Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Chicago Boogie - The Five Blazes
2. Boogie Woogie Blues - Clarence Samuels
3. Hey Jack - Dozier Boys
4. Little Boy, Little Boy - Earl & His Blues Rockers
5. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston,
6. Booted - Rosco Gordon
7. Leo the Louse - Jackie Brenston
8. Mumbles Blues
9. I Don't Know - Willie Mabon
10. Roll 'Em - Mitzi Mars
11. Train, Train, Train - Danny Overbea
12. Jock-A-Mo - Sugar Boy Crawford
13. Should I - The Coronets
14. Wine, Wine, Wine - Jimmy Binkley,
15. I'm a Young Rooster - Chordones, Leonard Tarver
16. Darling I Know - El Rays
17. Will You Be Mine - Swans
18. That Man Is Walking - Larry Liggett
19. Love Your Lovin' Ways - Daps
20. Sincerely - The Moonglows, The Moonglows
21. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
22. Need Your Love [Alternate Take] - The Flamingos
23. Maybellene - Chuck Berry
24. No One - The Moonglows, The Moonglows
25. If You Love Me, Tell Me So - Paul Gayten

Disc 2:

1. See You Later, Alligator - Bobby Charles
2. $64,000 Question - Bobby Lee Tuggle
3. I'll Be Home - The Flamingos
4. Heavyweight Baby
5. Too Much Monkey Business - Chuck Berry
6. Who Do You Love? - Bo Diddley
7. Frog Hop - Earl Hooker
8. Country Girl - The Four Tops
9. See Saw - The Moonglows, The Moonglows
10. Four O'Clock in the Morning - Stanley Mitchell, The Tornados
11. Laura Lee - Bobby Charles
12. Ain't Got No Home - Clarence "Frogman" Henry
13. Big Wheel (Squeeze Box Shuffle) - Clifton Chenier
14. Been So Long - The Pastels, The Pastels
15. School Days - Chuck Berry
16. Over the Mountain, Across the Sea - Johnnie & Joe
17. Lucky Lou - Jody Williams
18. Happy, Happy Birthday Baby - The Tune Weavers
19. Susie-Q - Dale Hawkins
20. Lady With the Hat Box - Clarence "Frogman" Henry
21. Nervous Boogie - Paul Gayten
22. Crazy Love - Dick Glasser
23. Walk That Walk - Eddie Bo
24. Flatfoot Sam - TV Slim
25. Teardrops - Lee Andrews & the Hearts

Disc 3:

1. Look Out Mabel - G.L. Crockett
2. Book of Love - The Monotones
3. Mr. Big Wheel - Jimmy Nelson
4. Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees) - Eddie Fontaine
5. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
6. Say Man - Bo Diddley
7. Everybody Rock (New Orleans Beat) - Jimmy McCracklin
8. I Found My Girl - Kents
9. I'm So Young - The Students
10. I Love You So [First Version] - Bo Diddley
11. You Got Me Whistlin' - Johnny Fuller
12. Lazy Susan - The Brothers
13. La-Do-Dada - Dale Hawkins
14. Do You Love Me - Chuck Berry
15. Sugaree - Rusty York
16. What Do You Know About Love? - Bo Diddley
17. I Want to Know - Sugar Pie DeSanto
18. Anna Macora - Oscar Boyd, Calvanes
19. This Broken Heart - The Sonics
20. Um Huh My Baby - Billy "The Kid" Emerson
21. This Heart of Mine - The Falcons
22. Goin' Back to Memphis - Kiss
23. This Should Go On Forever - Rod Bernard
24. Let It Rock - Chuck Berry
25. All I Want Is You - The Miracles

Disc 4:

1. At Last - Etta James
2. I Need Your Love - L.C. Cook
3. My Heart Cries - Harvey Fuqua, Etta James
4. Let Me In - The Sensations
5. Saving My Love for You - Little Milton
6. Peanut Butter - The Marathons
7. You're Mine - The Vibrations
8. Smokey Places - The Corsairs, The Corsairs
9. Your Skies of Blue - The Tune Weavers
10. Reap What You Sow - Billy Stewart
11. You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover - Bo Diddley
12. Mama Didn't Lie - Jan Bradley
13. Got You on My Mind
14. Hi-Heel Sneakers - Tommy Tucker
15. That's What They Put Erasers On Pencils For - The Gems
16. Sally Go Round the Roses - The Jaynetts
17. No Particular Place to Go - Chuck Berry
18. Going to the River - Bill & Will
19. Don't Mess Up a Good Thing - Fontella Bass, Bobby McClure
20. Who's Cheating Who? - Little Milton
21. Searching for My Love - Bobby Moore, Bob Moore, The Rhythm Aces
22. Maybelle Sings the Blues - Big Maybelle
23. O-O I Love You - The Dells
24. Tell Mama - Etta James

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #221029 in Music
• Released on: 1994-12-06
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Compiled with the same care and attention to detail as the landmark Chess Blues box set, this set presents the rhythm & blues side of Chess Records and, in many ways, is the more entertaining of the two. Ninety-nine tracks cover the label's astonishing breadth of jump blues combos, vocal groups, and rock & roll pioneers. You can't help but be overwhelmed by all this great music. The work of giants like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley sounds even more exciting in context with underrated gems from the likes of the Moonglows, Paul Gayten, and the Dozier Boys. No one is going to deny the greatness of Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" or Etta James's breathtaking performance on "At Last." But you haven't lived until you've laughed at Roscoe Gordon's "Booted," sung broken falsetto to Clarence "Frogman" Henry's immortal "Ain't Got No Home," or wrung tears from your hanky to the ambient strains of the Corsairs' gorgeous "Smokey Places." --Ken Hohman

Customer Reviews

****1/2. Why the hell don't Amazon stock this?!
This is one impresssive box set, four discs and an excellent 64-page booklet.
"Chess Rhythm & Roll" brings together excactly 99 Chess singles recorded between 1947 and 1967, and while Chess records is better known as the home of men like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, the Chess brothers also had many of the earliest (and best) rock n' rollers in their stable. This is rock n' roll, R&B, and a bit of soul, pop, blues and doo-wop as well, and this lavish collection far exceeds your average "oldies" package.

The sound is every bit as good as you can expect from material dating back to the 40s and 50s. Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley are here, of course, two of the label's biggest stars, but it's the attention given to lesser-known artists and "one hit wonders" which makes "Chess Rhythm & Roll" so remarkable.
We all know "See You Later Alligator", "At Last", "Johnny B. Goode" and "Suzie Q", but how about "Goin' To The River" by Bill & Will, "Country Girl" by the Four Tops, Paul Gayten's driving instrumental "Nervous Boogie", or Clarence 'Frogman' Henry's swinging "Lady With The Hat Box"?
Some of these tunes are probably more familiar to all you Americans than to a thirty-something European like me...but there are numerous songs here (39 in all) which are not just rarities, they have never been available in LP format before, and in many cases have not seen release at all until this collection came out in '94.

Not everything is top-notch, obviously, but very few of these 99 songs are anything less than good. "Chess Rhythm & Roll" is a find for anyone with an interest in "proto-rock n' roll", an exceptionally handsome and well-made box set, and a terrific companion volume to Chess' other big box set, "Chess Blues".
Pick up "Chess Rhythm & Roll", and you'll be surprised at the overall quality of the material assembled here.