Sunday, January 24, 2010

Johnny B Goode covers

Yesterday the husband and I were listening to Chuck Berry's classic, "Johnny B Goode" courtesy of Taco Del Mar and wishing it could be re-recorded with today's sound quality and maybe with crunchier guitars. Then one of my Facebook friends (hi, Kevin!) posted a couple of cover versions, so I decided to visit that fine cultural repository known as YouTube to see what other versions I could dig up. Probably everyone has heard Elvis's version and the one from Back to the Future, but did you know that there are several reggae versions? And Tom Jones once covered this song? I'll spare you both of those, but here are a few that I thought were particularly good, capturing the energy and spirit of the original but a little heavier and rougher.

The best version I've ever heard, though, was courtesy of a bar band at a frat party when I was about 18. It may have been the mood and the venue, but it was just perfect.

Green Day:


AC/DC (with Bon Scott) and Cheap Trick:


A couple of guys from Switchfoot: