JOHNNY B. GOODE
“Johnny B. Goode” is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine’s Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is one of Berry’s most famous recordings, has been covered by many artists, and has received several honors and accolades. It is also considered to be one of the most recognizable songs in music history. The song is ranked as number seven on Rolling Stone’s list of “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. (More from Wikipedia)
Chuck Berry’s landmark hit “Johnny B. Goode” – which, like “Eager Boy” by The Lonesome Drifter, also has a theme about someone with big dreams, come to think of it (“Maybe someday your name will be in lights / Sayin’ ‘Johnny B. Goode tonight!’”) – also has a hidden history. The first verse originally went: “Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans / Way back up in the woods among the evergreens / There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood / Where lived a colored boy named Johnny B. Goode / Who never, ever learned to learn to read or write so well / But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin’ a bell.” Chuck changed the lyric to “country boy” to ensure that the song could get a wider acceptance.
(May 2011)
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