Covered #7: Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode
This series is not just about featuring hits and evergreens, that wouldn't be enough. It aims to present songs that have succeeded not only in their original version but also in many other renditions. A lot of covers are described as "better than the original" and in many cases, only a few people know the original. Sometimes there is even a dispute as to which version came first. The songs we are going to talk about and, more importantly, whose cover versions we are going to present, won't be based on the place or time of their creation, and definitely not on their original musical genre. Folk, jazz, blues, rock, pop or musical, we can find interesting songs anywhere.
"Johnny B. Goode" is one of the most famous rock 'n' roll songs ever. Chuck Berry recorded it in early 1958 at Chicago's Chess Studios and released it on the label of the same name on 31st March of that year. Chess was the company in the making of electric blues, home to some of the greats of the first generation of the style – Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter and many others. But it was also the cradle of rock 'n' roll. As well as Berry, who became the label's biggest company meal ticket after signing, it also released other black rock'n'roll authors such as Bo Diddley.
Berry's opening solo in the song cannot be described as anything other than iconic. Mastering it has been part of every rock guitarist's essential equipment since the early 1960s. The song climbed as high as number eight on the pop charts and was voted the best guitar song of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine's 2008 chart (fifty years after its release, let us stress!). It usually tops similarly-tuned lists to this day. Let's take a look at how the author played "Johnny B. Goode" live in the year the song was written.
"Johnny B. Goode" instantly became part of the golden rock 'n' roll songbook and was adopted into the repertoire by virtually all the stars of the style including Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis – and, of course, it couldn't escape the King of Rock 'n' Roll. He even included it in his famous 1973 television show Aloha from Hawaii, which was broadcast from Honolulu (via satellite!) to the whole world and was, incidentally, the only concert of Elvis' career for which the singer left the mainland United States.
Chuck Berry was, of course, one of the archetypal role models of the emerging Beat Generation, and was loved by the fledgling Beatles as well.
Indeed, it's a testament to how much Chuck Berry acted upon the Beatles that this influence was passed on from father to son, so to speak: at a concert celebrating Berry's sixtieth birthday in 1986, musically directed by Keith Richards (another huge admirer of the guitarist, of course, who played "Johnny B. Goode" in the early days with Rolling Stones), and a year later in a film recording called Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll!, which was screened around the world, John Lennon's son Julian sang the famous song with the Master.
And speaking of the famous duets of the ageing Berry with famous stars who created their thumbprints under his influence, one cannot skip the performance of "Johnny B. Goode", in which Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band accompany Chuck Berry on the occasion of his induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.
But let's go back to the sixties for a while. Berry's guitar innovation was, of course, admired by the instrument's emerging virtuosos. It's not clear how often, but it's certainly documented that "Johnny B. Goode" was played live by Jimi Hendrix himself, who gave the song his distinctive feel.
And another equilibrist with his feet in the blues, Johnny Winter, also did a great job with "Johnny B. Goode". He made the song a long-standing staple of his repertoire, on which he could show off his typical fast-paced style.
Like any famous guitarist's show-off piece, "Johnny B. Goode" has survived into decades to come, reaching bands that Chuck Berry may not have influenced on first listen, but that's just an appearance. Guitarists are generally well aware of the history of playing their instrument, indeed they grew up on some songs as children, learning and then finding their expression. This is undoubtedly the case with Vernon Reid of Living Colour.
In this context, it may actually be less surprising that also Lemmy and his Motörhead had "Johnny B. Goode" in their repertoire, of course in an uncompromising, appropriately hard version, which he did not hesitate to perform in 1991 on David Letterman's widely watched talk show.
We include all sorts of bizarre cover versions at the end of each episode of this series. In the case of "Johnny B. Goode", there are indeed many to choose from, so let's list at least three. The first one shows that this song can be played – and perfectly well – on an instrument other than the guitar, namely the ukulele. For example, it is played by the famous Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, whose member George Hinchliffe assists the talented player and singer Laura Currie on the following recording.
It is also rather bizarre (in the best sense of the word) when a composer adapts a famous song so that only fragments of the lyrics can be recognized from the original version. That's what one of reggae's greatest singers, Peter Tosh, did on his 1983 album Mama Africa.
And last but not least: the Sex Pistols also tried to do "Johnny B. Goode". To be frank, the song was a bit "over their heads", but they actually captured its rebellious essence quite credibly. This really was one big rock'n'roll swindle...
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