The Rocklopedia Fakebandica now has a podcast.
Listen now!

Difference between revisions of "Johnny B. Goode"

From Rocklopedia Fakebandica
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(6 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 3: Line 3:
 
What you probably don't know is there's more to it than that. Goode appears in  other Chuck Berry songs:
 
What you probably don't know is there's more to it than that. Goode appears in  other Chuck Berry songs:
  
−
*"[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_l_w_jU-6U Bye Bye Johnny]" (1960), where Momma says bye to Johnny as he goes to Hollywood to make some motion pictures. Johnny falls in love there, and promises to build his momma a mansion after he's married.
+
* "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYpVF-q9PlY Bye Bye Johnny]" (1960), where Momma says bye to Johnny as he goes to Hollywood to make some motion pictures. Johnny falls in love there, and promises to build his momma a mansion after he's married.
−
*"Go Go Go" (1963, from the album ''Chuck Berry on Stage''. Johnny starts going jazz! "Backed up by a jazz band, layin' on the wood, Mixin Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B Goode. Sneaking Errol Garner in my Sweet Sixteen, Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline."
+
* "Go Go Go" (1963, from the album ''Chuck Berry on Stage''. Johnny starts going jazz! "Backed up by a jazz band, layin' on the wood, Mixin Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B Goode. Sneaking Errol Garner in my Sweet Sixteen, Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline."
−
*"Johnny B. Blues" ?
+
* "Johnny B. Blues" ?
  
−
In 1969, Berry released the album ''Concerto In B Goode,'' but the title track is an 18 minute instrumental.
+
In 1969, Berry released the album ''Concerto in B Goode,'' but the title track is an 18 minute instrumental.
  
−
More impressive are the balls of the band Devo, who killed off Goode in their song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbvXPYwzkvY Come Back Jonee]" from their 1978 album ''Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!'':
+
Mr. Goode gets a mention in Ricky Nelson's 1972 hit song "[https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2173/in-ricky-nelsons-garden-party-who-is-mr-hughes/ Garden Party]":  
−
<blockquote>"Johnny jumped into his Datsun. Drove out on the expressway. Went head on into a semi. His guitar's all that's left now."</blockquote>
+
<blockquote>Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode</br>
 +
Playing guitar like a-ringing a bell and lookin' like he should.
 +
</blockquote>
  
