| The London Chuck Berry Sessions | |
| Type: | studio |
| Longtype: | / Live album |
| Artist: | Chuck Berry |
| Cover: | Chuck Berry - The London Chuck Berry Sessions.jpg |
| Released: | [1] |
| Recorded: | 1972 |
| Venue: | Lanchester Arts Festival, Coventry, England |
| Studio: | Pye Studios, London |
| Genre: | Rock and roll |
| Length: | [2] |
| Label: | Chess |
| Producer: | Esmond Edwards[3] |
| Prev Title: | San Francisco Dues |
| Prev Year: | 1971 |
| Next Title: | Bio |
| Next Year: | 1973 |
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, engineered by Geoff Calver; side two features three live performances recorded by the Pye Mobile Unit, 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.
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.
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic retrospectively called the album Chuck Berry's "commercial, if not artistic, peak". Robert Christgau thinks the album is of bad quality, that his voice is croaky and the studio material only fillers.
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,[8] and is his most successful release.
All songs written by Chuck Berry except as noted
Side one (studio recordings)
Side two (live recordings)
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".
According to sleeve notes.[9]
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[10] | 8 |
| US Billboard R&B Albums | 8 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position[11] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "My Ding-a-Ling" | Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| 1973 | "Reelin' and Rockin'" | Billboard Hot 100 | 27 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "My Ding-a-Ling" | Official Charts | 1 |
| 1973 | "Reelin' and Rockin'" | Official Charts | 18 |