Johnny B. Goode

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Johnny B. Goode is a rock 'n' roll piece written by Chuck Berry for Johnnie Johnson in 1955 and first published in 1958.

history

The two and a half minute long title represents the American Dream . He tells the story of a poor country boy who never had a good education, but is a very talented guitar player and whose mother predicts a great career for him. The chorus perpetuates the mother's motivation.

Chuck Berry (1926–2017) came from a humble background and showed his guitar playing skills at a young age. He commented on the song's personal content in his autobiography:

"Johnny in the song is more or less myself, although it should be a song for Johnnie Johnson. I changed the predictions my mother made about me and made up a story that ran parallel (...) As it turned out, one day my name was actually in illuminated letters and the fact is that this is mostly Johnny B. Goode is to be attributed. "

- Chuck Berry

Before the piece was recorded, Chuck Berry sang “colored boy” instead of “country boy” . According to his own statement, however, he then changed the text in order not to endanger the acceptance of the song by the white audience by addressing the issue of race.

Guitar intro

Johnny B. Goode has a famous guitar intro that rises from the third to the octave, then falls and builds up tension with a staccato of root and fifth .

\ new Staff {\ set Staff.midiInstrument = # "overdriven guitar" \ relative b '{\ key bes \ major \ time 4/4 \ tempo 4 = 164 r2 r8 d8 [f8 g8] | <f bes> 8-> <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8-> <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8-> <f bes> 8 | <f bes> 8 as8 g8 f8 des8 d8 bes8 bes8 | <f bes> 8-> <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8-> <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 <f bes> 8 | d'8 <d f> 8 <d g> 8 <d f> 8 c8 bes8 g8 r8 | }}

This is followed by four bars on one note, the fifth, which he shifted syncopated alternately, pulled up from the fourth on the G string and strikes straight on the B string. This effect was often copied by other guitarists in the years that followed.

Others

  • Johnny B. Goode is one of a selected collection of representative pieces of music on the Voyager Golden Record data carrier , which was enclosed with the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes , in order to inform a possible extraterrestrial species about the existence of mankind when the probes are found.
  • The song also plays a role in the movie Back to the Future . There the protagonist Marty McFly travels to the year 1955 and plays the song Johnny B. Goode at an event . It is suggested that Chuck Berry only got the idea for his song through this appearance, which would be a time warp.
  • Peter Tosh presented a reggae version with a slightly changed text on his fifth solo album Mama Africa in 1983 .
  • Rolling Stone magazine voted the song at number 7 of the 500 best songs of all time in 2004 and named it the best guitar song of all time in 2008.
  • Johnny B. Goode is not to be confused with the song Johnny B. from The Hooters .

Cover versions

The song was covered by numerous musicians / bands; among the better known are:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chuck Berry: The Autobiography . From d. Americ. v. F. Laufenberg , I. Hake et al. H. Bredigkeit; Rastatt ( Arthur Moewig ) 1988, p. 171 f.
  2. ↑ http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/18/legendary-rock-n-roll-pioneer-chuck-berry-dies-90/
  3. ↑ The New Issue of Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs , May 28, 2008, accessed February 11, 2012.