The Smiley Smile Message Board

Chuck Berry released "Johnny B. Goode" this day in 1958.  Hear the original and see live versions thru the years...including with John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen- http://rockabillynblues.blogspot.com/2012/03/chuck-berry-releases-johnny-b-goode.html

Love this song, it's one of my favorites. As Chuck Berry's signature song, you can point to this song and say that without it, rock and roll as it is today doesn't exist.

The cover version that the Beatles preform on the Live from the BBC CD is my favorite.

It's been covered countless times (including a couple of live versions by that guy with the sideburns), but no one's ever improved upon the original.

The original is a classic. Great and fantastic !
The hardest rocking version and imo the best though is Presley's liveversion from "In person" '69. I don't care very much for his versions from '72 onwards. The worst version I have ever heard is Chuck Berry with John Lennon. Chuck is ok but Lennon and Yoko ruined that song imo. Unfortunately Chuck's performances nowadays are terrible too.

haven't seen him in a couple of years, but it wasn't terrible then. His 80+ year fingers still play well, if different from 50 years ago.
He plays here at least once a month; definitely worth a visit

I last saw Chuck in 1995, and he was great then - as luck would have it, his pickup band knew his music, and was right with him all the way. I can't speak for how he is today, but the man is 80-something, so I'd cut him some slack. Little Richard was also on the bill in 95, and he was equally impressive. Talked a lot - probably just catching his breath between songs - but when he got into the classics like Good Golly Miss Molly, Lucille, Jenny Jenny and Keep a Knockin', it was awesome. I got to see Richard again in 97 (with Bo Diddley, RIP) and 2002, glad I did, as he has since retired.

Chuck was terrible the one time I saw him.  A large portion of the audience walked out halfway through.  I know he has a different band in every town, and he rehearses very little and tells them to watch his foot for cues, but he himself was very bad.  He wouldn't play his hits, his guitar was out of tune, and he kept reading poetry.  This was twenty years ago or so, and he wasn't even that old yet.

This song's so incredible they chose it to be included, to represent Rock & Roll on the voyager space explorer's Golden Record. 

GoldenRecord.org

Reading poetry? Not singing his hits? That doesn't sound like Chuck at all. All he's done for the last 30 years is sing his old hits, since he hasn't had any new music out since 1979's Rockit album. I'd say you caught the man on an off night. He's as mercurial and unpredictable as Bob Dylan - and along with Bob, the best lyricist in rock history.

This song was the reason i started playing guitar a couple years ago... still can't play it.. but i'm getting there  :)

Everybody gives him hell for the way he plays now, but the way I see it: the guy pretty much invented how the Rock guitar is supposed to sound, if he wants to get sloppy with it in concert, well into his 80's.... good for him.  Maybe he's inventing the NEXT 65 years of music. 

I hope not !
Of course he's a great influence and very important. Although he took most of his guitar playing from T-Bone Walker. If you care to go deeper, you'll find many techniques Chuck brought to rock in T-Bone's recording. That doesn't take anything away from Chuck's importance in the evolution of Rock'n'Roll but it should be clear.
But if he's not able to give his audience a good show and play his guitar in tune, than he should at least charge no money for the shows.

He's always given more than his share of bad shows.  The reason Keith Richards' helped put the "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll" documentary together was to try to get Chuck to put on a decent show and actually rehearse with a band.  Keith wanted to preserve Chuck's legacy.  That was back in the late 1980's.  I don't think Chuck has ever cared that much.  His career started warming up again in the late '60s when the hippies got into Sha Na Na and the actual classic oldies acts that spawned groups like Sha Na Na and Flash Cadillac.  After that burst of popularity in the '60s and '70s, capped by his big hit with "My Ding A Ling," I think the guy just got bored, but the money was too good to pass up.

Chuck Berry wasn't great because his guitar was in tune.  You can play your guitar in tune, but you can't be Chuck Berry...

And Chuck would be the first to point you back to his influences. He is very modest when it comes to taking credit for his own efforts. At the same time, and this might seem contradictory, he is absolutely fanatical about getting paid in monetary terms, what he feels he is due.

No, he was great because his songs were phenomenal and he had a sound. Never said anything against that. But I've heard him more than once butchering his songs. His guitar playing was ou of tune and he just played it without being in time, his singing was just as bad. He has no voice left. So, I say it again: if you are not able (or willing) to put on a good show, at least don't take money for it. I'm not paying to see a legend but to hear and see a good show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxNIhuXubLs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxNIhuXubLs)




I'm just saying, because many people act as if Chuck invented the whole thing, which he did not. It's as false as saying Elvis invented Rock'n'Roll.