 +
 +
More impressive are the balls of the band Devo, who killed off Goode in their song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbvXPYwzkvY Come Back Jonee]" from their 1978 album ''Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!'':
 +
<blockquote>"Johnny jumped into his Datsun.</br> Drove out on the expressway.</br> Went head on into a semi.</br> His guitar's all that's left now."</blockquote>
 +
 +
 +
==Lyrics==
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|+ Lyrics of the songs
 +
|-
 +
! Johnny B. Goode !! Bye Bye Johnny !! Go Go Go
 +
|-
 +
|Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans</br>
 +
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens</br>
 +
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood</br>
 +
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode</br>
 +
Who never ever learned to read or write so well</br>
 +
But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin' a bell</br></br>
 +
Go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Johnny B. Goode</br></br>
 +
He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack</br>
 +
Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track</br>
 +
Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade</br>
 +
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made</br>
 +
The people passing by they would stop and say</br>
 +
"Oh my what that little country boy could play"</br></br>
 +
Go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go, go</br>
 +
Johnny B. Goode</br></br>
 +
His mother told him "someday you will be a man</br>
 +
And you will be the leader of a big old band</br>
 +
Many people coming from miles around</br>
 +
To hear you play your music when the sun go down</br>
 +
Maybe someday your name will be in lights</br>
 +
Saying "Johnny B. Goode tonight"</br></br>
 +
Go, go</br>
 +
Go Johnny, go</br>
 +
Go, go, go Johnny, go</br>
 +
Go, go, go Johnny, go</br>
 +
Go, go, go Johnny, go</br>
 +
Go</br>
 +
Johnny B. Goode
 +
||She drew out all her money out of the Southern Trust</br>
 +
And put her little boy aboard a Greyhound bus</br>
 +
Leaving Louisiana for the Golden West</br>
 +
Down came the tears from her happiness</br>
 +
Her own little son name 'o Johnny B. Goode</br>
 +
Was gonna make some motion pictures out in Hollywood</br></br>
 +
Bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye bye Johnny</br>
 +
Good bye Johnny B. Goode</br></br>
 +
She remembered taking money out from gathering crop</br>
 +
And buying Johnny's guitar at a broker shop</br>
 +
As long as he would play it by the railroad side</br>
 +
And wouldn't get in trouble he was satisfied</br>
 +
But never thought that there would come a day like this</br>
 +
When she would have to give her son a goodbye kiss</br></br>
 +
Going, bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye bye Johnny</br>
 +
Bye bye Johnny B. Goode</br></br>
 +
She finally got the letter she was dreaming of</br>
 +
Johnny wrote and told 'er he had fell in love</br>
 +
As soon as he was married he would bring her back</br>
 +
And build a mansion for 'em by the railroad track</br>
 +
So every time they heard the locomotive roar</br>
 +
They'd be a' standin', a' wavin' in the kitchen door</br></br>
 +
Howling, bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye, bye, bye, bye</br>
 +
Bye bye Johnny</br>
 +
Good bye Johnny B. Goode</br>
 +
||Down goes the sun, sitting, ducking on guitar</br>
 +
Up comes the moon, twinkle, twinkle little star</br>
 +
One and one is two, hitching two, to make it four</br>
 +
Johnny, get your guitar, let's go, go, go, oh baby</br></br>
 +
Johnny plays the guitar at the weekly record hop</br>
 +
He starts to twist and turn and then they wouldn't let him stop</br>
 +
Girls so shook up, seeing him shaking on the show</br>
 +
Everybody starts to holler go, go, go, oh baby</br></br>
 +
Duckwalking on his knees, pecking like a hen</br>
 +
Looking like a locomotive, here he comes again</br>
 +
Meow said the kitty, puppy bow, wow, wow</br>
 +
Go and pick your guitar, Johnny don't stop now, oh baby</br></br>
 +
Backed up by a jazz band, laying on the wood</br>
 +
Mixin Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B Goode</br>
 +
Sneaking Errol Garner in my Sweet Sixteen</br>
 +
Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline, oh baby</br></br>
 +
Papa said to Mama, "This I never understood</br>
 +
How he picks his guitar, make it sound so good</br>
 +
Use to sound goofy but I guess it's all right"</br>
 +
Papa's taking Mama to the gig tomorrow night, oh baby</br>
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|+ Lyrics of the songs
 +
|-
 +
! Garden Party !! Come Back Jonee
 +
|-
 +
| I went to a garden party</br>
 +
To reminisce with my old friends</br>
 +
A chance to share old memories</br>
 +
And play our songs again</br></br>
 +
When I got to the garden party</br>
 +
They all knew my name</br>
 +
But no one recognized me</br>
 +
I didn't look the same</br>
 +
But it's all right now</br>
 +
I learned my lesson well</br></br>
 +
You see, you can't please everyone</br>
 +
So you got to please yourself</br></br>
 +
People came from miles around</br>
 +
Everyone was there</br>
 +
Yoko brought her walrus</br>
 +
There was magic in the air</br>
 +
And over in the corner</br>
 +
Much to my surprise</br>
 +
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes</br>
 +
Wearing his disguise</br></br>
 +
But it's all right now</br>
 +
I learned my lesson well</br>
 +
You see, you can't please everyone</br>
 +
So you got to please yourself</br></br>
 +
I played them all the old songs</br>
 +
I thought that's why they came</br>
 +
No one heard the music</br>
 +
We didn't look the same</br>
 +
I said hello to "Mary Lou"</br>
 +
She belongs to me</br>
 +
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk</br>
 +
It was time to leave</br></br>
 +
But it's all right now</br>
 +
I learned my lesson well</br>
 +
You see, you can't please everyone</br>
 +
So you got to please yourself</br></br>
 +
Someone opened up a closet door</br>
 +
And out stepped Johnny B. Goode</br>
 +
Playing guitar like a ringing a bell</br>
 +
And lookin' like he should</br>
 +
If you gotta play at garden parties</br>
 +
I wish you a lotta luck</br>
 +
But if memories were all I sang</br>
 +
I'd rather drive a truck</br></br>
 +
But it's all right now</br>
 +
I learned my lesson well</br>
 +
You see, you can't please everyone</br>
 +
So you got to please yourself</br></br>
 +
And it's all right now, yeah</br>
 +
Learned my lesson well</br>
 +
You see, you can't please everyone</br>
 +
So you got to please yourself
 +
||
 +
Hey, come back, Jonee</br>
 +
Gotta come back now, Jonee</br>
 +
Hey, come back, Jonee</br>
 +
Jonee, be good</br>
 +
She'll love you, sure</br>
 +
You made her cry</br>
 +
Jonee, you're bad</br>
 +
You're gonna make her sad</br></br>
 +
Jonee went to the pawnshop</br>
 +
Bought himself a guitar</br>
 +
Now he's gonna go far</br>
 +
You gotta love 'em and leave 'em</br>
 +
Sometimes you deceive 'em</br>
 +
You made her cry</br>
 +
Jonee, you're bad</br>
 +
You're gonna make her sad</br></br>
 +
After the teardrops</br>
 +
Jonee jumped in his Datsun</br>
 +
Drove out on the expressway</br>
 +
Went head-on into a semi</br>
 +
His guitar is all that's left now</br></br>
 +
He made her cry</br>
 +
Now she calls his name</br>
 +
Jonee, you're to blame</br></br>
 +
Come back, Jonee</br>
 +
Hey, come back, Jonee</br>
 +
You've gotta come back now</br>
 +
Jonee, Jonee, Jonee</br>
 +
Hey, come back, Jonee</br>
 +
Oh, Jonee, be good</br>
 +
Treat her like you should</br>
 +
You made her cry</br>
 +
Jonee, you're bad</br>
 +
You're gonna make her sad</br></br>
 +
Come back, Jonee</br>
 +
Well, come back, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
Jonee, Jonee, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
You gotta come back now, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
Well, Jonee, be good (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
Treat her like you should (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
You made her cry (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
Well, Jonee, you're bad (Jonee, Jonee)</br>
 +
You're gonna make her sad (Jonee, Jonee)
 +
|}
 +
 +
 +
==External Links==
 +
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_B._Goode
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
[[Category:1958|Goode, Johnny B.]]
 
