January 6th, 1958. St. Louis’ own Charles Edward Anderson Berry goes into the Chess Studios and lays down “Johnny B. Goode.” Though not his biggest hit, chart-wise, the song (the B side was another cookin’ unit, “Around and Around”), as Mr. Garcia noted, defined rock ‘n’ roll. Everyone from the Chipmunks to The Sex Pistols has covered it (if you haven’t, are you really playing rock ‘n’ roll?). Six years and a day later, four lads from Liverpool cut their version. Carl Sagan sent it into the deepest reaches of the universe on the Voyager satellite (imagine the Vulcans’ reaction when they hear it). It is, truly, “the one it’s all about.”
Later,
Scaypgrayce 