The Chess Box is a title given to several box sets released by Chess Records

Chess Records

Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....

 for artists such as Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...

, Howlin' Wolf

Howlin' Wolf

Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....

, and Etta James

Etta James

Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...

. The most prominent of these is the set for Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

, which won a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for Best Historical Album

Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*In 1979 the award was known as Best Historical Repackage Album*In 1980 it was awarded as Best Historical Reissue...

 in 1989. Berry's The Chess Box was reissued on vinyl

LP record

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 in 1990.

Songs

The songs "I'm Just a Lucky So and So" and "Time Was" were previously unreleased. "Cryin' Steel" was first released as "Surfin' Steel" on Chuck Berry on Stage

Chuck Berry on Stage

Chuck Berry On Stage is a Chuck Berry album which was released in 1963 under Chess Records. Although promoted as a live album, this was in fact a collection of previously released studio recordings with overdubbed audience sounds to simulate a live recording...

and "Ramona Say Yes" did not have saxophoness.

Another song of interest is "Chuck's Beat" which was released on Two Great Guitars

Two Great Guitars

Two Great Guitars: Bo Diddley/Chuck Berry is a studio album by Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, which was released in August 1964 by Checker Records, and is now considered to be one of rock music's earliest "super session" albums...

which featured Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...

.

Disc 1

1. "Maybellene
   Maybellene
   "Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...
   
   " – 2:18
2. "Wee Wee Hours
   Wee Wee Hours
   "Wee Wee Hours" is a song composed and recorded by Chuck Berry in 1955. Originally released as the B-side of Berry's first single "Maybellene", it went on to become a hit, reaching #10 in the Billboard R&B chart....
   
   " – 2:02
3. "Thirty Days" – 2:21
4. "You Can't Catch Me" – 2:42
5. "No Money Down" – 2:56
6. "Downbound Train" – 2:49
7. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man
   Brown Eyed Handsome Man
   "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is a rock and roll song by Chuck Berry, which was originally released by Chess Records in September 1956 as the B-side to "Too Much Monkey Business". It was also included on Berry's 1957 debut album After School Session...
   
   " – 2:15
8. "Drifting Heart" – 2:47
9. "Roll Over Beethoven
   Roll Over Beethoven
   "Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit single by Chuck Berry originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classical music...
   
   " – 2:22
10. "Too Much Monkey Business
    Too Much Monkey Business
    "Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and performed by rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry. It was released as Chuck's fifth single in September 1956 for Chess Records, and appeared as the third track on Chuck's first solo LP, After School Session in May 1957, as well as the EP of the same name...
    
    " – 2:53
11. "Havana Moon" – 3:06
12. "School Days
    School Days (song)
    "School Days" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry, released by the Chess record label as a single in March 1957, and released on the LP After School Session two months later . It is one of his best known songs and is often considered a rock and roll anthem...
    
    " – 2:40
13. "Rock and Roll Music
    Rock and Roll Music
    "Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists....
    
    " – 2:30
14. "Oh Baby Doll" – 2:36
15. "I've Changed" – 3:04
16. "Reelin' and Rockin'" – 3:15
17. "Rockin' at the Philharmonic" – 3:21
18. "Sweet Little Sixteen
    Sweet Little Sixteen
    "Sweet Little Sixteen" is a rock and roll song written and originally performed by Chuck Berry, who released it as a single in January 1958. It reached number two on the American charts, Berry's highest position ever on the charts, with the exception of the suggestive number one hit "My...
    
    " – 3:10
19. "Johnny B. Goode
    Johnny B. Goode
    "Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by American musician Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song is one of Chuck Berry's...
    
    " – 2:37
20. "Time Was" (Gabriel Luna/Miguel Prado/Bob Russell
    Bob Russell (songwriter)
    Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell, was an American songwriter born in Passaic, New Jersey.In 1968, Russell along with songwriting partner Quincy Jones was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category...
    
    ) – 1:56
21. "Around and Around
    Around and Around
    "Around and Around" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry. It originally appeared under the name "Around & Around" as the B-side to the single "Johnny B. Goode".- The Rolling Stones :...
    
    " – 2:38
22. "Beautiful Delilah" – 2:13
23. "House of Blue Lights" (Don Raye
    Don Raye
    Don Raye , born Donald MacRae Wilhoite, Jr., in Washington, D.C., was an American vaudevillian and songwriter, best known for his songs for the Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", "The House of Blue Lights", "Just For A Thrill" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."While known for...
    
    /Freddie Slack
    Freddie Slack
    Frederick Charles Slack was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader.He played with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939...
    
    ) – 2:24
24. "Carol
    Carol (song)
    "Carol" is a song written by Chuck Berry, first released by Chuck Berry in 1958. It was later covered by The Beatles for a live BBC performance during 1963, this version was released on the 1994 compilation album Live at the BBC. It was also recorded by The Rolling Stones and released on their...
    
