One bourbon, one scotch, one beer. Chances are the average listener will go through considerably more drinks than that during this mammoth 100-tracks-on-four-discs collection, especially if it's digested in a single sitting. Not because boozy liquid lubrication is required to navigate through its content, due to any quality shortcomings. Oh no. More because every disc presents several opportunities to hoist a glass to one of the most important record labels of pop's early history.
Three numbers from John Lee Hooker represent the tip of this set's blues iceberg. Also included are cuts from Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf (1956's Smokestack Lightnin' is a given), Muddy Waters (Mannish Boy and I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man, check) and Lowell Fulson, whose Reconsider Baby was a number three hit in 1954. The label's soul selection is similarly well represented: Fontella Bass's sublime Rescue Me opens disc three, and Etta James makes five appearances. Among her efforts is I Just Want to Make Love to You, recorded in 1954 and a UK top five hit 42 years later when it was used in a soft drink commercial.
This belated success highlights a significant aspect of this release's appeal–although Chess ceased to operate in 1975, after 25 years of business, many of these songs have enjoyed leases of life far longer than anyone involved in their creative processes could have foreseen. Like Motown's, the Chess catalogue has been regularly raided by filmmakers–Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode, recorded in 1958, featured in the 1985 movie Back to the Future (albeit as played by the character Marty McFly), and Mannish Boy has cropped up countless times on the silver screen. Chess itself was the subject of a pair of 2008 flicks, Who Do You Love and Cadillac Records.
And it's not only the cinema that has been graced by Chess sounds. The Ramsey Lewis Trio's version of The In Crowd was used by Radio 1 when Jimmy Savile was a station fixture, and numerous tracks here have achieved a certain ubiquity through cover versions, such as The Dells' Oh, What a Night and the Willie Dixon-penned Wang Dang Doodle. The latter is performed here by Koko Taylor, but it was also recorded by The Pointer Sisters and, rather less memorably, PJ Harvey.
So, although Chess is long retired from the music industry, the Chicago label's catalogue owned by Universal (their similarly packaged introductions to Motown and Sugar Hill are also available), these songs deserve a place in the collections of today's listeners. That so many are immediately recognisable is testament to their lasting appeal. The classics, clichéd though it is to say so, truly never go out of style.
Disc 1
1–Jackie Brenston Rocket 88
2 –Chuck Berry Maybellene
3 –Bo Diddley Bo Diddley
4 –Howlin' Wolf How Many More Years
5 –Lowell Fulson Reconsider Baby
6 –Little Walter Juke
7 –Sonny Boy Williamson (2) Don't Start Me Talkin'
8 –Muddy Waters I Can't Be Satisfied
9 –John Lee Hooker Leave My Wife Alone
10 –Bo Diddley I'm A Man
11 –Little Walter My Babe
12 –Elmore James Dust My Broom
13 –Eddie Boyd Third Degree
14 –Howlin' Wolf Moanin' At Midnight
15 –Muddy Waters I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
16 –The Moonglows Sincerely
17 –Jimmy Witherspoon When The Lights Go Out
18 –John Lee Hooker Sugar Mama
19 –Rosco Gordon Booted
20 –Willie Mabon Seventh Son
21 –Muddy Waters Mannish Boy
22 –Willie Dixon Crazy For My Baby
23 –Sugar Boy Crawford Jock-A-Mo
24 –Little Walter Last Night
25 –Clarence "Frogman" Henry Ain't Got No Home
26 –Willie Dixon Pain In My Heart
Disc 2
1–Chuck Berry Rock And Roll Music
2–Bo Diddley You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover
3–Eddie Fontaine Nothin' Shakin' (But The Leaves On The Trees)
4–Jimmy McCracklin The Walk
5–Howlin' Wolf Smokestack Lightnin'
6–Muddy Waters Forty Days And Forty Nights
7–Etta James Something's Got A Hold On Me
8–Bobby Charles See You Later Alligator
9–Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode
10–Dale Hawkins Susie Q
11–Jimmy Rogers Walkin' By Myself
12–Etta James I Just Want To Make Love To You
13–Sonny Boy Williamson (2) Nine Below Zero
14–Howlin' Wolf The Red Rooster
15–Elmore James I Can't Hold Out (Talk To Me Baby)
16–The Marathons Peanut Butter
17–The Sensations (2) Let Me In
18–The Vibrations The Watusi
19–Clarence "Frogman" Henry (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do
