Comments on: Bye, Bye Johnnie

Bye, Bye Johnnie

fixedgear — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:47:58 -0800

Rock and roll pioneer Johnnie Johnson died today. Chuck Berry wrote "Johnny B. Goode" in tribute to Johnson. Johnson composed many of Chuck Berry's greatest songs on the piano. Berry then adapted them for guitar and wrote the lyrics.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:50:35 -0800

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:02:35 -0800

You can find articles about the man and an annotated discography at Johnnie's official site . I discovered his influence on rock in reverse - I first knew of him as a friend of NRBQ and Keith Richards and then learned about his role in shaping rock and roll. I recommend Johnnie B. Bad to anyone wanting delve into his solo records.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:14:02 -0800

Shit. No wonder the local radio was pre-empting the normal styles of music to play his stuff.

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:14:35 -0800

Also, rent a copy of "Hail, Hail, Rock n' Roll" to see the genius behind Chuck Berry. Sorry to hear this...

By: tsarfan

tsarfan — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:21:46 -0800

A good rental would be "Hail Hail Rock N Roll", a doc spotlighting Berry's 60th birthday. In one scene Richards explains how Johnnie was probably responsible for more of Chuck Berry's success than (at that time - '87) most people knew. Richards explained how the chords for Berry's biggest hits were bar chords on guitar but easy chords on piano, speculating that they were written on piano and not guitar. Johnson eventually sued Berry in early 2000 for his share of the royalties but the judge concluded that too much time had passed therefore Berry owed Johnson zip. (more here)

By: eriko

eriko — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 15:57:13 -0800

Damn. A good guy, worked sound for him a few times. Damn.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:33:07 -0800

"Let It Rock" is one of the few numbers where Johnnie's piano dominates over Chuck's guitar. It's a great example for the uninitiated of how important he was to the Chuck Berry sound and thus to all rock and roll.

By: lilboo

lilboo — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:13:36 -0800

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:50:20 -0800

By: jlkr

jlkr — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:34:28 -0800

By: nola

nola — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:21:02 -0800

By: Devils Slide

Devils Slide — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 01:14:12 -0800

If Chuck is the father of rock n' roll Johnnie was the grandfather. And his musical contributions aside, he was just a sweet low-key unassuming guy which made me like him even more. RIP.

By: The Dryyyyy Cracker

The Dryyyyy Cracker — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 06:03:42 -0800

By: schustafa

schustafa — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 06:38:02 -0800

. But I thought Chuck Berry first heard Johnny B. Goode on a phone call from his brother Marvin.

By: bashos_frog

bashos_frog — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:29:32 -0800

. (and Marvin was his cousin.)

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:45:30 -0800

Rock: It's not just your great great grandaddy's music. Props to a original.