CHUCK100 Tribute EP Series

CHUCK100 is planned to be a series of EPs released quarterly up to what would have been Chuck Berry’s 100 birthday: 18 October 2026.
Each EP, produced by Grammy nominated Carl Nappa at the Saint Louis Recording Club, will deliver four or five covers of Chuck’s iconic hits.

The main attraction is What The Chuck consisting of Charles Berry Jr. -son (vocals, guitar), Charles Berry III -grandson (vocals, guitar), Jahi Eskridge -grandson (vocals, horns), Antonio Foster (piano), Terrence Coleman (bass) and Keith Robinson (drums).
However, it’s sometimes difficult to figure out who’s doing the vocals on the recordings by them. There are no actual EPs or CDs, only for streaming and downloading.

”YOU NEVER CAN TELL” #1 - 5 tracks
What The Chuck (4:07) rock’n’roll
Mattie Schell (3:49) soul
Playadors featuring Steve Ewing (vocals) (4:55) reggae
Fat Pocket (4:52) funk
Mark Hochenberg (2:58) classical (instrumental)

Released: 28 September 2024

What The Chuck
Pretty ordinary but goode rockin’ version. Has a trumpet solo, guitar solo and at the end a piano solo (but not like Johnnie). What The Chuck is also contributing in some way on the other tracks below.

Mattie Schell (Compass Records) feat. Nathan Gilberg, Jackson Stokes, Ben Bicklein.
A slow soulful version. Well, it’s quite different, but becomes a little monotonous. Although she has a powerful voice.

Playadors with Steve Ewing feat. Dave Grelle, Dee Dee James, Kevin Bowers, Cody Henry, Ben Reece, Adam Hucke.
A reggae version spiced with a New Orleans touch, far from common but it works fine, and you get the feeling that everybody is having a good time.

Fat Pocket feat. Jahi Eskridge, Dan Ficocelli, Jason Hansen, Bill Henderson, Peter Shankman, Christopher Jones, Ryan Murray, Jeff Simpher, Kalonda Kay.
Don’t know what it is with me and funk. It doesn’t click. However, this is pretty different from any other version I have heard through the years. It has a solid beat and variations in the arrangement. Jahi Eskridge is doing the vocals.

Mark Hochberg
Now here is another treat for You Never Can Tell. The very first classical version, by the St. Louis violinist. Although at the very start it almost sounds like country(!) Different and unusual. It would have been interesting to have a whole album like this from Berry’s catalog.


“RUN RUDOLPH RUN” #2 - 4 tracks
Fat Pocket – Run Rudolph Run (4:06) funk/soul
What The Chuck – Spending Christmas (3:30) blues
Karin Bliznik – Run Rudolph Run (4:14) smooth jazz (instrumental)
What The Chuck – Run Rudolph Run (4:39) rock’n’roll

Released: Early December 2024

Fat Pocket
A soulful rendition with a funky sound.

Karin Bliznik
A trumpet player in the jazz field. Pretty unusual version with a few vocal lines in between. I always enjoy when people are finding their own approach to the tune. And this IS different.

What The Chuck
rocks pretty goode on the last track even using the same ending as the original, although not faded.

And interesting to have a version of the obscure Berry song “Spending Christmas”, originally recorded 15 December 1964, a song also known as My Blue Christmas. (Berry's version was first released in 2009 on the Hip-O Select box-set “You Never Can Tell – His Complete Recordings 1960-1966”.) But unfortunately the vocals are pretty uninspired. Okay, it’s following the original in that sense but it becomes a little boring anyway, unfortunately like Chuck’s own.
(To give you an idea, on the 15 December ’64 session 8 track were recorded: Lonely Schooldays (slow version), His Daughter Caroline (slow version), Dear Dad, I Want To Be You Driver, Spending Christmas (2 versions), The Song Of My Love and Butterscotch.)



Another project for the Chuck100 is a special Tribute album by national and international artists which should see the light of day in 2026. Also an upcoming collaboration with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

The Berry family is also working with Revelations Entertainment, a production company founded by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary, which optioned the rights to Chuck Berry’s Life Story. They are developing a drama series that would trace Berry’s progress from St. Louis to worldwide stardom.

So it seems we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months of 2025 and 2026.