''Chuck'' is the twentieth and final studio album by American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

singer and guitarist

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, released in June 2017. Berry died between the announcement of its recording on his 90th birthday in October 2016 and its release. It posthumously became his first UK Top 10 chart entry since 1977, debuting at No. 9. It was the first Berry studio album to be released in 38 years. The album was positively received by critics who considered it a return to form and a poignant last statement.

Overview

''Chuck'' is Berry's first album in 38 years to consist of mainly new material, since his 1979 record '' Rockit''. The album is dedicated to his wife Thelmetta "Toddy" Berry. The album was announced on Berry's 90th birthday, October 18, 2016, with a release date in 2017. Performers on the album include his live backing band as well as his children. Prior to his death on March 18, 2017, it was implied that this album was to be his last.

Recording and releases

Recording was completed on schedule before his death, for which his estate was prepared. On March 21, 2017—three days after Berry's death—it was announced that the album would be released on June 16, 2017. Also on March 21, a song from the new album was released—Berry's first single in 40 years—entitled "Big Boys". The tune is an upbeat rock and roll song about a teenager wanting to do all the things that grownups do. The album features ten new recordings, including a sequel to his 1958 track "

Johnny B. Goode "Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a Single (music), single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre ...

" entitled "Lady B. Goode", and a re-recording of his 1956 song "Havana Moon", retitled and revised lyrically to become "Jamaica Moon" (incidentally, "Havana Moon" had also been re-recorded for '' Rockit'').

Critical reception

''Chuck'' received generally positive reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 72, based on 16 reviews. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' critic Daniel Sylvester believed the songs sounded familiar but still distinct from one another, as "Berry covers a lot of musical ground on ''Chuck'', and most importantly, reveals just how much fun he was still having at the end of his storied life." Noel Murray from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' credited the record for making "a casually profound closing statement". Writing for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

regarded ''Chuck'' as "both a summation erryput his all into and a little something he might have followed up if he hadn't up and died at 90". Christgau called the musician "mischievous and horny and locked in", showcasing "undiminished guitar" playing, strong vocals, and shrewd lyrics on "eight well-crafted new ones and two savvy covers that indicate he's learned a few things—the warm songs to the long-suffering wife he married in 1948 and the progeny who chime in like they've earned it have the kind of detail he always reserved for his fictions, musical and otherwise."

Track listing

All songs written by Chuck Berry, except as shown. #"Wonderful Woman" – 5:19 #"Big Boys" – 3:05 #"

You Go to My Head "You Go to My Head" is a 1938 popular song composed by J. Fred Coots with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. Many versions of the song have been recorded, and it has since become a pop and jazz standard. Melody and lyrics Alec Wilder terms Coots' melod ...

" (

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975), known under the pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of " You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", " That Luc ...

, J. Fred Coots) – 3:21 #"3/4 Time (Enchiladas)" (

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit " Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ...

) – 3:47 #"Darlin" – 3:20 #"Lady B. Goode" – 3:00 #"She Still Loves You" – 2:55 #"Jamaica Moon" – 3:50 #"Dutchman" – 3:47 #"Eyes of Man" – 2:27

Personnel

– electric guitar, lead vocals, production The Blueberry Hill Band *Robert Lohr – piano *Jimmy Marsala – bass guitar *Keith Robinson – drums *Charles Berry Jr. – guitar *Ingrid Berry – vocals, harmonica Additional musicians *Charles Berry III – guitar on "Wonderful Woman" and "Lady B. Goode" *

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

– guitar on "Big Boys" * Nathaniel Rateliff – background vocals on "Big Boys" * Gary Clark Jr. – guitar on "Wonderful Woman" *

Debra Dobkin Debra Dobkin is an American vocalist, percussionist, music producer, and painter. Biography Early history She was selected at age 6 for children's scholarship classes by the Art Institute of Chicago, and later attended the Sam Fox School of D ...

– drums and percussion on "Jamaica Moon" *The New Respects – background vocals on "Darlin'" *Jeremy Lulito – additional drums

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2017 albums Albums published posthumously Chuck Berry albums Dualtone Records albums Decca Records albums Albums in memory of deceased persons