At the time, parents and teachers were still expecting this whole rock and roll fad to breeze over pretty quickly. How could music with such dumb lyrics, Paleolithic musicianship, and mindlessly generic tunes last?
There was plenty of evidence to explain how already, but Chess' second album should have put the final nail in those old timers' wishes. Berry's After School Session would have been a stunning debut album in any era. It is a versatile platter of blues, jazz, calypso, and the pumping rock and roll for which he is best known. You'd be hard-pressed to dig up a short story writer capable of telling a complete tale with Berry's deftness and economy, or a poet who could so effortlessly paint images with words any teen could understand.
Perhaps most significantly, Berry proved that in an age when most rock and roll records were nothing more than singles comps, one could craft a long player of nothing but strong material without merely exploiting past hits. The Beatles get a lot of credit for dragging the album into maturity, but Chuck Berry had already done it with his very first one.
With a pedigree like that, you could make a solid argument that no Rock and Roll album is more historically significant than After School Session, although this album has often been presented inferiorly. I've heard it sounding tinny and spineless on CD and contaminated with fake-stereo separation on vinyl. So Chess' new edition as part of its sensitive Acoustic Sounds series is unbelievably necessary. This isn't necessarily a recording that will wow you with its soundstage, but the pressing is perfect. Clarity is exceptional, bass is never overpowering or lacking, the vinyl is perfectly flat and quiet, and groove distortion is nowhere to be found.
