Johnny B. Goode

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"Johnny B. Goode"

Single by Chuck Berry
from the album Chuck Berry Is on Top
Released	March, 31, 1958
Format	vinyl record (7")
Genre	Rock and Roll
Length	2:40
Label	Mca
Producer(s)	Chuck Berry
Chart positions
#6 (USA)
Chuck Berry singles chronology
Anthony Boy (1958)	Johnny B. Goode (1958)	Little Queenie (1958)
Music sample
"Johnny B. Goode" (file info) Play in browser (beta) Problems? See media help.

"Johnny B. Goode" is a song by Chuck Berry that has come to be a universal rock and roll anthem, still played by popular musicans of all schools when they want to get the crowd going.

Berry's recording of the song was included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft as representing rock and roll among other cultural achievements of humanity.

Berry wrote the piece in 1955 and released it in 1958. It is a rock and roll telling of the American dream - a poor country boy becoming a star by hard work and his skill at playing the guitar. Although partly autobiographical, the inspiration for the song is said to have been Johnnie Johnson who played the piano and composed several songs with Berry, and is considered a major contributor to the unmistakable Berry sound. On earlier unreleased takes Chuck sang "colored boy" instead of "country boy", but the Chess brothers decided that that would not sell. In reference to the boy's name, Berry was also born on Goode Avenue in St. Louis. [1]

The song's impact on the rock 'n' roll world is immeasurable^{[original research?]}. Virtually every guitarist learns to play it early and its riffs and memorable guitar licks show up in the recordings of many of them later in their careers.^{[citation needed]}. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is the best-known example of this phenomenon.

For example, legions of guitarists rubbed their fingers raw trying to duplicate the startlingly original note-bending sounds of the intro to "Johnny B. Goode," which expanded on the techniques of blues musicians who were still warming to electric guitars. Yet the Beach Boys' signature song, "Fun Fun Fun", recorded in 1964, begins with that intro, copied so effortlessly and flawlessly by the studio musician Glen Campbell that it generates not a bit of tension. In a mere six years, Berry's style had become a standard in every rock and roll guitarist's repertoire.^{[original research?]} This song, arguably, had much to do with the establishment of the guitar as the lead instrument in rock and roll, rather than the piano or the tenor saxophone, both of which had been in the running since the emergence of the genre ^{[original research?]}.

Berry later wrote a sequel song called "Bye Bye Johnny". His instrumental "Concerto in B. Goode" is an extended instrumental exploration of "the Chuck Berry style" by its master and inventor.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Johnny B. Goode" at number 42 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it as the seventh greatest song ever on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1 Cultural uses
2 Cover versions
3 Trivia Facts
4 External links

