On his 90th birthday, last October, Chuck Berry announced a new album was in the works, simply titled “CHUCK.” His last record was 1979’s Rock It, more than three decades earlier.
Now, just days after the passing of the legendary rocker, Dualtone Records has announced a release date for the much-anticipated album: June 16.
Get a guide to the region’s booming music scene
Subscribe to the St. Louis Music newsletter to discover upcoming concerts, local artists to watch, and more across an eclectic playlist of genres.
Mark your calendars.
The album will consist of 10 new recordings, eight of which were written by Berry himself, according to a press release. It was recorded in studios across town and will feature his longtime backing group, including son Charles Berry Jr. (guitar), daughter Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), Jimmy Marsala (bass), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums), “which supported him for nearly two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club.” The album will also include guest performances from Gary Clark Jr., Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Chuck’s grandson Charles Berry III.
Both Morello and Rateliff appear on the album track “Big Boys,” which author and historian Douglas Brinkley calls “a guitar player’s national anthem” in the liner notes.
“Working to prepare the release of this record in recent months and in fact over the last several years brought him a great sense of joy and satisfaction,” the Berry family said in a statement posted to Facebook earlier this week. “While our hearts are very heavy at this time, we know that he had no greater wish than to see this album released to the world, and we know of no better way to celebrate and remember his 90 years of life than through his music.”
The album is decades in the making. “Some of the songs on ‘CHUCK’ were originally conceived as far back as the 1980s, with Berry developing them in his home studio in St. Louis over many years during down time between tours. He worked on the album through 2014,” noted the release. “When health concerns forced him to stop touring and recording in 2015, Berry continued to oversee production and planning for ‘CHUCK,’ enlisting his family and close friend Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill, to fulfill his wishes that the album be completed and released. And from album highlight ‘Lady B. Goode,’ a spiritual sequel to the iconic ‘Johnny B. Goode’ featuring ripping solos from three generations of Berry guitarists, to the poignant country balladry of ‘Darlin’, a duet with his daughter Ingrid, ‘CHUCK’ truly is a family affair.”
“Working on my dad’s record has been one of the best experiences of my life,” Charles Berry Jr. said in the release. “I will forever treasure the musical conversations we had, and the time we spent together completing it.”
Here’s the complete track listing:
• Wonderful Woman
• Big Boys
• You Go To My Head
• 3/4 Time (Enchiladas)
• Darlin’
• Lady B. Goode
• She Still Loves You
• Jamaica Moon
• Dutchman
• Eyes Of Man
The songs are sure to captivate a new generation and make an older generation nostalgic for the past. As The New York Times wrote, Berry was rock and roll’s “master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they knew themselves.”
Find more about the album and other Chuck Berry merchandise at chuckberry.com/store.
