Johnny B. Goode

"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	2:40
Label	Chess
Writer(s)	Chuck Berry
Producer(s)	Little "Bongo" Kraus
Chuck Berry singles chronology
"Sweet Little Sixteen" (1958) "Johnny B. Goode" (1958) "Beautiful Delilah" (1958)
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"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.

Composition and 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 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

• Chuck Berry – vocals, guitar^[2]
• Lafayette Leake – piano^[2]
• Willie Dixon – bass^[2]
• Fred Below – drums^[2]

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.

When Chuck Berry was inducted into the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 23, 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 and roll single.^[9]

In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty McFly performed the song with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters during the "Enchantment Under the Sea" high school dance. Mark Campbell (of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack fame) sang the vocals for Michael J. Fox. This scene was revisited 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 Chuck was looking for.

Episode 14 of season 2 of the former CBS military action series The Unit is titled "Johnny B. Good" in reference to the song.

In the popular manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, during the 7th arc The Steel Ball Run, the character Johnny Joestar is named after Berry's song; with Johnny using the line "Go Johnny! Go! Go! Go!" as a form of commemoration.

The intro riff of the Beach Boys's song "Fun, Fun, Fun" is clearly influenced by the Johnny B.Goode riff.^{[citation needed]}

Accolades

Cover versions

Cover versions that charted

"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(s)	Tom Allom, Glenn Tipton, K. K. Downing, Rob Halford
Judas Priest singles chronology
"Ram It Down/Heavy Metal" (1988) "Johnny Be Good" (1988) "Painkiller" (1990)

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

The list of performers includes:

Other songs

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

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

v t e Dion DiMucci Albums Born to Be with You Singles "Runaround Sue" "The Wanderer" "Abraham, Martin and John" "Lovers Who Wander" Book:Dion DiMucci