20–Etta James At Last
21–The Corsairs Smoky Places
22–Dave "Baby" Cortez Rinky Dink
23–Harvey And The Moonglows Ten Commandments Of Love
24–Andre Williams (2) Cadillac Jack
25–Clarence "Frogman" Henry You Always Hurt The One You Love
26–Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure Don't Mess Up A Good Thing
Disc 3
1–Fontella Bass Rescue Me
2–Sugar Pie DeSanto Soulful Dress
3–John Lee Hooker One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
4–Chuck Berry Promised Land
5–Howlin' Wolf 300 Pounds Of Joy
6–Little Milton We're Gonna Make It
7–Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go
8–Tommy Tucker Hi Heel Sneakers
9–Ramsey Lewis Wade In The Water
10–Tony Clarke (2) Landslide
11–Terry Callier Look At Me Now
12–Jan Bradley Mama Didn't Lie
13–The Jaynetts Sally Go Round The Roses
14–Jackie Ross Selfish One
15–Billy Stewart Summertime
16–Tony Clarke (2) The Entertainer
17–Billy Stewart Sitting In The Park
18–The Knight Brothers Temptation 'Bout To Get Me
19–The Radiants Voice Your Choice
20–Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces Searching For My Love
21–Etta James & Sugar Pie DeSanto In The Basement
22–Ramsey Lewis Trio The In Crowd
23–Mitty Collier I Had A Talk With My Man Last Night
24–Billy Stewart I Do Love You
25–Maurice & Mac You Left The Water Running
26–The Dells Oh, What A Night
Disc 4
1–Etta James Tell Mama
2–Koko Taylor Wang Dang Doodle
3–Howlin' Wolf Evil
4–Rotary Connection I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun
5–Muddy Waters Tom Cat
6–Marlena Shaw California Soul
7–The Radiants Hold On
8–The Valentinos Sweeter Than The Day Before
9–Denise LaSalle Love Reputation
10–Dorothy Ashby Afro Harping
11–Marlena Shaw Woman Of The Ghetto
12–Irma Thomas Good To Me
13–Etta James I'd Rather Go Blind
14–Laura Lee Dirty Man
15–Terry Callier Ordinary Joe
16–The Soulful Strings Burning Spear
17–Solomon Burke Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You
18–Gene Chandler To Be A Lover
19–Pigmeat Markham Here Comes The Judge
20–The Dells Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation
21–Solomon Burke You And Your Baby Blues
22–Chuck Berry My Ding-A-Ling
Three numbers from John Lee Hooker represent the tip of this set's blues iceberg. Also included are cuts from Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf (1956's Smokestack Lightnin' is a given), Muddy Waters (Mannish Boy and I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man, check) and Lowell Fulson, whose Reconsider Baby was a number three hit in 1954. The label's soul selection is similarly well represented: Fontella Bass's sublime Rescue Me opens disc three, and Etta James makes five appearances. Among her efforts is I Just Want to Make Love to You, recorded in 1954 and a UK top five hit 42 years later when it was used in a soft drink commercial.
This belated success highlights a significant aspect of this release's appeal–although Chess ceased to operate in 1975, after 25 years of business, many of these songs have enjoyed leases of life far longer than anyone involved in their creative processes could have foreseen. Like Motown's, the Chess catalogue has been regularly raided by filmmakers–Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode, recorded in 1958, featured in the 1985 movie Back to the Future (albeit as played by the character Marty McFly), and Mannish Boy has cropped up countless times on the silver screen. Chess itself was the subject of a pair of 2008 flicks, Who Do You Love and Cadillac Records.
And it's not only the cinema that has been graced by Chess sounds. The Ramsey Lewis Trio's version of The In Crowd was used by Radio 1 when Jimmy Savile was a station fixture, and numerous tracks here have achieved a certain ubiquity through cover versions, such as The Dells' Oh, What a Night and the Willie Dixon-penned Wang Dang Doodle. The latter is performed here by Koko Taylor, but it was also recorded by The Pointer Sisters and, rather less memorably, PJ Harvey.
So, although Chess is long retired from the music industry, the Chicago label's catalogue owned by Universal (their similarly packaged introductions to Motown and Sugar Hill are also available), these songs deserve a place in the collections of today's listeners. That so many are immediately recognisable is testament to their lasting appeal. The classics, clichéd though it is to say so, truly never go out of style.
