The Chess Box

At the onset of the CD era, record companies scoured their vaults in search of big-name historic artists to properly anthologize. For musicians who'd recorded the majority of their music with a single label, the resulting sets were often exciting; fans previously had to make do with bare-bones greatest-hits collections and a hit-or-miss approach to in-print albums. Yet Chuck Berry eventually had The Great Twenty-Eight deleted (though, thankfully, it's available on iTunes), and fans were left with inferior choices until a new wave of reissues exhausted the vaults once again. However, The Chess Box remains one of the earliest—and best—Berry collections that go beyond the obvious hits without insisting upon “complete” status. Since the box’s release, there have been increased options for how one wishes to collect their Chuck Berry music. For someone seeking an in-depth look with A-sides and B-sides, The Chess Box remains a well-edited view of an early rock ’n’ roll pioneer and first-rate guitarist, singer, and songwriter.