Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Why can't Chess get anything right??, June 4, 2005
Although Amazon doesn't even tell you the full tracklisting, this also includes 'You can't catch me', 'Thirty Days' and 'Maybelline'. This is where my gripe with this CD arises. Where the hell can I get a decent sounding copy of this song without the out of tune sounding intro and digital static noise after the solo?!!?? This version is on the Chess 'His Best' compilation and on every other cheap crummy compilation I have ever seen! Why the hell is it on this 'Newly Remastered' cd in 2004??? My friend has the shoddiest, cheapest compilation from 1991 (on the 'World Star Collection' label) and the version on that sounds great! Has Chess lost the proper tape? Probably not, more like no-one seems to care. If anyone at MCA/Chess wants to get in touch with me to get a nice digital copy off my friend's CD, they are welcome! How long are we going to have to put up with this unlistenable version of one of the most important Rock and Roll songs of all time??
Apart from that, this cd sounds fine (except for 'Wee Wee Hours', which has similar problems to Maybelline) and would be a perfect summary of Berry's first 7 singles if it had 'Roll Over Beethoven' and a non-crap sounding version of 'Maybelline'.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chuck Berry's 1957 Debut Album on Chess Given The Quality Reissue Treatment It Deserves!, March 12, 2008
This 2004 Universal CD reissue gives us all 12-tracks of Chuck Berry's much-loved debut album on Chess Records released in the USA in May of 1957, Chess LP 1426. (The UK had to wait until 1958 for an album debut in the shape of "One Dozen Berrys" on Chess HA 2132).
"After School Session" was like a lot of albums in those early pioneering days of rock `n' roll, a collecting together of the A and B sides of market-tested seven-inch singles with some new tracks thrown in to tempt fans and newcomers alike. All 15 tracks here have been remastered for this new reissue, upgraded to their best-ever sound quality from the 1st generation Mono master tapes by Erick Labson of Universal. And a typically bang-up job has been done. Its bonus tracks are 3-sides of three singles in and around the release of the American LP.
The exclusion of "Roll Over Beethoven" as a bonus track is a damn shame especially as there was ample room to include it. Still, with sequencing, the bonus tracks and album now allow you to line up and play both sides of his first six 7" singles on Chess as follows (excluding "Roll Over Beethoven" of course):
1. Maybellene/Wee Wee Hours (1955, Chess 1604)
2. Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)/Together (We'll Always Be) (1955, Chess 1610)
3. No Money Down/Down Bound Train (1956, Chess 1615)
4. Roll Over Beethoven/Drifting Heart (1956, Chess 1626)
5. Too Much Monkey Business/Brown Eyed Handsome Man (1956, Chess 1635)
6. You Can't Catch Me/Havana Moon (1956, Chess 1645)
The booklet exactly reproduces its famous front sleeve on Page 1 with its rear sleeve on the last page of the inlay - a nice touch. In between is a new essay on the album by ANDY McKAIE with the original liner notes also reproduced on Page 9, sessions details etc
The house band for most cuts reads like a roll call of rhythm `n' blues giants; JOHNNIE JOHNSON on Piano, WILLIE DIXON on Bass with FRED BELOW and EBBY HARDY alternating on Drums. OTIS SPANN contributed piano work on "Roly Poly", "No Money Down", "Berry Pickin'" and "You Can't Catch Me". JIMMY ROGERS played chugging-on-the- train-tracks guitar on "Down Bound Train". There are three instrumentals on the album, "Deep Feeling", "Roly Poly (aka Rolli Polli)" and "Berry Pickin'".
It should be noted that even with a remaster, this album is not exactly an audiophile's wet dream! Produced in Chicago, Leonard and Phil Chess laid down these tracks rough and ready! It was all done live of course and more about `feel' than precision. What is wonderful though is to hear these songs again in their original inspiring form and realise what an astonishing influence for good Chuck Berry and his music has been. When you think of every garage band, every bedroom poser, every guitar maestro on the planet and how they all cut their teeth on Chuck Berry songs at some point in their careers - his influence has been little short of World changing. The brevity, the wit and cleverness of the lyrics, the infectiousness of the beat - it's all here! Take "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" for instance - utterly irresistible - 52 years on in some pub somewhere, it's still bringing a smile to punters faces and will see them take to dance floor unable to help themselves!
A fantastic listen then - and an important and timely reissue. Start your journey to the dark side here children - and remember - best not tell your parents the reason for said joy - ROCK 'n' ROLL!!
PS: A few words on the "ROCK 'N' ROLL 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION" Series in general:
It should also be noted that this issue is part of the above named series issued in 2004 by Universal. 'Rock 'N' Roll 50th Anniversary Edition' is a secondary series title and is displayed vertically on the side inlay beneath the see-through tray of each release, but unfortunately, if you try to search the Amazon database for ANY titles under this moniker, it doesn't recognize the 'name' at all.
For those interested in a visual, I've placed a full list of all seven titles in LISTMANIA called "Rock 'N' Roll 50th Anniversary Edition Series". The other six titles are:
1. "Buddy Holly" by BUDDY HOLLY (1958 1st solo LP on Coral, see REVIEW)
2. "Rock Around The Clock" by BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS (ground-breaking 1956 LP, see REVIEW)
3. "The Chirping Crickets" by THE CRICKETS (their debut LP featuring BUDDY HOLLY, see REVIEW)
4. "St. Louis To Liverpool" by CHUCK BERRY (1964 STEREO LP on Chess)
5. "Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger" by BO DIDDLEY (1960 STEREO Chess LP)
6. "Rock, Rock, Rock! - Original Soundtrack" by VARIOUS (Chuck Berry, The Flamingos and The Moonglows) (1956 Chess 'Rock'n'Roll Movie Soundtrack LP)
I bought all 7 of these titles and I can't recommend them enough - each album remastered to superb sound quality, colour artwork lovingly restored and each bolstered up with 3 or 4 relevant single releases from the time (some previously unreleased). Fans of Haley, Holly, The Crickets, Berry, Diddley and Rock'n'Roll in general should quickly acquire all of these exemplary CDs. They make for the best basis of a collection in a minefield of lesser compilations. Enjoy!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
After school session, October 1, 2008
Some of the songs I have never heard.The songs on the CD should be listed,That way I would know what I was buying.Or even hear short parts of the CD.
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