Disc 1
1–Jackie Brenston Rocket 88
2 –Chuck Berry Maybellene
3 –Bo Diddley Bo Diddley
4 –Howlin' Wolf How Many More Years
5 –Lowell Fulson Reconsider Baby
6 –Little Walter Juke
7 –Sonny Boy Williamson (2) Don't Start Me Talkin'
8 –Muddy Waters I Can't Be Satisfied
9 –John Lee Hooker Leave My Wife Alone
10 –Bo Diddley I'm A Man
11 –Little Walter My Babe
12 –Elmore James Dust My Broom
13 –Eddie Boyd Third Degree
14 –Howlin' Wolf Moanin' At Midnight
15 –Muddy Waters I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
16 –The Moonglows Sincerely
17 –Jimmy Witherspoon When The Lights Go Out
18 –John Lee Hooker Sugar Mama
19 –Rosco Gordon Booted
20 –Willie Mabon Seventh Son
21 –Muddy Waters Mannish Boy
22 –Willie Dixon Crazy For My Baby
23 –Sugar Boy Crawford Jock-A-Mo
24 –Little Walter Last Night
25 –Clarence "Frogman" Henry Ain't Got No Home
26 –Willie Dixon Pain In My Heart
Disc 2
1–Chuck Berry Rock And Roll Music
2–Bo Diddley You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover
3–Eddie Fontaine Nothin' Shakin' (But The Leaves On The Trees)
4–Jimmy McCracklin The Walk
5–Howlin' Wolf Smokestack Lightnin'
6–Muddy Waters Forty Days And Forty Nights
7–Etta James Something's Got A Hold On Me
8–Bobby Charles See You Later Alligator
9–Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode
10–Dale Hawkins Susie Q
11–Jimmy Rogers Walkin' By Myself
12–Etta James I Just Want To Make Love To You
13–Sonny Boy Williamson (2) Nine Below Zero
14–Howlin' Wolf The Red Rooster
15–Elmore James I Can't Hold Out (Talk To Me Baby)
16–The Marathons Peanut Butter
17–The Sensations (2) Let Me In
18–The Vibrations The Watusi
19–Clarence "Frogman" Henry (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do
20–Etta James At Last
21–The Corsairs Smoky Places
22–Dave "Baby" Cortez Rinky Dink
23–Harvey And The Moonglows Ten Commandments Of Love
24–Andre Williams (2) Cadillac Jack
25–Clarence "Frogman" Henry You Always Hurt The One You Love
26–Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure Don't Mess Up A Good Thing
Disc 3
1–Fontella Bass Rescue Me
2–Sugar Pie DeSanto Soulful Dress
3–John Lee Hooker One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
4–Chuck Berry Promised Land
5–Howlin' Wolf 300 Pounds Of Joy
6–Little Milton We're Gonna Make It
7–Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go
8–Tommy Tucker Hi Heel Sneakers
9–Ramsey Lewis Wade In The Water
10–Tony Clarke (2) Landslide
11–Terry Callier Look At Me Now
12–Jan Bradley Mama Didn't Lie
13–The Jaynetts Sally Go Round The Roses
14–Jackie Ross Selfish One
15–Billy Stewart Summertime
16–Tony Clarke (2) The Entertainer
17–Billy Stewart Sitting In The Park
18–The Knight Brothers Temptation 'Bout To Get Me
19–The Radiants Voice Your Choice
20–Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces Searching For My Love
21–Etta James & Sugar Pie DeSanto In The Basement
22–Ramsey Lewis Trio The In Crowd
23–Mitty Collier I Had A Talk With My Man Last Night
24–Billy Stewart I Do Love You
25–Maurice & Mac You Left The Water Running
26–The Dells Oh, What A Night
Disc 4
1–Etta James Tell Mama
2–Koko Taylor Wang Dang Doodle
3–Howlin' Wolf Evil
4–Rotary Connection I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun
5–Muddy Waters Tom Cat
6–Marlena Shaw California Soul
7–The Radiants Hold On
8–The Valentinos Sweeter Than The Day Before
9–Denise LaSalle Love Reputation
10–Dorothy Ashby Afro Harping
11–Marlena Shaw Woman Of The Ghetto
12–Irma Thomas Good To Me
13–Etta James I'd Rather Go Blind
14–Laura Lee Dirty Man
15–Terry Callier Ordinary Joe
16–The Soulful Strings Burning Spear
17–Solomon Burke Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You
18–Gene Chandler To Be A Lover
19–Pigmeat Markham Here Comes The Judge
20–The Dells Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation
21–Solomon Burke You And Your Baby Blues
22–Chuck Berry My Ding-A-Ling
