Post by NJtoTX on Mar 31, 2023 13:48:49 GMT
Was released on 78 as well as 45. From the College of Rock and Roll Knowledge. ·
The rock song about the glory of being a rock star is practically a genre unto itself: There’s the Byrds’ “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star,” and Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good,” among others. But Chuck Berry was the first to try the idea out in his 1958 classic “Johnny B. Goode”, released on March 31st.
The song’s story arc tracked Berry’s real-life rise from a humble unknown to a world-famous superstar, and the singer used his childhood address—2520 Goode Avenue—in his protagonist’s name. But Berry took liberties with the details. Unlike “Johnny,” Berry grew up in St. Louis, not Louisiana, and unlike Johnny, he could read and write quite well, and studied hairdressing and cosmetology at night school.
What’s more, “Johnny B. Goode” describes Johnny with the lyric “That little country boy could play.” Berry told Rolling Stone that the original line was “That little colored boy could play,” until he changed it to ensure the song would get air time. “Johnny” became so famous that in 1977 it was one of the recordings included on the Voyager spaceship to represent life on earth for extraterrestrial life forms or future humans to discover.
When Chuck Berry was inducted during the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on January 23, 1986, he performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music", backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Hall of Fame included these songs and "Maybellene" in their list of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.
“Johnny B. Goode” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for its influence as a rock and roll single.
The song’s story arc tracked Berry’s real-life rise from a humble unknown to a world-famous superstar, and the singer used his childhood address—2520 Goode Avenue—in his protagonist’s name. But Berry took liberties with the details. Unlike “Johnny,” Berry grew up in St. Louis, not Louisiana, and unlike Johnny, he could read and write quite well, and studied hairdressing and cosmetology at night school.
What’s more, “Johnny B. Goode” describes Johnny with the lyric “That little country boy could play.” Berry told Rolling Stone that the original line was “That little colored boy could play,” until he changed it to ensure the song would get air time. “Johnny” became so famous that in 1977 it was one of the recordings included on the Voyager spaceship to represent life on earth for extraterrestrial life forms or future humans to discover.
When Chuck Berry was inducted during the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on January 23, 1986, he performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music", backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Hall of Fame included these songs and "Maybellene" in their list of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.
“Johnny B. Goode” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for its influence as a rock and roll single.
