After School Session is the debut album of Chuck Berry, released in May 1957 on Chess Records. With the exception of two tracks, "Roly Poly" and "Berry Pickin'", all selections had been previously released on 45 rpm singles. It is the second long-playing album released by the Chess label.[3]
The songs on After School Session were taken from Berry's first five sessions for Leonard and Phil Chess. "Wee Wee Hours" was the first to be recorded, on May 21, 1955. "Together (We'll Always Be)" was recorded in September 1955. At the next session, on December 20, 1955, Berry recorded "Roly Poly" (also known as "Rolli Polli"), "No Money Down", "Berry Pickin'", and "Down Bound Train". The third session was on April 16, 1956, when he recorded "Too Much Monkey Business", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", and "Drifting Heart". "Havana Moon" was recorded on October 29, 1956. The last session took place on January 21, 1957, when he recorded "School Days" and "Deep Feeling".[2]
The first song on the original version of After School Session to be released was "Wee Wee Hours", the B-side of "Maybellene", issued in July 1955.[1] It peaked at number 10 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart.[4] The next song to be released was "Together We Will Always Be", the B-side of "Thirty Days", in September 1955. The next two songs released were "No Money Down" backed with "Down Bound Train", in December 1955,[1] the former peaking at number 8 on the R&B Singles chart.[4] In May 1956, "Drifting Heart" was released as the B-side of "Roll Over Beethoven". Berry's next single, "Too Much Monkey Business" backed with "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", was released in September 1956;[1] these songs reached number 4 and number 5 on the R&B Singles chart, respectively.[4] "Havana Moon", the B-side of "You Can't Catch Me", was released in November 1956. The last single from the album to be released was "School Day (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)" backed with "Deep Feeling", in March 1957,[1] with the former reaching number 1 on the R&B Singles chart and number 3 on the Hot 100.[4]
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