[[Category:Songs|Goode, Johnny B.]]
 
[[Category:Songs|Goode, Johnny B.]]
−
[[Category:1958|Goode, Johnny B.]]
+
[[Category:Rock|Goode, Johnny B.]]
 +
[[Category:Fictional guitarists|Goode, Johnny B.]]

Latest revision as of 09:58, 9 June 2025

Early rock and roll star from the Chuck Berry song of the same name. Berry wrote the semiautobiographical "Johnny B. Goode" in 1955, but it was not recorded and released until 1958.

What you probably don't know is there's more to it than that. Goode appears in other Chuck Berry songs:

  • "Bye Bye Johnny" (1960), where Momma says bye to Johnny as he goes to Hollywood to make some motion pictures. Johnny falls in love there, and promises to build his momma a mansion after he's married.
  • "Go Go Go" (1963, from the album Chuck Berry on Stage. Johnny starts going jazz! "Backed up by a jazz band, layin' on the wood, Mixin Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B Goode. Sneaking Errol Garner in my Sweet Sixteen, Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline."
  • "Johnny B. Blues" ?

In 1969, Berry released the album Concerto in B Goode, but the title track is an 18 minute instrumental.

Mr. Goode gets a mention in Ricky Nelson's 1972 hit song "Garden Party":

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode

Playing guitar like a-ringing a bell and lookin' like he should.


More impressive are the balls of the band Devo, who killed off Goode in their song "Come Back Jonee" from their 1978 album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!:

"Johnny jumped into his Datsun.
Drove out on the expressway.
Went head on into a semi.
His guitar's all that's left now."


