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On the 1961 single "Go Go Go," a side that went nowhere on the charts, Chuck Berry sang that he was "Mixing Ahmad Jamal in my 'Johnny B. Goode'/Sneaking Erroll Garner in my 'Sweet Sixteen'/Now they tell me Stan Kenton is cutting 'Maybellene'" -- as always, Chuck is stretching the truth to fit his story. Kenton never cut "Maybellene" but Berry did sneak some jazz into his rock & roll in the '60s, along with plenty of blues, country, and some folk, all evident on You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966, Hip-O Select's second volume of Chuck's Chess recordings. Of course, Berry never was stylistically pure -- he invented rock & roll by marrying hillbilly and the blues -- but on his '60s sides he had the opportunity to both stretch out and dig deep, sometimes cutting a set of blues, sometimes expanding with horns or backing vocals or cutting a Twist. The latter is pretty good evidence that some of these wanderings may have been reflections of the times, but as a whole body of work the four-disc You Never Can Tell -- which gathers all the master studio takes, adds some alternates to the mix, and unveils a previously unheard live date that presents the rarest of things: a full adult-oriented concert given by Chuck at a Detroit casino where he was backed by an uncredited group of Berry Gordy's all-stars -- feels like the work of a man who is fully aware of his strengths and abilities, able to subtly tweak them toward the times without losing his identity. 

Indeed, one of the striking things about the set is how vigorous Chuck Berry seems in the firsthalf of the '60s, a time that did not treat all '50s rock & rollers particularly well. Of course, Chuck was not immune to the downward dip in rock & roll in the early '60s: he was arrested for a Mann Act violation in 1959 and spent the first years of the '60s embroiled in a legal mess leading to a five-year jail sentence of which he served roughly a year and a half. Before he entered prison, he recorded furiously: about the first disc and a half of You Never Can Tell dates from 1960 and 1961, as Chuck was laying down as many sides as he could, just in case he went away for a long time. Some of these sessions do seem a little hurried -- there aren't many originals, particularly in 1960 -- but this did give him an opportunity to record some very good blues-heavy sessions, where he was able to indulge in his fondness for Charles Brown, Nat King Cole, and Amos Milburn. And while there weren't many originals, those that were there were quite good, especially the "Johnny B. Goode" sequel "Bye Bye Johnny" and his latest car song, "Jaguar and Thunderbird." The 1961 sessions produced an even stronger crop of originals with "I'm Talking About You," "Come On," "Go Go Go," the "Junco Partner" adaptation "The Man and the Donkey," and "Trick or Treat," the latter two appearing on the excellent fake live album Chuck Berry on Stage (the cuts here being presented without the audience overdubs).

CD 1
 1. (00:02:20) Chuck Berry - Driftin' Blues
   2. (00:02:17) Chuck Berry - I Got to Find My Baby
   3. (00:02:16) Chuck Berry - I Got to Find My Baby (Stereo Remix)
   4. (00:02:10) Chuck Berry - Don't You Lie to Me
   5. (00:02:12) Chuck Berry - Worried Life Blues
   6. (00:02:04) Chuck Berry - Our Little Rendezvous
   7. (00:02:06) Chuck Berry - Bye Bye Johnny
   8. (00:02:06) Chuck Berry - Bye Bye Johnny (Stereo Remix)
   9. (00:02:33) Chuck Berry - Run Around
  10. (00:02:33) Chuck Berry - Run Around (Stereo Remix)
  11. (00:01:52) Chuck Berry - Jaguar and Thunderbird
  12. (00:02:31) Chuck Berry - Diploma for Two
  13. (00:02:48) Chuck Berry - Little Star
  14. (00:02:54) Chuck Berry - The Way it Was Before
  15. (00:02:40) Chuck Berry - Away from You
  16. (00:02:16) Chuck Berry - Down the Road A Piece
  17. (00:02:28) Chuck Berry - Down the Road A Piece (Stereo Remix)
  18. (00:02:10) Chuck Berry - Confessin' the Blues
  19. (00:02:48) Chuck Berry - Sweet Sixteen
  20. (00:02:15) Chuck Berry - Thirteen Question Method
  21. (00:02:28) Chuck Berry - Stop and Listen
  22. (00:02:07) Chuck Berry - I Still Got the Blues
  23. (00:02:53) Chuck Berry - I'm Just A Lucky So and So
  24. (00:02:23) Chuck Berry - Mad Lad
  25.(00:02:32) Chuck Berry - Surfin' Steel (Cryin' Steel)
  26. (00:02:54) Chuck Berry - Route 66 (Take 10)
  27. (00:02:52) Chuck Berry - Route 66 (Take 11)
  28. (00:01:51) Chuck Berry - I'm Talking About You
  29. (00:02:12) Chuck Berry - Rip it Up
  30. (00:01:50) Chuck Berry - Come on
  31. (00:01:52) Chuck Berry - Come on (Stereo Version)
  32. (00:02:13) Chuck Berry - Adulteen
  33. (00:02:06) Chuck Berry - The Man and the Donkey

