The Father of Rock & Roll

Good evening to all,
hope your day was a good one.

Cast your view upon the man pictured on the left, "The True Father of Rock & Roll", Mr. Johnnie Johnson. Many might be wondering "who the heck is that guy?" Well, lemme tell ya, the man was truly one of the greatest pianists of all time, Mr. Johnson's stamp is all over early and classic rock & roll as well as blues music, I can guarantee the rock and roll sound would have evolved very much differently had it not been for his wonderful influence. A star on his own, by every right to the word, he made his musical living by performing with legends such as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Albert King, and Eric Clapton, amongst others. From the early days of Chuck Berry shaping the sound of early rock & roll, driving young kids crazy with his "get out of your seat" new sound, and the seldom mentioned fact that many of Chuck's signature guitar riffs are written in keys favorable for the piano, show the true influence Mr. Johnson had. To see Johnnie Johnson in action, please seek out a movie called "Hail, Hail, Rock & Roll", a documentary about Chuck Berry, starring many music greats speaking about Chuck and performing with him. Also take a look at the Father of Rock & Roll website, the webmaster actually knew Mr. Johnson, and did a great job in honoring him and his achievements, the story had to be told.

I must admit, I am a bit ashamed to say as a music lover, I missed hearing word about Mr. Johnson's passing away earlier just this year! I was watching the "Hail, Hail, Rock & Roll" movie on television tonight, and saw Johnnie sitting behind that piano of his, fingers dancing lightly over those keys, or banging with such ferocity that you have to take notice, all the while using his piano to hold the sound together. Truly amazing to see and hear for any fan of early rock & roll. While watching the movie, I decided to take a search on Google to, as it almost seemed to me, check in on an old friend, and see how he's doing. Though I never had the opportunity to hear him play live, nor did I have a chance to ever meet him, I was saddened to hear of his passing, and couldn't let it go without mention.

We've all heard the song "Johnnie B. Goode", by Chuck Berry, Mr. Johnson was THE Johnnie mentioned in the song, and he was always good. I can imagine he's up there with the greats of music, and has joined the band. I'm certain they'll sound much better with him. Rest well Johnnie, and thanks.

(1924 - April 13th 2005)
A great life lived.