After School Session: Chuck Berry's 1957 Debut
My original copy of Chuck Berry's 1957 Chess Records debut, 'After School Session,' (Chess LP 1426) is only half playable. Alas, someone once, long before I found the disk in a Goodwill store bin for two bucks, took a sharp object to side one and rendered the vinyl unplayable. Why, why, why?
The album, his first after releasing several 45s, yielded so many extraordinary Berry tunes like Too Much Monkey Business, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, and Havana Moon. I have seen it for sale online, never for less than twenty dollars, sometimes upwards of $125 in mint condition. I would never spend that kind of money on a single disk, but this one is THAT good.
Side Two is almost good enough alone, however: Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Berry Pickin', Together We Will Always Be, Havana Moon, Down Bound Train, and Drifting Heart.
Maybe someday I will come across a reasonably priced copy that is in entirely playable condition.
For now, I will enjoy Side Two.
By the way, this was only the second full-length album Chess ever released. Do you know what the first one was?
If you're ever in Chicago, you owe it to yourself to visit Blues Heaven. It's located at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue. That's right, the Chess Records building, made famous by the Stones song. It's actually run by the family of Willie Dixon, prolific writer of some of the greatest blues songs which of course evolved into some of the greatest rock songs of all time, Hoochie Coochie Man, Back Door Man, Spoonful, I Ain’t Superstitious among others.
When many people think of Chess, they immediately think of the blues. But it was the rock records of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley that made Chess Records money.
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Great suggestion, Mike.
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Love Chicago as well. I actually have a project in Chicago starting up in a week or two that will run several weeks. Looking forward to it.
There are a lot of great record stores in Chicago. Two or three actually made Rolling Stone's list of best record stores in the USA. I can actually recommend a couple that I've visited on my trips to Chicago.
Dave's Records is a small store with lots of old LPs. Some really cheap. Last time a bought Highway 61 Revisited
for a couple bucks.
Reckless Records is a larger store with a good mix of old and new vinyl. They have 3 locations. Bought Little Feat- Waiting for Columbus, and J.J. Cale-Naturally, both in really good shape for a $1.99 each.
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I've got a 1970s French pressing of this that looks unplayed. In fact I have not yet played it myself. I got it from a relative who didn't want her records anymore and I still haven't listened to them all. I only ever glanced at this one and put it on the backburner, thinking it was a greatest hits collection. Now that I see it was Berry's first full-length and is full of less familiar songs (to me anyway), I've pulled it from the shelf and am definitely playing it soon. Thanks for the tip.
Here's the version I have..
http://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-After-School-Session/release/2590439
Maybe you can pick up a reissue like this one in good condition for a reasonable price sometime.
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I am glad to hear you have re-discovered this album. Look forward to hearing from you after you have had a chance to listen to it. having a reissue or a later pressing would be great. Sometimes the older albums even in very good condition are hard to listen to!
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