Rock — All Formats  

A classic compilation of "oldies", put together back in the day when most of the tunes were only a few years old! The compilation was done by Chess in conjunction with Chicago pop powerhouse station WLS – and it's got a great goofy photo on the front that features all of the young rock DJs at LS in front of a large silver dollar! Titles include "But I Do" by Clarence Henry, "So Fine" by The Fiestas, "A Thousand Stars" by Kathy Young, "Money" by Barrett Strong, "Tonight I Fell In Love" by The Tokens, and "Oh Julie" by The Crescendos.

Raucous, rumbling and hard-charging Chess rhythms, rock and roll by Chuck Berry – his legendary After School Session – and possibly his greatest album ever! It features not only some of Chuck Berry's most famous material, but some of the best early rock songs, period –particularly the revolutionary "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" – plus"Berry Pickin", "Deep Feeling"," School Day", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Roly Poly", and "No Money Down".

Raucous, rumbling and hard-charging Chess rhythms, rock and roll by Chuck Berry – his legendary After School Session – and possibly his greatest album ever! It features not only some of Chuck Berry's most famous material, but some of the best early rock songs, period –particularly the revolutionary "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" – plus"Berry Pickin", "Deep Feeling"," School Day", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Roly Poly", and "No Money Down". 3 bonus tracks on the CD: The fierce"Thirty Days", "You Can't Catch Me" and the uber-legendary "Maybelline".

Titles include "Aimlessly Driftin", "Bio", "Woodpecker", "Rain Eyes", and "Talkin Bout My Baby".

A whole set of rocking instrumentals from the Bill Black Combo – their own Memphis instrumental versions of tunes recorded by Chuck Berry at Chess – served up in the group's trademark blend of guitar, organ, and tenor sax! There's a bit more guitar than usual on some of the cuts – an obvious nod to Berry's prowess on the instrument – yet other tunes have the tenor taking this place, and working some cool groovy sounds with the lead instrument lines. Titles include "Roll Over Beethoven", "Sweet Little Sixteen", "School Days", "Carol", "Maybellene", "Thirty Days", and "Reelin & Rockin".

A warm, southern-inflected batch of bluesy sunshine rock from Dale "The Hawk" Hawkins – best known for gifting the world with his Chess original version of "Suzie Q" back in the late 50s – a big step away from the r&b steeped rockabilly he made his name on a decade earlier! LA, Memphis & Tyler, Texas is a catchy title and kind of a good hint at the sound – which has a breezy late 60s California vibe, but it's laid down with Memphis style horn backings and swampy guitars. Dale's vocal delivery is his most effervescent ever – and the players include James Burton, Spooner Oldham, the Memphis horns and even Taj Mahal! Tracks include "LA-Memphis-Tyler", "Heavy On My Mind", "Joe", "Houndog", "Back Street", "La-La La-La", "Candy Man". "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", "Little Rain Cloud" and more.

Good stuff (if you coulda found it) from Kansas City Jammers – their Got Good (If You Get It) album from the early 70s – plus a full unreleased album on disc two – a mix of harmony enriched folk rock of the Crosby, Stills Nash & Young school and more driving, if loosely rollicking psych touches. Nice stuff with a post hippie soulfulness, made all the better for the excellent vocal harmonies and overall solid songwriting! Disc One features the 1971 Got Good (If You Get It) album – featuring "For A Sign". "Live In Harmony", "Messiah", "For Father" "Chess Piece", "Hairy Tongued Turtle", "Midnight Watch", "Fall", "Fingers. Foot & Fade" and more. Disc Two of great CD edition on Lion includes a full unreleased second album. 14 tracks including "Sing Me That Rock And Roll", "Wind In The Willows", "Rain", "Peter Pan", "Messiah (Live)", "Sunfighter", "I'm Your Hero" and more.

A damn legendary record from the last years of Chess Records – and for good reason, too! Archie Whitewater were a group that was years ahead of its time – a rock combo, but one with real genre-crossing sensibilities that made them perfect for the experimental styles at the Cadet/Concept side of Chess – the same slice of the musical universe that gave us Rotary Connection and important productions from Charles Stepney! The sound here has some surprisingly soulful elements at times – especially the instrumentation, which features some great break moments that get nice and funky, and strands of soulful jazz and blues that really make the music way different than most other groups we can think of – or maybe a bit like a rare elite who shared such visionary territory with Archie Whitewater, such as Shades Of Joy on their first Fontana record. The keyboards and sax lines are as great as the drums – and the vocals have a melancholy undercurrent that's a really refreshing change from some of the overly-postured modes you'd get from other groups in 1970. Titles include the sublime sample cut "Cross Country" – but there's loads of other nice ones with the same stripped-down "Dusty Fingers" sort of groove – and other titles include "Life Is A River", "Home Again", "Lament For The Walking Dead", "Seacoast", "Country To the City", "Friends & Neighbors", and "Mist Of The Early Morning".

Robert Wyatt in brilliant form in the late 90s – and with quite an all star line up! Here Wyatt is joined by Eno, Phil Manzanera, Philip Catherine, Paul Weller and Evan Parker amongst others. It's wonderful stuff in some of his more pastoral, elegantly furnished style – certainly among his better work of the later years. Titles include "Heaps Of Sheeps", "The Duchess", "Maryan", "Was A Friend", "Free Will & Testament", "September The Ninth", 'Alien", "Out Of Season", "A Sunday In Madrid", "Blues In Bob Minor" and "The Whole Point Of No Return".