Jump to content

Johnny B. Goode

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 75.140.4.134 (talk) at 05:51, 16 October 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Johnny B. Goode"
Song
B-side"Around and Around"
"Johnny B. Goode"
Song
B-side"Rock You All Around the World (live)"

"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song composed by Chuck Berry after hearing a version being played at a school dance during a telephone call with his cousin. It is one of Berry's most important songs, being listed #7 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is widely considered to be the first Rock and Roll song, as portrayed in the movie Cadillac Records.[1]

It reached #8 on the Billboard pop chart.

Recording

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 on 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.[6] Even though Johnnie Johnson played on many other Chuck Berry songs, it was Lafayette Leake who played piano on this song.[7]

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.[8]

Berry has written 3 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

Legacy

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.

The song was prominently featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future, in which Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly plays a cover version (dubbed over by Mark Campbell) of the song at a high-school dance when he travels back to 1955 (three years before the song's release). Michael J. Fox, who subs in for the lead guitarist after he was injured, plays the song on stage. While McFly plays the song, the lead singer, Marvin Berry, calls his cousin Chuck about a "new sound he has been looking for."

When Chuck Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986[9], he performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music", backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.[10]. The Hall of Fame included these songs and "Maybellene" in their list of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.[11]

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Johnny B. Goode" at number 42 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2008, Rolling Stone placed it at #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time.[12] Guitar World rated the song #12 on the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos list. The song is currently ranked as the #6 song of all time in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net.[13]

Cover versions

"Johnny B. Goode" is among the most widely covered rock and roll songs in history. The list of performers includes:

References

  1. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  2. ^ a b Richard Middleton, Reading pop: approaches to textual analysis in popular music, page 166. Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0198166117. Retrieved 2010-02-21. {{cite book}}: horizontal tab character in |publisher= at position 36 (help)
  3. ^ "Johnny B. Goode : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  4. ^ "Johnnie Johnson". www.bluesmusicnow.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  5. ^ Ratliff, Ben (2005-04-14). "The New York Times > Arts > Music > Johnnie Johnson, 80, Dies; Inspired 'Johnny B. Goode'". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  6. ^ Richard Middleton, Reading pop: approaches to textual analysis in popular music, page 167. Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0198166117. Retrieved 2010-02-21. {{cite book}}: horizontal tab character in |publisher= at position 36 (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e Richard Middleton, Reading pop: approaches to textual analysis in popular music, page 177. Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0198166117. Retrieved 2010-02-21. {{cite book}}: horizontal tab character in |publisher= at position 36 (help)
  8. ^ Miller, James (1999). Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977. Simon & Schuster, 104. ISBN 0-684-80873-0.
  9. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame_inductees
  10. ^ Barker, Derek (2009). Liner notes to Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man [CD]. Chrome Dreams.
  11. ^ The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
  12. ^ The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: Rolling Stone
  13. ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009.
Preceded by Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single
(Buck Owens and the Buckaroos version)

July 26-August 2, 1969
Succeeded by