[edit] Cultural uses

In the movie Back to the Future, Marty McFly performs this song at a high school dance where the original band's guitarist (named Marvin Berry) injures his hand. Chuck Berry (apparently) becomes inspired to write the song by Marvin, his cousin, who calls Chuck to hear the "new sound [he's] been looking for". The scene was also used in Back to the Future Part II.
The Beach Boys copied the intro of the song for "Fun, Fun, Fun". They recorded the song live on December 21, 1963, in a version which would later be released on the album Beach Boys Concert.
The song is one of two Berry recordings included on the American Graffiti soundtrack.
"Johnny B. Goode" makes a cameo appearance in the Ricky Nelson song, "Garden Party", as a reference to Berry, who also played the concert commemorated in the Nelson song.
"Johnny B. Goode" also makes a cameo in the Big Bopper song, "Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor".
In 2004, Democratic nominee John Kerry used the song as a theme song at most of his campaign events
Australian band TISM once recorded a parody of this song entitled "The Ballad of Johnny To B. Or Not To B. Goode". Their independent record label is named "Genre B. Goode".
"Johnny B. Goode" can be heard in many places, including in the makeshift hospital Ruth's daughter Jane visits in the British nuclear war film Threads.
In the SNES game Earthbound (or Mother 2 in Japan), the music which plays when fighting the enemy identified as "New Age Retro Hippie" is based on "Johnny B. Goode".
In the computer videogameTheme Park, the music of the simulator ride is the guitar riff of "Johnny B. Goode".
The Kingdom Hospital television miniseries had a running gag where the hospital's janitor, Johnny B. Goode, was always absent from work and his duties performed by someone else. Eventually Goode does appear late in the series, and is played by novelist and series creator Stephen King.
In the videogames Animal Crossing and its sequel Animal Crossing: Wild World, the song "Rockin' K.K." is heavily based on "Johnny B. Goode". This could also be a reference to Judas Priest's cover, and their guitarist K.K. Downing.
"Johnny B. Goode" is featured on the Voyager Golden Record as one of three examples of USA music.
On his 2006 Modern Times album Bob Dylan seems to use the speed and metric of "Johnny B. Goode" for his song "Thunder on the Mountain". In so far as this CD is about "modern times", it seems reasonable that he picks up this classic: the "spirit" (its rhythmic essence) of the song is transformed into the present, adding much vigor and lyrical variations to it.
American NASCAR driver Johnny Benson is frequently referred to by television commentators as "Johnny B. Goode" when he's running well.
Ironically, pianist Johnny Johnson was not on this recording; instead, Lafayette Leake did the keyboard honors.
"Johnny B. Goode" has also been used in several hit musicals. The song is the finale in "Return to the Forbidden Planet" and also is the final song in the finale act of The Buddy Holly Story.
In an Australian advertisement for The OC, "Johnny B Goode" is written "Johnny be good" as a caption while a character, Johnny, is robbing a convienience store.
The DEVO song Come Back Jonee makes a reference to this song.
The Histeria! episode "Hooray For Presidents" featured a Kid Chorus song about Susan B. Anthony sung to this song's tune.
The Discworld novel Soul Music, by author Terry Pratchett, references the song multiple times through in-jokes and lyrics references. The main character, Imp Y Celyn, (whose name translates as "Small shoot of the Holly"), wins a music contest with a song named "Sioni Bod Da": Bod Da is Welsh for "Be Good, and Sioni the Welsh version of the name Johnny. Therefore, Sioni Bo Da is Johnny B. Goode. Imp's harp, which was won in the contest, is describe described as "The harp was fresh and bright and already it sang like a bell". The home of his birth, as well, is a reference to the song, for he describes it as "Made of earth and wood. Well, mud and wood really".
One of the main characters in the 80's comedy adventure show Misfits of Science is a rock guitarist and singer, who goes by the name Johnny B (Johnny Bukowski). During the pilot episode of the series, scientist Dr. Billy Hayes attempts to get Johnny to join the team, by offering him a Chuck Berry greatest hits compilation, on audio cassette, as a peace offering. It is revealed that Johnny's non-stop playing of Chuck Berry (or "C The B" as Hayes puts it) had previously led to the two attacking each other. Johnny also later sings Johnny B. Goode while using his lightning powers to hold off the military, during a rescue operation.

[edit] Cover versions

This song has been covered by many artists including:

5-Driver
AC/DC
Aerosmith
Andrés Calamaro
Bad Religion (live)
Beach Boys (live)
Buddy Holly
Carpenters (live)
The Beatles
Marc Broussard
Mark Campbell - sung as "Marty McFly" during Back to the Future (Note: Michael J. Fox did not sing the version heard in the movies.)
Earthlings?
John Farnham
Freddie & the Dreamers
Men at Work
Green Day
The Grateful Dead
Bill Haley & His Comets
Jimi Hendrix (live)
Elton John
Funky Fred and The Groove Funk Machine
Judas Priest from Ram It Down
Jerry Lee Lewis
Julian Lennon
Led Zeppelin (live)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (live)
Phillip Magee
NOFX
NRBQ
Operation Ivy (band)
Buck Owens
Phish
Proletaryat
Elvis Presley
Ratdog
Sex Pistols
Slade
Slaughter & The Dogs
Status Quo
Stray Cats
George Thorogood
The Tornadoes
Peter Tosh
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
Uncle Tupelo
Wardy And The Rockets
Johnny Winter, whose Johnny "can play a guitar like a bat out of Hell".
Ben Waters
Carlos Santana
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush
Kojanij Olen
Huey Lewis and The News
Will Hoge (live)
The Hubcaps

[edit] Trivia Facts

"Johnny" also appears as a character in the sequel songs "Bye Bye Johnny" and "Go Go Go".
"Johnny B. Goode" is mentioned in Joe South's song "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor."
The Final Fantasy VI soundtrack contains a track entitled "Johnny C. Bad". Although the title is an obvious parody of Johnny B. Goode, the songs themselves are dissimilar.