Best Of Chess: Original Versions Of Songs In Cadillac Records

Review CHESS: THE REAL THING Beyonce and crew take a crack at fifties hits, but there's no replacing the originals The Best Of Chess Records: five stars Whatever its cinematic merits, "Cadillac Records," the new film about the legendary blues and R&B label Chess, has already performed the valuable public service of exposing some of the greatest American songs to millions who might not otherwise have heard them. There would be no rock & roll without Bo Diddley's walloping backbeat and Chuck Berry's pealing guitar solos; no strutting rappers without the badass blues boasts of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf; no Beyoncé crooning "If I Were a Boy" in 2008 without Etta James' pained pleading of "Trust in Me" 47 years earlier. Even if you've never heard the originals, you know this music in your bones. There's no improving on the Chess catalog, and this new compilation is a great place to start soaking it in. It includes signature songs from Diddley ("I'm a Man"), Waters ("Forty Days and Forty Nights"), Wolf ("Smokestack Lightnin' ") and James ("At Last"), as well as three tunes by Little Walter, a hurricane disguised as singer and harmonica player. The only thing you lose is how startlingly innovative these songs were in the Fifties. So concentrate instead on the still-shocking power of Waters' and James' singing, and the poetry (not too strong a word) of Berry's road songs -- the most compact, artfully artless songwriting in rock & roll history. -- Rolling Stone Magazine, January 1, 2009 Product description CD
ASIN: B001JL2VCE
VSKU: DBV.B001JL2VCE.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Willie Dixon|Johnnie Johnson|Jimmy Johnson|Jody Williams|Odie Payne, Jr.|Jimmy Rogers|Chuck Berry|Jasper Thomas|Clifton James|Hubert Sumlin|Charles Chalmers|Bo Diddley|Muddy Waters|Hosea Lee Kennard|Carl Banks|Lafayette Leake|Ebby Hardy|Howlin' Wolf|Earl Phillips|Big Crawford|Gene Miller|Albert Jr. Lowe|Albert Lowe|Paul Williams|Dewey Oldham|Paul Williams & His Hucklebuckers|Aaron Varnell|James Robinson|Otis Spann|Pat Hare|Leonard Caston|Leroy Davis|Elgin Evans|Fred Below|Etta James|Roger Dawkins|Robert Lockwood, Jr.|Little Walter|Luther Tucker|Francis Clay|Floyd Newman
Binding: Audio cd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!