| Johnny B. Goode | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Chuck Berry |
| B-Side: | Around and Around |
| Released: | March 31st, 1958 |
| Recorded: | 1958 |
| Studio: | Chess, Chicago |
| Genre: | Rock and roll |
| Length: | 2:39 |
| Label: | Chess |
| Producer: | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess |
| Prev Title: | Sweet Little Sixteen |
| Prev Year: | 1958 |
| Next Title: | Beautiful Delilah |
| Next Year: | 1958 |
"Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart.[1] The song remains a staple of rock music.
"Johnny B. Goode" is considered one of the most recognizable songs in the history of popular music. Credited as "the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom",[2] it has been covered by various other artists and has received several honors and accolades. These include being ranked 33rd and 7th, respectively on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2021 [3] and 2004 versions of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[4] It was also included as one of the 27 songs on the Voyager Golden Record, a collection of music, images, and sounds designed to serve as an introduction and record of global humanity’s achievements, innovations and culture, to alien/otherworldly inhabitants.
Written by Berry in 1955, the song is about an illiterate "country boy" from the New Orleans area, who plays a guitar "just like ringing a bell", and who might one day have his "name in lights".[5]
The song was initially inspired by Johnnie Johnson, the regular piano player in Berry's band,[6] but developed into a song mainly about Berry himself. Johnson played on many recordings by Berry, but for the Chess recording session Lafayette Leake played the piano, along with Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums.[7] The session was produced by Leonard and Phil Chess. The guitarist Keith Richards later suggested that the song's chords are more typical of compositions written for piano than for guitar.
The opening guitar riff of "Johnny B. Goode" borrows from the opening single-note solo on Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" (1946), played by guitarist Carl Hogan.[8]
One notable feature of Berry's recording is the contrast between the swing of the drums and piano backing, and the "straight" (non-swinging) rhythm and lead guitar. [9]
In The Guardian, Joe Queenan argued that "no song in the history of rock'n'roll more jubilantly celebrates the downmarket socioeconomic roots of the genre" than "Johnny B. Goode".[10] In Billboard, Jason Lipshutz stated that the song was "the first rock-star origin story", and that it featured "a swagger and showmanship that had not yet invaded radio."[11]
When Chuck Berry was inducted during the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on January 23, 1986, he performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music", backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.[12] The Hall of Fame included these songs and "Maybellene" in their list of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.[13] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for its influence as a rock and roll single.[14]
The song was included on the 1973 American Graffiti soundtrack album.
"Johnny B. Goode" has been recorded by a wide variety of artists in different genres. In 1969, country musician Buck Owens's version topped Billboard magazine's Hot Country Sides chart.[15] In 1972, Jimi Hendrix had a posthumous hit with a live version, which peaked at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart.[16] and number 13 on the New Zealand Top 50 in 1986.[17] Peter Tosh's rendition peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100,[18] number 48 on the UK Singles Chart,[19] number 10 in the Netherlands, and number 29 in New Zealand in 1983.[20] In 1988, Judas Priest's version reached number 64 on the UK Singles Chart. The Sex Pistols also covered it for their soundtrack The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle in 1979.
Devo paid homage to the Chuck Berry song with their own song Come Back Jonee on its debut album .
The song is included, as the eleventh track of disc 1, in the Voyager Golden Record, traveling into deep space outside the solar system.
A cover version is featured in the film Back to the Future (1985), when the lead character Marty McFly, played by actor Michael J. Fox, performs it at a high school dance. This is heard by Marvin Berry, a fictional cousin of Chuck who calls him up and makes him listen to the song, telling him it's "the new sound you've been looking for", thus making it a bootstrap paradox. Fox explained his approach was to "incorporate all the characteristics and mannerisms and quirks of my favourite guitarists, so a Pete Townshend windmill, and Jimi Hendrix behind the back, and a Chuck Berry duckwalk. And we worked all that in."[21]
The Grateful Dead often performed the song live, purportedly playing it 287 times.[22]
Ninjago pays homage to Johnny B. Goode several times throughout the show with a track titled Dareth the Guitar Man (also known as Dareth The Man or Dareth's Blues), which features similar musical themes to Chuck Berry's song. [23]
| List | Publisher | Rank | Year of publication | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | Rolling Stone | 7 | 2004 | |
| 50 Greatest Guitar Solos[24] | Guitar World | 12 | 2009 | |
| 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time[25] | Rolling Stone | 1 | 2008 | |
| 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks[26] | Q | 42 | 2005 | |
| 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | Rolling Stone | 33 | 2021 | |
| 500 Songs That Shaped Rock[27] | N/A | 1995 |
| Chart (1958) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[28] | 8 | |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Sides[29] | 2 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100[30] | 11 |
Certifications
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