Lyrics

Lyrics of the songs
Johnny B. Goode Bye Bye Johnny Go Go Go
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 country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin' a bell

Go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Johnny B. Goode

He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track
Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
The people passing by they would stop and say
"Oh my what that little country boy could play"

Go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Go Johnny, go, go
Johnny B. Goode

His mother told him "someday you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun go down
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying "Johnny B. Goode tonight"

Go, go
Go Johnny, go
Go, go, go Johnny, go
Go, go, go Johnny, go
Go, go, go Johnny, go
Go
Johnny B. Goode

She drew out all her money out of the Southern Trust

And put her little boy aboard a Greyhound bus
Leaving Louisiana for the Golden West
Down came the tears from her happiness
Her own little son name 'o Johnny B. Goode
Was gonna make some motion pictures out in Hollywood

Bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye bye Johnny
Good bye Johnny B. Goode

She remembered taking money out from gathering crop
And buying Johnny's guitar at a broker shop
As long as he would play it by the railroad side
And wouldn't get in trouble he was satisfied
But never thought that there would come a day like this
When she would have to give her son a goodbye kiss

Going, bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye bye Johnny
Bye bye Johnny B. Goode

She finally got the letter she was dreaming of
Johnny wrote and told 'er he had fell in love
As soon as he was married he would bring her back
And build a mansion for 'em by the railroad track
So every time they heard the locomotive roar
They'd be a' standin', a' wavin' in the kitchen door

Howling, bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye, bye, bye, bye
Bye bye Johnny
Good bye Johnny B. Goode

 Down goes the sun, sitting, ducking on guitar

Up comes the moon, twinkle, twinkle little star
One and one is two, hitching two, to make it four
Johnny, get your guitar, let's go, go, go, oh baby

Johnny plays the guitar at the weekly record hop
He starts to twist and turn and then they wouldn't let him stop
Girls so shook up, seeing him shaking on the show
Everybody starts to holler go, go, go, oh baby

Duckwalking on his knees, pecking like a hen
Looking like a locomotive, here he comes again
Meow said the kitty, puppy bow, wow, wow
Go and pick your guitar, Johnny don't stop now, oh baby

Backed up by a jazz band, laying on the wood
Mixin Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B Goode
Sneaking Errol Garner in my Sweet Sixteen
Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline, oh baby

Papa said to Mama, "This I never understood
How he picks his guitar, make it sound so good
Use to sound goofy but I guess it's all right"
Papa's taking Mama to the gig tomorrow night, oh baby


Lyrics of the songs
Garden Party Come Back Jonee
I went to a garden party

To reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories
And play our songs again

When I got to the garden party
They all knew my name
But no one recognized me
I didn't look the same
But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well

You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

People came from miles around
Everyone was there
Yoko brought her walrus
There was magic in the air
And over in the corner
Much to my surprise
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes
Wearing his disguise

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

I played them all the old songs
I thought that's why they came
No one heard the music
We didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou"
She belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk
It was time to leave

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

Someone opened up a closet door
And out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a ringing a bell
And lookin' like he should
If you gotta play at garden parties
I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang
I'd rather drive a truck

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

And it's all right now, yeah
Learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

Hey, come back, Jonee
Gotta come back now, Jonee
Hey, come back, Jonee
Jonee, be good
She'll love you, sure
You made her cry
Jonee, you're bad
You're gonna make her sad

Jonee went to the pawnshop
Bought himself a guitar
Now he's gonna go far
You gotta love 'em and leave 'em
Sometimes you deceive 'em
You made her cry
Jonee, you're bad
You're gonna make her sad

After the teardrops
Jonee jumped in his Datsun
Drove out on the expressway
Went head-on into a semi
His guitar is all that's left now

He made her cry
Now she calls his name
Jonee, you're to blame

Come back, Jonee
Hey, come back, Jonee
You've gotta come back now
Jonee, Jonee, Jonee
Hey, come back, Jonee
Oh, Jonee, be good
Treat her like you should
You made her cry
Jonee, you're bad
You're gonna make her sad

Come back, Jonee
Well, come back, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)
Jonee, Jonee, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)
You gotta come back now, Jonee (Jonee, Jonee)
Well, Jonee, be good (Jonee, Jonee)
Treat her like you should (Jonee, Jonee)
You made her cry (Jonee, Jonee)
Well, Jonee, you're bad (Jonee, Jonee)
You're gonna make her sad (Jonee, Jonee)


External Links

Retrieved from "https://www.fakebands.com/wiki/index.php?title=Johnny_B._Goode&oldid=36114"