Chuck Berry,s Johnny B Goode

"If you want to play rock & roll," Joe Perry told Rolling Stone in 2004, "you have to start here." Recorded 50 years ago, on January 6th, 1958, at the Chess Records studio in Chicago, Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was the first great record about the joys and rewards of playing rock & roll guitar. It also has the single greatest rock & roll intro: a thrilling blast of high twang driven by Berry's spearing notes, followed by a rhythm part that translates a boogie-woogie piano riff for the guitar. "He could play the guitar just like a-ringing a bell," Berry sings in the first verse — a perfect description of his sound and the reverberations still running through every style of rock guitar, from the Beatles and the Stones on down. "It was beautiful, effortless, and his timing was perfection," Keith Richards has said of Berry's playing. "He is rhythm man supreme." Berry wrote often about rock & roll and why it's good for you — "Roll Over Beethoven" in 1956, "Rock and Roll Music" in '57 — but never better than in "Johnny B. Goode," a true story about how playing music on a guitar can change your life forever.


Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri)

Songfact.
The song is based on Berry's life. It tells the tale of a boy with humble beginnings with a talent for guitar. Some details were changed: Berry was from St. Louis, not Louisiana, and he knew how to read and write very well. He graduated from beauty school with a degree in hairdressing and cosmetology.


James Marshall (Jimi) Hendrix (Seattle, 27 november 1942 – Londen, 18 september 1970)

Songfact
The line, "That little country boy could play" was originally, "That little colored boy can play." Berry knew he had to change it if he wanted the song played on the radio.


Elvis Aaron Presley (Tupelo (Mississippi), 8 januari 1935 – Memphis (Tennessee),

Songfact
Berry got the name "Johnny" from Johnnie Johnson, a piano player who collaborated with Berry on many songs, including "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Sweet Little 16." Johnson often wrote the songs on piano, and then Berry converted them to guitar and wrote lyrics. Berry joined Johnson's group, The Sir John Trio, in 1953. He quickly became the lead singer and centerpiece of the band.


George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001)

Songfact
In 2000, Johnnie Johnson sued Berry, claiming that he never got credit for helping write many of Berry's hits, including this. The case was dismissed in 2002, with the judge ruling that too much time passed between the writing of the songs and the lawsuit.


Johnny Winter (geboren John Dawson Winter III; Beaumont, Texas, 23 februari 1944)

Songfact
The guitar intro came from the Louis Jordan song "Ain't That Just Like A Woman." Jordan was a very influential R&B singer and a huge influence on Berry.


Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo consisting of two brothers Jim McReynolds (born February 13, 1927 Coeburn, Virginia - died December 31, 2002) and Jesse McReynolds (born July 9, 1929 Coeburn, Virginia).

Songfact
Berry got the word "Goode" from the street where he grew up, Goode Street in St. Louis.

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	Bad Religion	BB King	Beach Boys	The Beatles	Big Tom And The Mainliners
Bill Haley & His Comets	Marc Broussard	Andrés Calamaro	Marty McFly	The Carpenters	Dion	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	Lynyrd Skynyrd	MF Doom	Wes Paul
Eddie Meduza	Frank Marino	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	Status Quo	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	Brian Wilson	Johnny Winter	Jonny Lang	Phillip

Deep down in Louisiana close the New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Good
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play the guitar just like ringin a bell

Chorus:

Go, go, go johny go go
go johny go go go
go johny go go
go johny go go go
johny be good

He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Or sit beneath the tree by the railroad track
Oh an engineer could see him sitting in the shade
Strummin' to the rhythm that the drivers made
People passing by they'd stop and say
Oh my but that little country boy can play

2x
Chorus

His mother told him some day you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
And hear you play your music till the sun goes down
Maybe someday your name gonna be in light
Sayin' Johny be good tonight

2x
Chorus