The Beatles

Released: November 30, 1994

Songwriter: The Beatles Chuck Berry

Producer: Bernie Andrews Jimmy Grant

[Verse 1]
Deep down in Louisiana
Close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods
Among the evergreens
There stand a country cabin
Made of clay and wood
Where lives a young country boy
Named Johnny B. Goode
He never learned
To read or write a book so well
But he could play his guitar
Just like a-ringing a bell

[Chorus]
Go go, go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Aah Johnny B. Goode!

[Verse 2]
He used to carry his guitar
In a gunny sack
Sit beneath the trees
By the railroad track
Oh sitting and a-playing
In the shade
Drumming to the rhythm
That the drivers made
People passing by
Used to stop and say
My oh my
That country boy can play

[Chorus]
Go go, go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Aah Johnny B. Goode!

[Verse 3]
Well his mama 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
Till the sun goes down
Maybe some day
Your name will be in light
Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight!

[Chorus]
Go go, go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Go Johnny go go go!
Aah Johnny B. Goode!

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

more tracks from the album

Live At The BBC

From the album

Live At The BBC (1994)

The Beatles popular songs

Johnny B. Goode (Live at the BBC for “Saturday Club” / 15th February, 1964)The Beatles

The Beatles

Live At The BBC