Chuck Berry In London ; Fresh Berry's (1965)

"The 26 songs here, recorded in 1964 and 1965, constituted the tail-end of Chuck Berry's first stay at Chess Records, which had begun a decade earlier with "Maybelline." Apart from "It Wasn't Me" (featuring Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield), all are among the least known of his work for Chess. And that is a pity, because it shows Berry -- amid the flurry of activity surrounding his songs, growing out of the British Invasion -- making a concerted effort to evolve his music in new directions. Whether it was the knowledge that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and company had given his career a new lease on life, after the setbacks and jailings in the early '60s, or just a natural progression on his part, Berry seemed to take his lead from the Stones, moving toward a more self-consciously bluesy sound. Berry had no way of knowing it then, especially as these albums didn't really sell all that well, but he did provide inspiration for the next wave of rock musicians." (Bruce Eder, Allmusic)