Artie Owl Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 This is a staple song, and it's been covered a bajillion times, by who did it best in your opinion? I really like Johnny Winter's rendition, but I have to admit, the campy nature of Michael J Fox playing it in back to the future is one of my favourite versions. (just to be sure I looked it up, while MJF did play in bands in high school he didn't play in the movie; "Although it appears that Michael J. Fox is actually playing the guitar, Music Supervisor Bones Howe hired Hollywood guitar coach and musician Paul Hanson to teach Michael J. Fox to simulate playing all the parts so it would look realistic, including playing behind his head. Veteran session musician Tim May played the actual guitar parts with Mark Campbell doing the vocal work on "Johnny B. Goode" and Paul Hanson played the section at the beginning of the movie during the high school dance audition scene." source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Top of my list has to be Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush's version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw_MEs0xOAg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzhQXG7OfY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 There actually are a number of Chuck Berry versions floating around. The thing is that some are "cleaner" than others, etc., but there's something about the rather loose way Berry played it, even in the first recorded release, that caught me in the first place from the time it came out. I know that may make me kinda the old fogey on this one, but... So what. Heaven knows I've played the thing enough myself that I figure I've a right to prefer Chuck's guitar and vocal regardless of specific backing. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowdiddley Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 There actually are a number of Chuck Berry versions floating around. The thing is that some are "cleaner" than others, etc., but there's something about the rather loose way Berry played it, even in the first recorded release, that caught me in the first place from the time it came out. I know that may make me kinda the old fogey on this one, but... So what. Heaven knows I've played the thing enough myself that I figure I've a right to prefer Chuck's guitar and vocal regardless of specific backing. m I'm with you one that Milo, Chucks version is my favorite also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Chucks for me, followed closely by one or seven hundred versions we've done over the decades. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I used to play this at weddings when I was 15! 37 years ago. Good grief! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Chuck Berry's version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilpanda Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Chuck Berry's version +1 I like his the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Chuck Berry's version 1958. Original and best! (MJF's historically impossible version is also a guilty secret, mind. A propos. Gibson Trivia Quiz: plus point for the first person to explain why that version is historically impossible, even if we accept that Marty McFly does have access to a time-travelling DeLorean...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 1955 rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 1955 rct Is that in answer, or in correction, RCT? (As in, 1955 is too early for the song, or Chuck Berry wrote the song in 1955, but recorded it in 1958?) If in answer, I need more. It's not the fact that the song is performed in 1955, because time travel would allow the transfer of musical knowledge dating from after 1958 to an earlier year, and that's the whole joke about the performance - MJF invents Chuck Berry before CB records Maybellene. It's something else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 There actually are a number of Chuck Berry versions floating around. m My personal favourite, which I came across by pure chance two years ago, was Chuck Berry doing a slower, jazzier take of his 'normal' version. Nowadays it's the only one I play. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Is that in answer, or in correction, RCT? (As in, 1955 is too early for the song, or Chuck Berry wrote the song in 1955, but recorded it in 1958?) If in answer, I need more. It's not the fact that the song is performed in 1955, because time travel would allow the transfer of musical knowledge dating from after 1958 to an earlier year, and that's the whole joke about the performance - MJF invents Chuck Berry before CB records Maybellene. It's something else... But wasn't the guitar a Trini Lopez, came out later? I haven't seen that movie since, well, 1955... rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 But wasn't the guitar a Trini Lopez, came out later? I haven't seen that movie since, well, 1955... rct Yay! Well, close enough for the plus 1, anyway. Not a Trini, but an ES 345, so not manufactured before 1959. Given that MJF doesn't take it with him to 1955, but nabs it from a guitarist in situ who is rather shocked to hear anything as radical as Chuck Berry licks and so didn't come back in time himself, it's safe to say that the whole scene is impossible, even if time travel by dodgy Irish car is factored in as a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Chuck Berry's version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Ah, but the assumption is that the car takes one back in time in a single universe. Given brane universe theories... <grin> there's no reason to believe that our hero goes and comes in time within the same universe. In fact, there's good reason to assume that it almost definitely would not be the case. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Ah, but the assumption is that the car takes one back in time in a single universe. Given brane universe theories... <grin> there's no reason to believe that our hero goes and comes in time within the same universe. In fact, there's good reason to assume that it almost definitely would not be the case. m You're convincing me, Milod. I am now toying with the advantages of having parallel universes in which a whole raft of tasty old Gibsons can be found, and rareties are no longer overpriced. Oh, but that's a post which belongs on a parallel thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm not sure how much that could even be considered a "parallel universe" as opposed to a wishful thinking one. <grin> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjay777 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Top of my list has to be Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush's version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw_MEs0xOAg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzhQXG7OfY Definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I like MY version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5l8R2wpmc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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