Dr. Forbush Thinks

Johnnie Johnson was Chuck Berry’s keyboard player and he died yesterday April 13, 2005 at the age of 80. In an interview with Terry Gross recorded earlier he admitted that he was “the Johnny” that Chuck Berry wrote the song about. Johnnie Johnson was a restless musician who wasn’t happy just playing in the band. He said that on most nights Chuck Berry was done playing around 9:30 or 10:00 which is quite early for the Club Scene. Because of his tendency to go out to clubs and sit in with other bands until late in the evening Johnnie acquired a reputation for being a hard partying guy. In fact drinking was the reason Chuck Berry used to describe why he decided to break up with the band and tour solo. Johnnie continued to claim that he was more interested in playing in bands that offered different styles than the Rock-n-Roll of Chuck Berry. None-the-less Johnnie’s reputation earned him the lead in the now famous song: Johnny B. Good. This phrase had been used to scold Johnnie Johnson many times before it made it into the lyrics, but he would argue that it wasn’t deserved. However, he was proud to say that the song was about him in the interview with Terry Gross replayed today on Fresh Air today, April 14, 2005.

Fresh Air today, April 14, 2005

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