St. Louis to Liverpool is the seventh studio album by American rock and roll musician Chuck Berry. Released in 1964 by Chess Records, it peaked at number 124 on the US Billboard album chart, the first of Berry's studio albums to appear on the chart. Music critic Dave Marsh called St. Louis to Liverpool "one of the greatest rock and roll records ever made". On October 18, 1963, Berry was released from prison after having spent 20 months incarcerated owing to conviction on a charge under the Mann Act. During his time in prison, emerging rock groups had found inspiration in his work. The Beach Boys had based their number-three hit single "Surfin' U.S.A." on his "Sweet Little Sixteen"; the Beatles had included "Roll Over Beethoven" on their second American album; the debut single in the United Kingdom by the Rolling Stones was their cover of "Come On", and they had included "Carol" on their first American album, England's Newest Hitmakers.
It's a solid rock 'n' roll album by the man himself, but even in 1964 this must have starting feeling stale. Essentially the same song repeated 12 times.
Two mega hits and the rest are great to hear.
A great listen and a great idea to suggest a legend like this for the list.
What can you say - though I don't spend a ton of time listening to this kind of music, this stands in the pantheon of the ur-rock that all modern rock and roll - as well as its reactionary offshoot like punk, metal, haedcore, new wave, etc. - owe their existence to. Berry was an amiable old pervert some of whose transgressions are tough to look past - but, that was a long time ago and this remains about perfect.
Rock and roll. Vinilo, claro.
Chuck Berry is a genius artist. Fun rock and roll album.
Chuck Berry is always a good listen, St Louis to Liverpool delivers a couple of classics although maybe not his best work and maybe a bit dated by the mid-60s, but I liked it plenty. Low 4, could listen regularly and often have as he's one of my Dad's favourite all-time artists.
This stuff is pretty cool. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it kicks along nicely and it's pretty catchy. 4/5.
Classic, solid early rock and roll.
I'm honestly shocked that no Chuck Berry appears on the base list, considering his importance to the history of rock and roll. While this style of early 60s rock certainly isn't my main interest, there's no denying its historical importance and frankly just how fun it is.
Chuck had already released two serious early rock-'n'-roll masterpieces in the album format during the fifties -- *After School Session* and *Berry Is On Top* -- and by 1964 (after some time in jail, I believe), he was already considered as a thing of the past by a lot of rock fans (the needle advanced very fast during the sixties). Not sure this album made him relevant again right away -- even if his work had been used or pillaged by The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Stones while he was away from recording studios. And yet for me, many decades after the fact, this awesome record shines almost as much as the two others I've quoted up there. Many things can explain why I find *St. Louis To Liverpool* so endearing. First, Quentin Tarantino played a pivotal part in highlighting it, thanks to the use of the infectious "You Never Can Tell" in Pulp Fiction. But secondly, there are many other gems in this record, from "Little Marie" to "No Particular Place To Go". Chuck tells all sorts of provocative or just plain fun little stories that bring a very evocative mood on the table. Thirdly, the production values on this one is as crisp as anything recorded during that early rock era. The "panoramic" sound dynamics are insane (that tom fill on "Go Bobby Soxer"! That single lead guitar playing on the right speaker of "The Things I Used To Do"). And there's like an elegant, cinematic atmosphere to the whole thing that ticks all my boxes. ---- 4/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 9/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 52 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 68 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 123 --- Hey, Émile. Tu as déjà dû voir ma dernière réponse sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys ! J'essaie d'écrire la mienne bientôt.
I really enjoyed that.
So good. 4 stars.
Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Our little rendezvous, No particular place to go, You never can tell
Classic
It was ok. Old fashioned rock and roll.
I do like a bit of Chuck Berry, but only a bit. I think less is more.
4 3 Quite nice
Chuck Berry is one I see who a lot of people say should've made the original list, but I personally didn't see a specific album that should've been chosen. I suppose this is the best choice, though. Ironically, despite Berry's guitar picking being out of this world (not to mention influential) for 1964, it's the piano led You Never Can Tell that is the highlight here, with the the bluesy B-side never really coming close to that high.
Sounds like Chuck Berry! Was there Chuck on the OG list? Should’ve been
Generally, I really like getting to listen to actual albums from the early period of rock, since it often gives me a much different feel for the artist and their influences. In this case, it left me kind of cold. There's a lot of great stuff here, don't get me wrong, and I'm not trying to disparage Chuck Berry's musical legacy in any way (though I'm happy to disparage several of his actions as a person). Outside of the hits, the record gets samey pretty fast. I'm sure there's plenty of nuance here that I'm not picking up on, but several of the songs seem to have the same intro, and the guitar riffs can be similar from song to song as well. Also, I just got to the end, and the last song appears to be about a high school sophomore, which will never cease to be weird to me 3/5 The songs I already knew are still great, but this album dragged a bit too much for me to give it a 4
I know it’s Chuck Berry and all, but I’m really glad rock starting heading in a new direction at this point in time. Released in ‘64, but the sound is rooted well within the 1950’s. Just ain’t for me.
dull. not unlistenable, but not my jam. 2*.