Rockit (album)

Rockit is the nineteenth studio album by Chuck Berry, released in 1979 by Atco Records. It was his only album for this label after he left Chess Records in 1975. For 38 years, it was his last new studio album until he released another one called Chuck in 2017. This album shows Berry’s famous rock and roll style, making it an important part of his musical journey.

Title and packaging

The album cover showed Chuck Berry's guitar shaped like the Millennium Falcon from the movie Star Wars. A music writer said the picture used the popularity of Star Wars and showed Berry's special Gibson guitar near Earth, which also made a clever joke with the album's title.

Critical reception

The New York Times noted that Chuck Berry spoke about challenges he faced as a Black performer in this album.

In 1979, Robert Christgau from The Village Voice gave the album a B-plus grade and was surprised by how good it sounded. He said that Berry, the creator of rock and roll, hadn’t made an album this easy to listen to in fifteen years. Though the songs weren’t new and exciting, they were fun to hear. Both Berry and his longtime piano player, Johnny Johnson, updated their styles while still keeping the music true to its roots.

Ron Hart from the Observer counted it among Berry’s top five albums. Later, Erlewine from AllMusic said that even though the album followed modern music styles with a clean and crisp sound, it included some great songs and many enjoyable rock tunes that sounded good while playing.

Track listing

Here are the songs on Chuck Berry's album Rockit, with their lengths:

1. "Move It" – 2:27
2. "Oh What a Thrill" – 3:06
3. "I Need You Baby" – 3:09
4. "If I Were" – 3:02
5. "House Lights" – 4:28
6. "I Never Thought" – 3:50
7. "Havana Moon" – 5:05
8. "Wuden't Me" – 2:41
9. "California" – 2:16
10. "Pass Away" – 5:33

All songs were written by Chuck Berry.

Personnel

Musicians

• Chuck Berry – guitar, vocals
• Kenny Buttrey – drums
• Johnnie Johnson – piano
• Jim Marsala – bass
• Bob Wray – bass

Technical

• Tony Gottlieb – production assistance
• Doug Morris – executive producer
• Kyle Lehning – engineer, mixing
• Bob Defrin – art direction
• Don Brautigam – cover illustration