The London Chuck Berry Sessions

The London Chuck Berry Sessions
Studio album / Live album by Chuck Berry
Released	June 1972 (1972-06)[1]
Recorded	1972
Venue	Lanchester Arts Festival, Coventry, England[2]
Studio	Pye Studios, London[2]
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	44:08[3]
Label	Chess
Producer	Esmond Edwards[2]
Chuck Berry chronology
San Francisco Dues (1971) The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) Bio (1973)
London Sessions chronology
The London Muddy Waters Sessions (1972) The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) The London Bo Diddley Sessions (1973)
Singles from The London Chuck Berry Sessions
"My Ding-a-Ling" Released: June 1972 "Reelin' and Rockin'" Released: November 1972

The London Chuck Berry Sessions is the sixteenth studio album by Chuck Berry, and consists of studio recordings and live recordings released by Chess Records in October 1972 as LP record, 8 track cartridge and audio cassette.[4] Side one of the album consists of studio recordings,[2] engineered by Geoff Calver; side two features three live performances recorded by the Pye Mobile Unit,[2] engineered by Alan Perkins, on February 3, 1972, at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England. At the end of the live section, the recording includes the sounds of festival management trying in vain to get the audience to leave so that the next performers, Pink Floyd, can take the stage; the crowd begins chanting "We want Chuck!". His backing band for that concert included Onnie McIntyre (guitar), Robbie McIntosh (drums), Nic Potter (bass), and Dave Kaffinetti (piano). McIntosh and McIntyre would later form the Average White Band. The studio recordings included pianist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones from the bands the Small Faces and Faces.

"My Ding-a-Ling", from the live side of the album, was edited to approximately 4 minutes for release as a single. A novelty song based around sexual double-entendres, it was Berry's first and only single to reach number 1 in both the US and the UK.

Background

In May 1970, Howlin' Wolf traveled to Olympic Sound Studios in London, England, to record songs for The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions.[5] The album was released in August 1971[6] and peaked at number 28 on Billboard magazine's R&B Albums chart and number 79 on the Billboard 200.[7] Because of Wolf's success, Muddy Waters recorded his own London Sessions album in December 1971, and Berry did the same in 1972.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Christgau's Record Guide	C−[8]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide	[9]
Select	[10]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic retrospectively called the album Chuck Berry's "commercial, if not artistic, peak".[3] Robert Christgau thinks the album is of bad quality, that his voice is croaky and the studio material only fillers.[8]

Commercial performance

The album was not even out for a month, when on October 27, 1972, The London Chuck Berry Sessions was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America with sales of 1,000,000 units. It is Berry's only album to be certified by the RIAA,[11] and is his most successful release.

Track listing

All songs written by Chuck Berry except as noted

Side one (studio recordings)

1. "Let's Boogie" – 3:10
2. "Mean Old World" (Little Walter) – 5:45
3. "I Will Not Let You Go" – 2:49
4. "London Berry Blues" – 5:55
5. "I Love You" – 3:26

Side two (live recordings)

1. "Reelin' and Rockin'" – 7:07
2. "My Ding-a-Ling" (Dave Bartholomew) – 11:33
3. "Johnny B. Goode" – 4:23

The release on cassette exchanged "I Love You" and "Johnny B. Goode" to create sides of near-equal length.

This version of "Johnny B. Goode" replaces the first verse of the original with the first verse of "Bye Bye Johnny".

Personnel

Musicians

According to sleeve notes.[2][12]

• Chuck Berry – vocals, guitar
• Derek Griffiths – guitar (side one)
• Ian McLagan – piano (side one)
• Kenney Jones – drums (side one)
• Onnie Owen McIntyre – guitar (side two)
• Nic Potter – bass (side two)
• David Kaffinetti – piano (side two)
• Robbie McIntosh – drums (side two)

Technical

• Esmond Edwards – producer
• Bob Scerbo – production supervision
• Mia Krinsky – album coordination
• David Krieger – art director
• Tim Lewis – cover art

Charts

Album

Chart (1972)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[13]	8
US Billboard R&B Albums[13]	8

US Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position[14]
1972	"My Ding-a-Ling"	Billboard Hot 100	1
1973	"Reelin' and Rockin'"	Billboard Hot 100	27

UK Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position[15]
1972	"My Ding-a-Ling"	Official Charts	1
1973	"Reelin' and Rockin'"	Official Charts	18

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16]	Gold	500,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Rudolph, Dietmar. "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry: The Back at Chess Era (1969-1975)". Retrieved November 28, 2010.
2. The London Chuck Berry Sessions (Vinyl sleeve). Chuck Berry. United States: Chess Records. 1972. Inner sleeve notes. LP-60020.
3. Ruhlmann, William. "The London Chuck Berry Sessions: Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
4. "Chuck Berry - the London Chuck Berry Sessions". Discogs.
5. The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Deluxe Edition) (CD liner). Howlin' Wolf. United States: MCA Records. 2002. 088 112 985-2.
6. Schumacher, Michael (1995). "Chapter 6: Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad? (1969–70)". Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton. New York: Hyperion. pp. 137–141. ISBN 0-7868-6074-X.
7. "Howlin' Wolf: Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
8. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
9. The Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1979. p. 32.
10. Sexton, Paul (October 1990). "Chuck Berry: The London Chuck Berry Sessions". Select. No. 4. p. 127.
11. RIAA Certification Search Type "Chuck Berry" under Artist for search results.
12. Chuck Berry (1972). The London Chuck Berry Sessions (booklet).
13. "Chuck Berry - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
14. "Billboard Hot 100 - Chuck Berry". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
15. "UK Official Charts - Chuck Berry". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
16. "American album certifications – Chuck Berry – The London Chuck Berry Session". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• The London Chuck Berry Sessions at Discogs (list of releases)