| "Johnny B. Goode" | |||||||||
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| Single by Chuck Berry | |||||||||
| from the album Chuck Berry Is on Top | |||||||||
| B-side | "Around and Around" | ||||||||
| Released | March 31, 1958 | ||||||||
| Format | 45 rpm, 78 rpm | ||||||||
| Recorded | January 6, 1958 at Chess Records studio, Chicago, IL | ||||||||
| Genre | Rock and roll | ||||||||
| Length | 2:45 | ||||||||
| Label | Chess 1691 | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | ||||||||
| Producer | Little "Bongo" Kraus | ||||||||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | |||||||||
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| "Johnny B. Goode" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jimi Hendrix | ||||
| from the album Hendrix in the West | ||||
| B-side | Little Wing (Live) | |||
| Released | January 2, 1972 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | Jimi Hendrix | |||
| Jimi Hendrix singles chronology | ||||
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| "Johnny B. Goode" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos | ||||
| from the album Buck Owens in London | ||||
| Released | June 1969 (U.S.) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1969 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:01 | |||
| Label | Capitol Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Buck Owens and the Buckaroos singles chronology | ||||
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| "Johnny Be Good" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Judas Priest | ||||||||||
| from the album Ram It Down | ||||||||||
| Released | 1988 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1987 Puk Studios Copenhagen, Denmark |
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| Genre | Heavy metal | |||||||||
| Length | 4:39 | |||||||||
| Label | Columbia | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||||||||
| Producer | Tom Allom | |||||||||
| Judas Priest singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Johnny B. Goode" is a famous 1958 rock and roll song by Chuck Berry. It reached #8 on the Billboard pop chart, and remains one of Berry's best known songs.
Contents |
Characteristics
Written by Berry in 1955, the song is a rock and roll version of the American dream — a poor country boy becomes a celebrity by hard work and inspired guitar playing.
The opening guitar riff on "Johnny B. Goode" may be the most famous single riff in rock and roll history. It 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.[1]
Although partly autobiographical, some of the inspiration for the song is said to have been Johnnie Johnson, Berry's piano player and a contributor to the Berry sound. Johnson had been drinking too much, and Chuck thought, "Johnnie be good." Chuck said when he started writing the song it had "colored boy" instead of "country boy", which he changed for reasons of racial sensitivity. As a possible source for the last name, it has been noted that Berry was born on Goode Avenue in St. Louis.[2]
Aware of the importance of the song to his fame and his image, Berry has written two more songs about Johnny, "Bye Bye Johnny" and "Go Go Go", and also titled an instrumental album as "Concerto in B. Goode".
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.
Even though Johnnie Johnson played piano on many other Chuck Berry songs, it was actually Lafayette Leake who played the instrument on this song.[3]
The song was prominently featured in the film Back to the Future, in which Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly plays a cover version of the song at a high-school dance. The scene is widely referenced throughout popular culture.
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.[4] 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.[5]
Cover versions
Johnny B. Goode is among the most widely covered rock and roll songs in history. The list of performers includes:
| "Johnny B. Goode" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Elton John | ||||
| from the album Victim of Love | ||||
| B-side | "Thunder in the Night" (UK) "Georgia" (USA) | |||
| Released | December 1979 | |||
| Genre | Disco | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Rocket Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Producer | Pete Bellotte | |||
| Elton John singles chronology | ||||
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Jimi Hendrix version
The Jimi Hendrix version of Johnny B. Goode was recorded live by Jimi Hendrix Experience during the first show at Berkeley Community Theatre, California. It was first released on January 2, 1972 as a posthumous single only on Polydor, and outside of the USA and Canada. The B side was "Little Wing," recorded in concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London. This later caused a legal wrangle with Gold and Goldstein Productions who owned the soundtrack rights to this concert. In the UK it reached #35 in the charts.[citation needed] It was later released world wide on the chart LP Hendrix in the West.
Buck Owens version (see succession box below)
| Preceded by "I Love You More Today" by Conway Twitty |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Buck Owens and The Buckaroos July 26-August 2, 1969 |
Succeeded by "All I Have to Offer You Is Me" by Charley Pride |
References
- ^ Miller, James (1999). Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977. Simon & Schuster, 104. ISBN 0-684-80873-0.
- ^ http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/travel/14862285.htm
- ^ Song credits on the compilation "The Great Twenty Eight" from Chess Records/MCA Records
- ^ The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: Rolling Stone
- ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net.
External link
- Johnnie Johnson, 80, Dies; Inspired 'Johnny B. Goode', April 14, 2005. New York Times. Accessed November 2, 2009.
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