    " – 2:46

Disc 2

1. "Memphis, Tennessee
   Memphis, Tennessee (song)
   "Memphis, Tennessee" is a song by rock & roll singer-songwriter Chuck Berry. It is sometimes shortened to "Memphis". In the UK, the song charted at #6 in 1963, at the same time Decca Records issued a cover version in the UK by Dave Berry and the Cruisers, who came from Sheffield, Yorkshire...
   
   " – 2:10
2. "Anthony Boy" – 1:52
3. "Jo Jo Gunne" – 2:45
4. "Sweet Little Rock N' Roller" – 2:20
5. "Merry Christmas Baby
   Merry Christmas Baby
   "Merry Christmas Baby" is an R & B Christmas standard written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore. It has been covered by many artists including Otis Redding, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Hanson. The original 1947 version by Johnny Moore's Three Trailblazers "Merry Christmas Baby" is an R...
   
   " (Lou Baxter/Johnny Moore
   Johnny Moore (musician)
   Johnny Moore was an American rhythm and blues singer with The Drifters.Born John Alfred Moore in Selma, Alabama, United States, he began as lead of the Cleveland based group, The Hornets, before being discovered by The Drifters. He joined the group as lead vocalist, in New York in 1955, at age 21...
   
   ) – 3:11
6. "Run Rudolph Run
   Run Rudolph Run
   "Run, Rudolph, Run" is a Christmas song popularized by Chuck Berry and written by Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie and published by St. Nicholas Music . The song was first recorded by Berry in 1958 and released as Chess Records 1714...
   
   " (Marvin Brodie/Johnny Marks
   Johnny Marks
   Johnny Marks was an American songwriter. Although he was Jewish, he specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many standards, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" , "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" , "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" , and "A Holly...
   
   ) – 2:43
7. "Little Queenie" – 2:40
8. "Almost Grown
   Almost Grown (song)
   "Almost Grown" is a song written and performed by Chuck Berry. It was released as a double a-side with "Little Queenie". The song is featured in the 1973 film American Graffiti...
   
   " – 2:18
9. "Back in the U.S.A.
   Back in the U.S.A.
   "Back in the U.S.A." is a song by Chuck Berry, which was first issued in 1959 as a single a-side and on Berry's 1962 album More Chuck Berry, . The song's lyrics were supposedly written based upon Berry returning to the USA following a trip to Australia and witnessing the living standards of...
   
   " – 2:27
10. "Betty Jean" – 2:29
11. "Childhood Sweetheart" – 2:42
12. "Let It Rock
    Let It Rock (Chuck Berry song)
    "Let It Rock" is a song by Chuck Berry from his 1960 album Rockin' at the Hops. The same year, it was released as the B-side of the single "Too Pooped to Pop " and reached #64 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #6 in the UK. The song is about working on a train track as a train is...
    
    " – 1:45
13. "Too Pooped to Pop" – 2:33
14. "Bye Bye Johnny" – 2:03
15. "Jaguar and Thunderbird" – 1:50
16. "Down the Road a Piece
    Down the Road a Piece
    "Down the Road a Piece" is a boogie-woogie song written by Don Raye. In 1940, it was recorded by the Will Bradley Trio and became a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year...
    
    " (Don Raye) – 2:13
17. "Confessin' the Blues" (Walter Brown
    Walter Brown (singer)
    Walter Brown was a blues shouter who sang with Jay McShann's band in the 1940s and co-wrote their biggest hit, "Confessin' The Blues"....
    
    /Jay McShann
    Jay McShann
    Jay McShann was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer....
    
    ) – 2:07
18. "Thirteen Question Method" – 2:12
19. "Crying Steel" – 2:32
20. "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So
    I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So
    "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So" is a 1945 song composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Mack David.-Notable recordings:*Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones 1959...
    
    " (Mack David
    Mack David
    Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...
    
    /Duke Ellington
    Duke Ellington
    Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
    
    ) – 2:50
21. "I'm Talking About You" – 1:48
22. "Come On
    Come On (Chuck Berry song)
    "Come On" is a song written and first released by Chuck Berry in 1961. The Rolling Stones released a version as their debut single in 1963.According to the liner notes from the Berry compilation album The Great Twenty-Eight, the performers on the record were as follows:* Chuck Berry: Guitars and...
    
    " – 1:48
23. "Nadine (Is It You?)" (Chuck Berry/Alan Freed
    Alan Freed
    Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
    
    ) – 2:35
24. "Crazy Arms
    Crazy Arms
    "Crazy Arms" is an American country song recorded by Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a hit that year and a honky-tonk standard. It was Price's first number one hit. The song was written by Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals...
    
    " (Ralph Mooney/Chuck Seals) – 2:12
25. "You Never Can Tell
    You Never Can Tell (song)
    "You Never Can Tell" also occasionally referred to as "C'est La Vie" is a rock and roll song by Chuck Berry. It was composed while he was in prison for intent to commit a sex crime. The song was originally released in 1964 on the album St...
    
