Johnny B. Goode
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Johnny B. Goode" | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||
| Single by Chuck Berry | |||||||||
| from the album Chuck Berry Is on Top | |||||||||
| B-side | "Around & Around" | ||||||||
| Released | March 31, 1958 | ||||||||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM, 10" 78 RPM | ||||||||
| Recorded | January 6, 1958 at Chess Studios, Chicago, Illinois | ||||||||
| Genre | Rock and roll | ||||||||
| Length | 2:30 | ||||||||
| Label | Chess | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | ||||||||
| Producer | Little "Bongo" Kraus | ||||||||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]
The song is one of Berry's most famous recordings, has been covered by many artists, and has received several honors and accolades. It is also considered to be one of the most recognizable songs in music history.
Contents |
Composition and recording [edit]
Written by Berry in 1955, the song is about a poor country boy who plays a guitar "just like ringing a bell," and who might one day have his "name in lights." [2] Berry has acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical, and originally had "colored boy" in the lyrics, but he changed it to "country boy" to ensure radio play.[3] The title is suggestive that the guitar player is good, and hints at autobiographic elements because Berry was born at 2520 Goode Avenue in St. Louis.[2] The song was initially inspired by Berry's piano player, Johnnie Johnson,[4][5] though developed into a song mainly about Berry himself. Though Johnnie Johnson played on many other Chuck Berry songs, it was Lafayette Leake who played piano on this song.[2]
The opening guitar riff on "Johnny B. Goode" is essentially a note-for-note copy of the opening single-note solo on Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" (1946), played by guitarist Carl Hogan.[6]
Berry has written thirty more songs involving the character Johnny B. Goode, "Bye Bye Johnny", "Go Go Go", and "Johnny B. Blues"; and titled an album, and the nearly 19 min instrumental title track from it, as "Concerto in B. Goode".
Musicians [edit]
- Chuck Berry – vocals, guitar[2]
- Lafayette Leake – piano[2]
- Willie Dixon – bass[2]
- Fred Below – drums[2]
Legacy [edit]
Berry's recording of the song was included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft as representing rock and roll, one of four American songs included among many cultural achievements of humanity.
When Chuck Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, he performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music," backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.[7] The Hall of Fame included these songs and "Maybellene" in their list of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.[8] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for its influence as a rock & roll single.[9]
In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty McFly with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters played the song during the "Enchantment Under the Sea" high school dance (this scene was "replayed" in Back to the Future Part II.) During Marty's Berry-esque rendition of the song, Marvin telephones his cousin Chuck, to have him hear what might be the new sound he was looking for (creating a paradoxical "who influenced whom" situation).
Episode 14, Season 2 of the former CBS military action series The Unit is titled "Johnny B. Good" in reference to the song.
Accolades [edit]
| List | Publisher | Rank | Year of Publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | Rolling Stone | 7 | 2010 |
| 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks | Q | 42 | 2005 |
| 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time | Rolling Stone | 1 | 2008 |
| Top 3000 Songs | Acclaimed Music | 6 | N/A |
| 500 Songs That Shaped Rock | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame | N/A | 1995 |
| 50 Greatest Guitar Solos | Guitar World | 12 | 2009 |
Cover Versions [edit]
Cover Versions that Charted [edit]
| "Johnny Be Good" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Single by Judas Priest | ||||
| from the album Ram It Down | ||||
| B-side | "Rock You All Around the World (live)" | |||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM, 12" Maxi | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 4:36 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | Tom Allom, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Rob Halford | |||
| Judas Priest singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
Country musician Buck Owens version of "Johnny B. Goode" topped Billboard magazine's Hot Country Sides chart in 1969.[10] Jimi Hendrix had a posthumous hit with "Johnny B. Goode" peaking at #35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1972[11] and #13 on the New Zealand Top 50 in 1986.[12] Peter Tosh's version of the song peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100,[13] #48 on the UK Singles Chart,[14] #10 in the Netherlands, and #29 in New Zealand.[15] Judas Priest's version reached #64 on the UK Singles Chart in 1988.[16]
Additional Cover Versions [edit]
The list of performers includes:
- AC/DC
- Aerosmith
- Adam Ant
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Bad Religion
- The Beach Boys
- The Beatles
- Big Tom And The Mainliners
- Bon Jovi
- Bravo
- Marc Broussard
- Legion of Mary (band)
- Roy Buchanan
- Burning
- Andrés Calamaro
- Carpenters
- Cidade Negra
- The Coasters
- John Denver
- Dion
- Celine Dion
- Dr. Feelgood
- Johnny Dowd
- Earthlings?
