Johnnie Johnson – Johnnie B Bad Audio Cassette (1991)

It’s feasible that you won’t have heard the name Johnnie Johnson, but if you’ve ever heard one of Chuck Berry’s best known hits, you’ll have heard him play the piano. Johnnie Johnson, however, was far more than just Chuck Berry’s pianist. Johnson actually formed the band, and ran it as a trio before involving Berry as an extrovert frontman. Much of Chuck Berry’s guitar playing (and certainly the bits most people now associate with him having brought to the world) was highly reminiscent of Johnnie Johnson’s piano work. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was of the view that Chuck had essentially adapted Johnnie’s piano playing for the guitar, thus hitting upon a novel and exciting style, which came to define rock ‘n’ roll lead guitar. That, I feel, is a pretty fair synopsis.