Chuck Berry and Etta James Up Next In Chess Records’ Acoustic Sounds Series
Berry’s ‘St. Louis To Liverpool’ and James’ ‘Tell Mama’ are joining the reissue series.
Two more titles are joining Chess Records’ Acoustic Sounds Series: Chuck Berry‘s St. Louis To Liverpool and Etta James‘s Tell Mama. Both titles will be available through the esteemed label’s 75th-anniversary audiophile reissue series.
Released in 1964, the recording of St. Louis To Liverpool coincided with a surge in international popularity for Berry, who saw British Invasion superstars like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones build on his influence. The record was the first of his studio albums to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 124, and included four of his five charting singles from that year: “No Particular Place to Go,” “You Never Can Tell,” “Promised Land,” and “Little Marie,” a sequel to “Memphis, Tennessee.”
Tell Mama, James’s 1968 album and her second for Chess’s Cadet imprint, was made with producer Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The 12-track record includes the title song, “Just A Little Bit,” and a cover of “I’d Rather Go Blind,” which became a signature for her. Tell Mama was her first to chart on the Billboard 200 since 1964, and the title track gave her the highest Billboard Hot 100 position of her career, reaching number 23. A cover of Otis Redding’s “Security” also became a major hit, reaching the Top 20 on the R&B singles chart.
It’s both James and Berry’s second reissue through the Acoustic Sounds series—St. Louis to Liverpool and Tell Mama join Berry’s Berry Is on Top and James’s At Last! The series is dedicated to reviving classic albums and compilations from the Chess catalog. Each release gets mastered by Matthew Lutthans from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings (QRP). Earlier entries include The Best of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf’s Moanin’ in the Moonlight, The Best of Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson’s The Real Folk Blues.
