Johnny B. Goode
"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
- Chuck Berry - Vocals and guitar[7]
- Lafayette Leake - Piano[7]
- Willie Dixon - Bass[7]
- Fred Below - Drums[7]
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:
- AC/DC
- Aerosmith
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Bad Religion
- BB King
- Beach Boys
- Burning
- The Beatles
- Big Tom And The Mainliners
- Bill Haley & His Comets
- Bon Scott (with Cheap Trick)
- Marc Broussard
- Andrés Calamaro
- Mark Campbell as Marty McFly
- The Carpenters
- John Denver
- Dion
- Down Low
- Dr. Feelgood
- Johnny Dowd
- Earthlings?
- John Farnham
- Five Iron Frenzy
- Freddie & the Dreamers
- Green Day
- The Grateful Dead
- Hanson
- Jimi Hendrix
- Will Hoge
- Buddy Holly
- Elton John
- Judas Priest
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Julian Lennon
- Led Zeppelin
- Living Colour
- LL Cool J ("Go Cut Creator Go")
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- MF Doom
- Wes Paul
- Eddie Meduza
- Frank Marino
- Marty McFly
- Men at Work
- Motörhead
- NOFX
- NRBQ
- Off Kilter
- Operation Ivy
- Buck Owens
- Phish
- Elvis Presley
- Prince
- Ratdog
- The Rolling Stones
- Carlos Santana
- The Sex Pistols
- The Shadows
- Slade
- Slaughter & The Dogs
- The Stimulators
- Stray Cats
- Los Suaves
- George Thorogood
- The Tornadoes
- Peter Tosh (1983)
- Cidade Negra
- Twisted Sister
- The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
- Uncle Tupelo
- The Who
- Brian Wilson
- Johnny Winter
- Jonny Lang
- Phillip Magee
- John Mayer Trio
References
- ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ 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) - ^ "Johnny B. Goode : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ "Johnnie Johnson". www.bluesmusicnow.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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) - ^ 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) - ^ Miller, James (1999). Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977. Simon & Schuster, 104. ISBN 0-684-80873-0.
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame_inductees
- ^ Barker, Derek (2009). Liner notes to Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man [CD]. Chrome Dreams.
- ^ The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
- ^ The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: Rolling Stone
- ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009.
- 1958 singles
- 1969 singles
- 1972 singles
- 1979 singles
- 1988 singles
- Back to the Future
- Bill Haley songs
- Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
- Buck Owens songs
- Chuck Berry songs
- Elton John songs
- Elvis Presley songs
- English-language songs
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
- Grateful Dead songs
- Jimi Hendrix songs
- Judas Priest songs
- Rock and roll songs
- Songs written by Chuck Berry
- The Beatles songs