Tag: rock and roll

Chuck Berry – Let It Rock / Sweet Little Rock And Roller [year unknown; Collectables]

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Pulling together a pair of Chuck Berry’s hits from the turn into the ‘60s, this single opens with the quick “Let It Rock”, which works from a riff strikingly close to the main line of “Johnny B. Goode”, but with piano getting a livelier solo than Berry’s guitar while the lyrics dash through the end of a work day.  “Sweet Little Rock and Roller” gets a more fleshed-out story on the B-side, detailing the title character’s night out on the town and her fondness for rock.  A guitar break leads back into the singing, though that finishes out with the title sung through to the fade-out.  A nice pair of cuts from a strong point in Berry’s career, but a little lacking compared to some of the other material from that time.

Bill Black’s Combo – Movin’ [1961; London Records]

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One of four albums released by Bill Black’s Combo in 1961, Movin’ features the band’s usual instrumental work (with some background yells in “Hey Bo Diddley”) over a dozen tracks, none of them breaking the three-minute mark.  Keeping things fast and active, all but two of the songs taken on by the sax, bass, drums, and piano line-up are covers, though the style and condensing changes makes some practically unrecognizable at first hearing.  The quick turn-over and fairly narrow span of tempos for most of the songs also leads to some of the music blurring together without high attention paid, but through it all, the band keeps up a fine style and strong performances.