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You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966

Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966 Audio CD

A fair review of the Chuck Berry "You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Chuck Berry reviews here, or go back to the Chuck Berry tabs.

Band: Chuck Berry
Title: You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-03-31
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Drifting Blues 2: I Got to Find My Baby 3: I've Got to Find My Baby [Stereo Remix] 4: Don't You Lie to Me 5: Worried Life Blues 6: Our Little Rendezvous 7: Bye Bye Johnny 8: Bye Bye Johnny [Stereo Remix] 9: Run Around 10: Run Around [Streo Remix] [Stereo Remix] 11: Jaguar and Thunderbird 12: Diploma for Two 13: Little Star 14: Way It Was Before 15: Away from You 16: Down the Road Apiece 17: Down the Road a Piece [Stereo Remix] 18: Confessin' the Blues 19: Sweet Seixteen 20: Thirteen Question Method 21: Stop and Listen 22: I Still Got the Blues 23: I'm Just a Lucky So and So 24: Mad Lad [Instrumental] 25: Surfin' Steel (Cryin' Steel) [Instrumental] 26: Route 66 [Take 10] 27: Route 66 [Take 11] 28: I'm Talking About You 29: Rip It Up 30: Come On 31: Come On [Alternate-Stereo] [Stereo Version] 32: Adulteen 33: Man and the Donkey 34: Go Go Go [Alternate Take] 35: Go Go Go 36: Trick or Treat 37: Browned Eyed Handsome Man [Instrumental] 38: Browned Eyed Handsome Man 39: Browned Eyed Handsome Man [Stereo Remix] 40: All Aboard 41: Guitar Boogie 42: Let It Rock 43: Almost Grown 44: Chuck Berry Dialog 1 [Live 1963 Detroit] 45: Johnny B. Goode 46: Introduction/Instrumental [Live] 47: Sweet Little Sixteen 48: Wee Wee Hours 49: Chuck Berry Dialog 2 [Live 1963 Detroit] 50: Maybellene 51: Medley: Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight/Johnny B. Goode/Let It Rock/Scho 52: Nadine (Is It You?) 53: You Never Can Tell 54: Little Girl from Central 55: (The) Things I Used to Do 56: I'm in the Danger Zone 57: Fraulein 58: Lonely All the Time (Crazy Arms) 59: O Rangutang 60: Big Ben (Blues) 61: Promised Land 62: Brenda Lee 63: No Particular Place to Go 64: You Two 65: Liverpool Drive [Instrumental] 66: Chuck's Beat [Instrumental] 67: Bo's Beat [Instrumental] 68: Little Marie 69: Go, Bobby Soxer 70: Lonely School Days 71: His Daughter Caroline 72: Dear Dad [Single Version] 73: I Want to Be Your Driver 74: Spending Christmas 75: Song of My Love 76: Butterscotch [Instrumental] 77: After It's Over [Instrumental] 78: Why Should We End This Way 79: You Came a Long Way from St. Louis - Chuck Berry, , 5 Dimensions 80: She Once Was Mine 81: Jamaica Farewell 82: My Little Love Light 83: I Got a Booking 84: St. Louis Blues 85: Shake, Rattle and Roll [Take 23] 86: Wee Wee Hours [Instrumental] 87: Honey Hush [Take 3] 88: Run Joe 89: It's My Own Business 90: One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) 91: Every Day We Rock and Roll 92: My Mustang Ford [Instrumental] 93: My Mustang Ford 94: My Mustang Ford [Stereo Mix] 95: Merrily We Rock and Roll 96: Vaya Con Dios 97: Wee Hour Blues 98: It Wasn't Me 99: It Wasn't Me [Stereo Remix] 100: Ain't That Just Like a Woman 101: Right off Rampart Street 102: Welcome Back Pretty Baby 103: Sad Day, Long Night [Instrumental] 104: Ramona Say Yes 105: Ramona Say Yes [Alternate Mix] 106: Viva Viva Rock 'N' Roll 107: His Daughter Caroline [Fast Version] 108: Lonely School Days [Fast Version]

As Good As It Gets
Forget the complaints about the packaging - so the booklet is skimpy, and it's not the most convenient package ever designed. Absolutely wonderful set. The music is fantastic, as is the sound. The 60's stuff is more varied than the 50's material, and the guitarwork is better overall. The earlier 50's box was great, and this one is at least as good. And the price? Get a copy from amazon marketplace for under $60. Chuck is worth it. So for the people who are giving this a low rating for silly reasons - lighten up and try to remember what rock & roll is all about!.

