Live from Blueberry Hill

Over the course of the last 17 years of his life, Chuck Berry played a regular gig at Blueberry Hill, a bar located on the Delmar Loop of St. Louis. He appeared roughly once a month, usually sitting in on a Wednesday, giving a grand total of 209 shows in all. The 2021 album Live from Blueberry Hill collects ten performances recorded between July of 2005 and January 2006 by a group led by bassist Jimmy Marsala and featuring pianist Robert Lohr, drummer Keith Robinson, Chuck's son Charles Berry, Jr. on guitar, and daughter Ingrid on harmonica. Apart from "Bio" and T-Bone Walker's "Mean Old World," the set list relies on the expected hits, ranging from "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Johnny B Goode." Berry's voice can sound a little ragged but he's vigorous and in good spirits, his cheer helping to refute the myth that he only played for a paycheck during the last decades of his career. Here in his hometown, surrounded by family and friends, Berry sounds as if he still gets a kick out of his songs and his guitar -- that spirit is endearing, and sometimes infectious. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine