also on Chuck plenty of mid-tempo bluesy songs, themes like the rollicking You Got To My Head, that I bet someone like Prince might be proud of plating along with it and enjoying the wonderful sensual beat, Darlin' is another slow song with Berry's guitar playing on display, letting Lohr take the lead with his piano, and with Chuck playing in the background in an interestingly unique way, but Chuck can't stop being Chuck and he quickly charges again in a furious way on Lady B. Goode, an interesting spin off of his classic rock n roll hymn, again his buzz saw guitar stealing the spotlight and delivering some really mean soloing, while on She Still Loves You Chuck gets into a bit awkward tune, little funky, little unfocused but with a great drum and bass work saving the tune.

There are some strange tunes here like the calypso tinged Jamaica Moon that crisscrosses Berry with Caribbean sounds , although it might not be a totally successful experiment, it is a brave move for someone like Berry almost in his 90s at the time the recording, Dutchman sounds like the sort of stuff that might have driven crazy the ZZ Top guys while on Eyes of Man, Berry delivers his last song and the album's closer as a slow burning blues with robust guitars and Berry's immortal vocals, he sound like a giant still in great shape, creating tension and getting from inside his guitars the best rock n roll sound we will never hear again, Chuck might not be a groundbreaking album, not as groundbreaking as his guitar playing style, but Berry couldn't have found a better way to say goodbye, with a solid record that not of his hardcore fans would be ashamed by, he went away with a bang.