One of the greatest compilations of all time is going deluxe thanks to the team at UMe. A five-disc vinyl version of Chuck Berry's The Great Twenty-Eight (1982) is due in stores in early 2018.

The Great Twenty-Eight may have one of the most accurate titles in compilation history: more than two dozen of the Missouri-born rock legend's best-loved singles and B-sides from his most successful period on Chess Records from 1955 to 1965. Ten of the tracks were Top 40 hits on Billboard's Hot 100, including "Maybellene," "School Day," "Rock and Roll Music" and the immortal "Johnny B. Goode." While it never charted, and didn't usher Berry's work into the compact disc era, it was the first chapter of Berry's revival over the remainder of the '80s, as seen everywhere from Back to the Future to the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 to the star-studded concert film Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll (1987). The set was listed at No. 21 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and still serves as a crucial introduction to some of the most important genre-defining rock and roll music.

A revival of The Great Twenty-Eight is solidly timed with Berry's passing at the age of 90 earlier this year, just before the release of Chuck, his brilliant final studio album (ending a near 40-year gap between LPs). And UMe is sparing no expense. Inside the textured box is four 12" LPs and a 10" EP: on the studio side, there's a repress of the original compilation, and More Great Chuck Berry, a set of 14 B-sides and some hits that didn't make the original collection (including "You Never Can Tell," "Promised Land" and, yes, even his chart-topping oddity "My Ding-a-Ling").

The next LP is Oh Yeah! Live In Detroit, featuring highlights from stunning 1963 sets at the Walled Lake Casino, making their debut on vinyl. (Most of the set made its debut on one of Hip-o Select's complete Berry collections in the late 2000s, with one track debuting on 2014's definitive Chuck Berry box on Bear Family Records.) Finally, with the most wonderful time of the year just around the corner, the box closes with Berry Christmas, a four-track EP of seasonal songs including his 1958 single "Run Rudolph Run" and a rare '60s track, "Spending Christmas," that makes its vinyl debut. An enclosed 12" x 12" booklet features a new essay by Alan Light, an introduction by Berry disciple Keith Richards, and a complete discography alongside Michael Lydon's original liner notes.

This super deluxe version of The Great Twenty-Eight will be available at all retailers on January 26, but Universal's uDiscover web store has a limited pressing of 500 copies on colored vinyl ("Chess blue" for the LPs and red for the EP). It starts shipping December 15. You can order that at the link above; full Amazon links are forthcoming, while a full breakdown of the set's track list is below!

The Great Twenty-Eight: Super Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UMe, 2017)

LPs 1-2: The Great Twenty-Eight (originally released as Chess CH-8201, 1982)

1. Maybellene (Chess single 1604 A, 1955)
2. Thirty Days (To Come Back Home) (Chess single 1610 A, 1955)
3. You Can't Catch Me (Chess single 1645 A, 1956)
4. Too Much Monkey Business (Chess single 1635 B, 1956)
5. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (Chess single 1635 A, 1956)
6. Roll Over Beethoven (Chess single 1626 A, 1956)
7. Havana Moon (Chess single 1645 B, 1956)
8. School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes The Bell) (Chess single 1653 A, 1957)
9. Rock and Roll Music (Chess single 1671 A, 1957)
10. Oh Baby Doll (Chess single 1664 A, 1957)
11. Reelin' and Rockin' (Chess single 1683 B, 1958)
12. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chess single 1683 A, 1958)
13. Johnny B. Goode (Chess single 1691 A, 1958)
14. Around and Around (Chess single 1691 B, 1958)

 

1. Carol (Chess single 1700 A, 1958)
2. Beautiful Delilah (Chess single 1697 A, 1958)
3. Memphis, Tennessee (Chess single 1729 B, 1959)
4. Sweet Little Rock and Roller (Chess single 1709 A, 1958)
5. Little Queenie (Chess single 1722 B, 1959)
6. Almost Grown (Chess single 1722 A, 1959)
7. Back In The U.S.A. (Chess single 1729 A, 1959)
8. Let It Rock (Chess single 1747 A, 1960)
9. Bye Bye Johnny (Chess single 1754 A, 1960)
10. I'm Talking About You (Chess single 1779 A, 1961)
11. Come On (Chess single 1799 A, 1961)
12. Nadine (Is It You?) (Chess single 1883 A, 1964)
13. No Particular Place To Go (Chess single 1898 A, 1964)
14. I Want To Be Your Driver (from Chuck Berry In London - Chess LP 1495, 1965)

LP 3: More Great Chuck Berry

1. Wee Wee Hours (Chess single 1604 B, 1955)
2. No Money Down (Chess single 1615 A, 1956)
3. Drifting Heart (Chess single 1626 B, 1956)
4. La Jaunda (Español) (Chess single 1664 B, 1957)
5. Blue Feeling (Chess single 1671 B, 1957)
6. Vacation Time (Chess single 1697 B, 1958)
7. Joe Joe Gun (Chess single 1709 B, 1958)
8. Too Pooped To Pop "Casey" (Chess single 1747 B, 1960)
9. Our Little Rendezvous (Chess single 1767 A, 1960)
10. You Never Can Tell (Chess single 1906 A, 1964)
11. Promised Land (Chess single 1916 A, 1964)
12. Little Marie (Chess single 1912 A, 1964)
13. Dear Dad (Chess single 1926 A, 1965)
14. My Ding-A-Ling (live single version) (Chess single CH-2131, 1972)

LP 4: Oh Yeah! Live In Detroit

1. Guitar Boogie
2. Let It Rock
3. Almost Grown
4. Chuck Berry Dialogue 1
5. Too Much Monkey Business *
6. Johnny B. Goode
7. Introduction/Instrumental
8. Sweet Little Sixteen
9. Wee Wee Hours
10. Chuck Berry Dialogue 2
11. Maybellene
12. Medley: Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite/Johnny B. Goode/Let It Rock/School Day

All tracks recorded at the Walled Lake Casino, Detroit - October 25-26, 1963. Previously released on You Never Can Tell: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966 (Geffen/Hip-o Select B0012465-02, 2009) - except Track 5, first released on Rock and Roll Music...Any Old Way You Choose It: The Complete Studio Recordings...Plus! (Bear Family Records BCD 17273 PL, 2014)

10" EP: Berry Christmas

1. Run Rudolph Run (Chess single 1714 A, 1958)
2. Merry Christmas Baby (Chess single 1714 B, 1958)
3. Spending Christmas (from You Never Can Tell: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966 - Geffen/Hip-o Select B0012465-02, 2009. First time on vinyl)
4. Christmas (from Back Home - Chess LPS-1550, 1970)