The five greatest covers of ‘Johnny B Goode’
There’s a reason NASA sent Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B Goode’ beyond the solar system on their Voyager space mission in 1977.
While rock and roll was in full bloom by 1958, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis were already the poster boys of the new pop explosion. Berry’s immortal snapshot of the poor, illiterate country boy from Louisiana chasing his musical dream proved an indelible template for scores of disparate future artists eager to bask in its beguiling R&B energy.
Written as early as 1955 and lyrically half-autobiographical, ‘Johnny B Goode’ beckons any budding musician, no matter what the background, to pick up the guitar and go for gold. It’s easy to see how such a song can take a powerful hold on the kids eagerly lapping up its rock and roll swagger, the entirety of the future stars of rock and pop likely forging a unique relationship with Berry’s burning surge of joyous call to arms.
With it now 70 years since its first recording in January 1958, we sift through the voluminous litany of ‘Johnny B Goode’ covers and select five takes that illustrate both the undying love the rock and roll gem commands, as well as the vibrant X-factor that still gifts Berry’s number its undimmed energy.
The five greatest covers of ‘Johnny B Goode’:
Grateful Dead
Amid the noodle jams of blues, folk, and subtle psychedelia, the world’s biggest cult band Grateful Dead, always harboured a giddy, schoolboy love of rock and roll. Indeed, de facto captain Jerry Garcia had spoken over the years of teen shunning from the Beats for his love of Chuck Berry at odds with the supposedly much ‘cooler’ jazz soundtrack.
It can’t be any surprise, then, that Deadheads have been treated to loving live renditions of ‘Johnny B Goode’ as many as a purported 287 times. Among the litany of live takes, we’ll plumb for the Grateful Dead’s 1971 tackle at New York’s Fillmore East, the entire affair charged with sheer joy, and Bob Weir giving it his all behind the mic.
Peter Tosh
Long after his stint with The Wailers, reggae stalwart Peter Tosh forged his own career in the world of early ska and rocksteady, as well as a devotee of the Rastafari religion along with old bandmate Bob Marley.
For 1983’s Mama Africa, Tosh brewed a thick reggae brew of brass blasts, punchy percussive pop and just the right amount of 1980s keys for a thick plume of arresting riddim hook that leaned into its commercial sound without diluting his musical power. Adding some scorching electric guitar, Tosh conjured a skulking reimagination of ‘Johnny B Goode’, authentically casting the titular Johnny into the streets of Kingston’s Trenchtown rather than the original’s New Orleans.
Judas Priest
As the 1980s rolled along, new wave of British heavy metal pioneers Judas Priest began to creatively creak among the decade’s rapidly shifting pop climate. For 1988’s Ram It Down, the leather-clad outfit jumped into a sonic polish of glossy production and drum machines, which didn’t thrill the critics and alienated half their fan base.
Yet, a cover of ‘Johnny B Goode’ managed to spark some of the old magic. Excavating the number’s rock foundations, Judas Priest manages to add a metal coating to Berry’s immortal hit that feels completely at ease, attesting to the 1958 number’s sturdy endurance all those years later.
Jimi Hendrix
Fresh from original bassist Noel Redding’s departure, a revised Experience band with Billy Cox on bass took to the stage at California’s Berkeley Community Theatre as part of 1970’s The Cry of Love Tour, racing through the band’s big numbers before Jimi Hendrix announces a crack at ‘Johnny B Goode’.
Not much is changed, why fix what ain’t broken? Hendrix captures Berry’s bottle rocket energy but injects his looser, swinging heft to the rock and roll gem. As with most covers of Berry’s defining hit, Hendrix lets much of the old master’s composition do the heavy lifting.
The Beach Boys
So much of ‘Johnny B Goode’s eternal appeal as a potential cover is the evident love on display when any artist gives their renditions. It’s what carries The Beach Boys’ take so far. Captured on their 1964 Beach Boys Concert at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, the surfer outfit rips through a cover of Berry’s classic with the undimmed glee that feels jumped straight from their high school days.
It’s not drastically different, but the sunnier take from The Beach Boys offers a bright window into their musical foundations, and the rock and roll fandom that echoes right through some of popular music’s most lauded names.