- John Farnham
- Five Iron Frenzy
- Freddie & the Dreamers
- Rory Gallagher
- The Grateful Dead
- Green Day
- Bill Haley & His Comets
- Hanson
- Jimi Hendrix
- Will Hoge
- Buddy Holly
- Tomoyasu Hotei
- Jay and the Americans
- Jim & Jesse
- Elton John
- Judas Priest
- B.B. King
- King Lizard
- Al Kooper
- Jonny Lang
- Julian Lennon
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Living Colour
- LL Cool J ("Go Cut Creator Go")
- Los Suaves
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge, a concert duet with Suzi Quatro in Germany in 2006
- Phillip Magee
- Frank Marino
- John Mayer Trio
- Meat Loaf
- Eddie Meduza
- MF Doom
- Micky Dolenz
- Mina
- Mister Twister
- NOFX
- NRBQ
- Off Kilter
- Operation Ivy
- Buck Owens
- Partibrejkers (Stoj, Džoni)
- Wes Paul
- Phish
- Pink Fairies
- Elvis Presley
- Prince
- Ratdog
- Johnny Rivers
- The Rolling Stones
- Shogo Sakai (Mother 3 as "New Age Retro Hippie")
- Carlos Santana
- Bon Scott (with Cheap Trick)
- Sex Pistols
- The Shadows
- Skrewdriver
- Slade
- Slaughter & The Dogs
- Status Quo
- The Stimulators
- Stray Cats
- Keiichi Suzuki (EarthBound titled as "New Age Retro Hippie")
- Hirokazu Tanaka (EarthBound titled as "New Age Retro Hippie")
- George Thorogood
- The Toasters
- TISM (Johnny to B. or Not to B. Goode)
- The Tornadoes
- Peter Tosh
- Twisted Sister
- Conway Twitty
- Nobuo Uematsu
- The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
- Ultraje a Rigor
- Uncle Tupelo
- Roch Voisine
- The Who
- Brian Wilson
- Johnny Winter
Other Songs [edit]
Leo Sayer included a song called "The Last Gig of Johnny B. Goode" on his 1975 album, Another Year, about a fallen rock star.
References [edit]
- ^ "Charts & Awards: Chuck Berry – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Taylor, Timothy D. (2000). "Chapter 7 – His Name was in Lights: Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'". In Middleton, Richard. Reading Pop: Approaches to Textual Analysis in Popular Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 165–167, 177. ISBN 0-19-816611-7.
- ^ "Johnny B. Goode : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
- ^ "Johnnie Johnson". Blues Music Now. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (April 14, 2005). "Johnnie Johnson, 80, Dies; Inspired 'Johnny B. Goode'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
- ^ Miller, James (1999). Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977. Simon & Schuster, 104. ISBN 0-684-80873-0.
- ^ Barker, Derek (2009). Liner notes to Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man [CD]. Chrome Dreams.
- ^ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll by Artists (A-C)". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame – Past Recipients (Letter J)". The Grammy Awards. United States: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Charts & Awards: Buck Owens – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ ""Johnny B. Goode" by Jimi Hendrix" (PHP). UK Singles Chart. Chartstats. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ ""Johnny B. Goode" by Jimi Hendrix" (ASP). New Zealand Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Charts & Awards: Peter Tosh – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ ""Johnny B. Goode" by Peter Tosh" (PHP). UK Singles Chart. Chartstats. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ ""Johnny B. Goode" by Peter Tosh" (ASP). australian-charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ ""Johnny B. Goode" by Judas Priest" (PHP). UK Singles Chart. Chartstats. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
External links [edit]
| Preceded by "I Love You More Today" by Conway Twitty |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single (Buck Owens and the Buckaroos version) July 26 – August 2, 1969 |
Succeeded by "All I Have to Offer You Is Me" by Charley Pride |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Categories:
- 1958 singles
- 1969 singles
- 1972 singles
- 1979 singles
- 1988 singles
- Songs written by Chuck Berry
- Chuck Berry songs
- AC/DC songs
- Buck Owens songs
- Jimi Hendrix songs
- Judas Priest songs
- Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
- Chess Records singles
- Rock and roll songs
- Songs about New Orleans, Louisiana