    " – 2:40
26. "The Things I Used To Do" (Guitar Slim
    Guitar Slim
    Eddie Jones , better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do"...
    
    ) – 2:40
27. "Promised Land
    Promised Land (song)
    "Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Chuck Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in 1965, it was Berry's first single issued following his prison term...
    
    " – 2:20

Disc 3

1. "No Particular Place to Go
   No Particular Place To Go
   "No Particular Place to Go" is a song by American rock and roll icon Chuck Berry, released as a single by Chess Records in May 1964 and was released on the album St...
   
   " – 2:41
2. "Liverpool Drive" – 2:53
3. "You Two" – 2:08
4. "Chuck's Beat" (Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley
   Bo Diddley
   Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
   
   ) – 10:35
5. "Little Marie" – 2:34
6. "Dear Dad" – 1:48
7. "Sad Day Long Night" – 2:42
8. "It's My Own Business" – 2:10
9. "It Wasn't Me" – 2:32
10. "Ramona Say Yes" – 2:40
11. "Viva Viva Rock N' Roll" – 2:00
12. "Tulane" – 2:36
13. "Have Mercy Judge" – 2:38
14. "My Dream" – 5:56
15. "Reelin' and Rockin' [Live]" – 7:02
16. "My Ding-a-Ling
    My Ding-a-Ling
    "My Ding-a-Ling" was the title of a novelty song recorded by Chuck Berry, and his only U.S. number-one single on the pop charts. Later that year the song, in a longer unedited form, was on the album The London Chuck Berry Sessions...
    
     [Live Single Edit]" – 4:16
17. "Johnny B. Goode [Live]" – 3:13
18. "A Deuce" – 2:32
19. "Woodpecker" – 3:33
20. "Bio" – 4:22

Personnel

Per Allmusic Guide

Performers

• Chuck Berry
  Chuck Berry
  Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
  
   – lead vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Owen McIntyre – guitar
• Matt "Guitar" Murphy
  Matt Murphy (blues guitarist)
  Matt "Guitar" Murphy is an American blues guitarist.-Life and career:Matt Murphy was born in Sunflower, Mississippi, United States, and was educated in Memphis, where his father worked at the Peabody Hotel...
  
   – guitar
• Billy Peek – guitar
• Jimmy Rogers
  Jimmy Rogers
  Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
  
   – guitar
• Bo Diddley
  Bo Diddley
  Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
  
   – guitar
• Stan Bronstein – saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  
• L.C. Davis – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Adam Ippolito – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Johnnie Johnson
  Johnnie Johnson (musician)
  Johnnie Johnson was an American pianist and blues musician. His work with Chuck Berry led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.-Career:...
  
   – piano
• Dave Kafinetti – piano
• Lafayette Leake
  Lafayette Leake
  Lafayette Leake was a blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.-Biography:Leake was born in...
  
   – piano
• Otis Spann
  Otis Spann
  Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
  
   – piano
• Paul Williams – piano
• Jerome Green – maracas
• Chuck Bernard – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Willie Dixon
  Willie Dixon
  William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
  
   – bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Jack "Zocko" Groendal – bass guitar
• Nic Potter
  Nic Potter
  Nic Potter is a British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s.-Career:...
  
   – bass guitar
• George "Harmonica" Smith – bass
• Gary VanScyoc – bass guitar
• Fred Below
  Fred Below
  Fred Below was a leading blues drummer, best known for his innovative work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. Nobody laid more of the Chicago blues rhythmic foundations, particularly its archetypal backbeat, than Fred Below.-Career:He was born in Chicago, and started playing drums...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Rick Frank – drums
• Eddie Hardy – drums
• Robbie McIntosh – drums
• Bill Metros – drums
• Odie Payne
  Odie Payne
  Odie Payne was an American Chicago blues drummer. Over his long career Payne worked with a range of musicians including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis...
  
   – drums
• Jasper Thomas – drums
• Martha Berry - backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  

Production

• Leonard Chess
  Leonard Chess
  Leonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
  
  , Phil Chess
  Phil Chess
  Philip Chess is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928...
  
  , Chuck Berry
  Chuck Berry
  Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
  
  , Esmond Edwards
  Esmond Edwards
  Esmond Edwards was an American photographer, record producer, and recording engineer. He worked for jazz dominated Prestige Records during the 1950s and early-1960s. He was originally hired by founder Bob Weinstock as a photographer for the record label...
  
   – producers
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Billy Altman – liner notes
  Liner notes
  Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
  
  
• Andy McKaie – reissue producer, compilation producer
• Greg Fulginiti
  Greg Fulginiti
  Gregory Fulginiti is an American recording and mastering engineer.In a career spanning three decades, Fulginiti was nominated for the TEC Awards by Mix magazine 6 times, earned 175 Gold and Platinum Awards, 25 Multi-Platinum Awards, 100 Number One recordings, 135 Grammy nominees, including the...
  
   – mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
  
• Doug Schwartz – remastering