"...Now If You Want To Hear Some Boogie Like I'm Gonna Play...It's Just Down The Road Apiece..."
"You Never Can Tell. . " is the eagerly awaited second volume of Chuck Berry's Chess recordings (his initial output for the famous label was released in 2008 as "Johnny B. Goode - The Complete 50's Recordings"). This February 2009 US Hip-O Select 4CD set has 108 tracks housed in a slightly oversized 4-way foldout digipak that is itself tied with a string on a lapel on the front. It's not numbered, but is a worldwide limited edition of 5000.

The 24-page booklet on recycled paper is in colour and features an informative and affectionate article by FRED ROTHWELL - author of the 2001 book "Long Distance Information - Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy". There's also detailed track-by-track annotation and the whole set has been transferred and remastered by Universal's ERICK LABSON - a sure sign of quality (he has over 800 mastering credits to his name including almost all of the massive Chess catalogue). The sound quality is wonderful, especially on the STEREO mixes - full of punch and detail. . .

There isn't room in this review to list all the tracks and where they came from, but as there's stuff fans will want to know, I've posted a separate detailed list of all 4CDs in the 'comment' box. It outlines what track is from where. . .

Each of the discs is coloured to reflect a different era in the Chess label while beneath the see-through trays are 4 albums pictured in colour - "Chuck Berry On Stage", "Bo Diddley/Chuck Berry - Two Great Guitars", "Chuck Berry In London" and "Fresh Berry's". Across each of the foldout flaps are colour shots of Chuck, which are beautifully reproduced - really classy looking photographs.

Niggles - the booklet has some sloppy mistakes in it - quoting "No Particular Place To Go" as Chess 1848 when its 1898 - the singles discography forgets "You Never Can Tell" on Chess 1906 (the title of this box for God's sake!) - and worse - other than the pictured albums, there's no LP discography whatsoever. You can be damn sure that if Bear Family had been handling his box, the booklet would have been done with care and pictured stuff from worldwide sources to thrill fans rather than make them yawn (see my reviews of their Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent box sets). The packaging and booklet are nice - they are - cute even - - but for such a major release on such a seminal artist, it should have been so much better. . .

Back to the music - most dedicated fans will have the 3 "Rock & Roll Rarities" releases from 1986 and 1999 and the unreleased stuff on the 4CD 1988 "Chess Box" - what they won't have is the 23 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED tracks surfacing here for the first time anywhere. They're a mixture of alternate versions, instrumentals and an unheard concert. My heart always sinks when I hear it's live (too much filler), but if anything the 11 on here are more lively than some of the studio stuff and capture the essence of the man and his music much better. It's from a gig in Walled Lake Casino In Detroit, Michigan in October 1963 and accompanied by good taping and an appreciative audience, Chuck's on rare old form - cracking jokes - playing the crowd like he does - launching into "Almost Grown" like he was 18 and his life depended on it - it's really great stuff. . .

A good set then - "You Never Can Tell" compliments Hip-O's Muddy Waters and Little Walter Chess boxes to a tee. I would have liked better presentation for sure, but it's the tunes and the great man's spirit I'll return too.

Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll! Deliver us from the days of old!

Indeed!.

masterpieces of music, horrible packaging
Chuck Berry is the king of rock for me, but this collection is very poor in his presentation, only a smal digipack with a small booklet, and a very overpriced one, really very expensive, really a shame

and now �where are the mercury recordings?. . . I hope universal also put out that ones .

Never tired of Chuck Berry
I am very pleased with all the new and good material on this set. I have the first Chess 3 CD box set and then the most recent 4 CD Chess box set as well as maybe 10 or so other Chuck Berry CDs, so I was a little skeptical to get this set, but there is plenty on there I've never heard before on my other CDs. There were a few tracks, I think on the first CD, that have some awful, syrupy sounding backing vocals, kind of like the stuff that was added to Buddy Holly's music after he died, but thankfully, it's only a few tracks and the rest is really great. There are some live tracks on the set with some great audience participation that just makes you feel good. I love Chuck Berry and I love this box set.

Great Music - Terrible Marketing Concept
But Hip-O select almost crushes Chuck Berry's legacy with these terribly packaged and way overpriced sets, designed to sell as few copies as possible. Chuck Berry's music gets 100 stars, no question. If these were done right, these issues would sell their complete run on the first day. The books and physical packaging are extremely poor and an insult to both Chuck Berry and the customer. Why is some of the greatest and most important rock & roll only available as a short lived limited edition? Only to improve some profit ratio, not to celebrate the music of Chuck Berry. If the German company, Bear Family were allowed to issue Chuck Berry's Music, this would be done with great respect for the music, and it would be available as long as the company survived. Nearly everything Hip-O select does is in this fashion. Take some of the greatest American music, and put it out in poor packages for inflated prices for a short time only.

You can see a complete list of all Chuck Berry discography, or go back to the Chuck Berry tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.