Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode (1959) Review

It is ranked #7 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Story Behind The Song: Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode

While the lyrics describe a "country boy" from Louisiana, the song is deeply autobiographical and rooted in Berry's childhood at in St. Louis.

The name was a tribute to his longtime pianist, Johnnie Johnson , who influenced much of Berry’s guitar style. Ironically, Johnson did not play on the actual recording; the piano work was handled by Lafayette Leake . Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode (1959)

Berry admitted he "borrowed" the opening single-note solo from Louis Jordan’s 1946 R&B hit, "Ain’t That Just Like a Woman".

To ensure the track received radio airplay during the Eisenhower era's high racial tensions, Berry changed the original lyric "that little colored boy could play" to "that little country boy". It is ranked #7 on Rolling Stone’s list

The song's 17-second opening riff is considered one of the most explosive and recognizable in music history.

In 1977, NASA selected it for the Voyager Golden Record . It is the only rock 'n' roll song currently traveling through deep space as a representation of human creativity for potential extraterrestrial life. Berry admitted he "borrowed" the opening single-note solo

The song reached a new generation in 1985 through its iconic appearance in Back to the Future , where it was depicted in a humorous "bootstrap paradox" as the moment the sound was "invented".