CD 2
1. (00:02:50) Chuck Berry - Go Go Go (Alternate Take)
   2. (00:02:34) Chuck Berry - Go Go Go
   3. (00:01:34) Chuck Berry - Trick or Treat
   4. (00:01:47) Chuck Berry - Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Instrumental)
   5. (00:01:42) Chuck Berry - Brown Eyed Handsome Man
   6. (00:01:51) Chuck Berry - Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Stereo Remix)
   7. (00:02:09) Chuck Berry - All Aboard
   8. (00:03:11) Chuck Berry - GuitarBoogie
   9. (00:01:59) Chuck Berry - Let it Rock
  10. (00:04:17) Chuck Berry - Almost Grown
  11. (00:01:48) Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Dialog 1
  12. (00:06:15) Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
  13. (00:01:39) Chuck Berry - Introduction / Instrumental
  14. (00:04:28) Chuck Berry - Sweet Little Sixteen
  15. (00:06:16) Chuck Berry - Wee Wee Hours (Live 1963 Detroit)
  16. (00:04:56) Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Dialog 2
  17. (00:03:11) Chuck Berry - Maybellene
  18. (00:11:00) Chuck Berry - Medley: Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight/johnny B. Goode/let it Rock/school Day
  19. (00:02:36) Chuck Berry - Nadine
  20. (00:02:44) Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
  21. (00:02:41) Chuck Berry - The Little Girl from Central
  22. (00:02:43) Chuck Berry - The Things I Used to Do
  23. (00:02:52) Chuck Berry - I'm in the Danger Zone

CD 3 
 1. (00:02:54) ChuckBerry - Fraulein
   2. (00:02:15) Chuck Berry - Crazy Arms
   3. (00:03:05) Chuck Berry - O Rangutang
   4. (00:02:28) Chuck Berry - Big Ben
   5. (00:02:25) Chuck Berry - Promised Land
   6. (00:02:16) Chuck Berry - Brenda Lee
   7. (00:02:44) Chuck Berry - No Particular Place to Go
   8. (00:02:11) Chuck Berry - You Two
   9. (00:02:56) Chuck Berry - Liverpool Drive
  10. (00:10:38) Chuck Berry - Chuck's Beat
  11. (00:14:05) Chuck Berry - Bo's Beat
  12. (00:02:37) Chuck Berry - Little Marie
  13. (00:03:00) Chuck Berry - Go Bobby Soxer
  14. (00:03:02) Chuck Berry - Lonely School Days
  15. (00:03:17) Chuck Berry - His Daughter Caroline
  16. (00:01:51) Chuck Berry - Dear Dad
  17. (00:02:16) Chuck Berry - I Want to Be Your Driver
  18. (00:02:12) Chuck Berry - Spending Christmas
  19. (00:02:30) Chuck Berry - The Song of My Love
  20. (00:02:41) Chuck Berry - Butterscotch
  21. (00:02:21) Chuck Berry - After It's Over
  22. (00:02:53) Chuck Berry - Why Should We End this Way

CD 4
 1. (00:02:08) Chuck Berry - You Came A Long Way from St. Louis
   2. (00:02:38) Chuck Berry - She Once Was Mine
   3. (00:02:08) Chuck Berry - Jamaica Farewell
   4. (00:02:39) Chuck Berry - My Little Love-Light
   5. (00:02:55) Chuck Berry - I Got A Booking
   6. (00:02:40) Chuck Berry - St. Louis Blues
   7. (00:02:22) Chuck Berry - Shake Rattle and Roll
   8. (00:03:27) Chuck Berry - Wee Wee Hours (Instrumental)
   9. (00:02:34) Chuck Berry - Honey Hush
  10. (00:02:19) Chuck Berry - Run Joe
  11. (00:02:12) Chuck Berry - It's My Own Business
  12. (00:02:45) Chuck Berry - One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
  13. (00:02:14) Chuck Berry - Everyday We Rock and Roll
  14. (00:04:14) Chuck Berry - My Mustang Ford (Instrumental)
  15. (00:02:20) Chuck Berry - My Mustang Ford
  16. (00:02:53) Chuck Berry - My Mustang Ford (Stereo Mix)
  17. (00:02:14) Chuck Berry - Merrily We Rock and Roll
  18. (00:02:39) Chuck Berry - Vaya Con Dios
  19. (00:03:16) Chuck Berry - Wee Hour Blues
  20. (00:02:36) Chuck Berry - It Wasn't Me
  21. (00:02:37) Chuck Berry - It Wasn't Me (Stereo Remix)
  22. (00:02:15) Chuck Berry - Ain't that Just Like A Woman
  23. (00:02:25) Chuck Berry - Right Off Rampart Street
  24. (00:02:37) Chuck Berry - Welcome Back Pretty Baby
  25. (00:02:45) Chuck Berry - Sad Day, Long Night
  26. (00:02:43) Chuck Berry - Ramona Say Yes
  27. (00:02:45) Chuck Berry - Ramona Say Yes (Alternate Mix)
  28. (00:02:03) Chuck Berry - Viva Viva Rock 'N' Roll
  29. (00:02:47) Chuck Berry - His Daughter Caroline (Fast Version)
  30. (00:02:35) Chuck Berry - Lonely School Days (Fast Version)

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