Chuck Berry tops new Rolling Stone magazine list
Chuck Berry is at No. 1 again.
The duck-walkin’ classic rock legend’s influential 1958 song “Johnny B. Goode” tops the list of Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
The accompanying text credits the song as “the first great record about the joys and rewards of playing a rock & roll guitar. It also has the single greatest rock & roll intro: a thrilling blast of high twang driven by Berry’s spearing notes, followed by a rhythm part that translates a boogie-woogie piano riff for the guitar.”
“If you want to play rock & roll,” Joe Perry told the magazine in 2004, “you have to start here.”
Filling out the top ten, following Berry, are:
“Purple Haze,” the Jimi Hendrix Experience
“Crossroads,” Cream
“You Really Got Me,” the Kinks
“Brown Sugar,” the Rolling Stones
“Eruption,” Van Halen
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” the Beatles
“Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin
“Statesboro Blues,” Allman Brothers Band
“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nirvana
See the complete list here.
Kevin C. Johnson has covered the St. Louis' music and nightlife scene for the past decade. 
Chuck Berry “Duckin” Rocks!
Back in the day Chuck often rode my airline to Denver. I always offered him pre-board and some drink vouchers. He called me namesake because I am Chuck too. He was always pleasant and never shunned autograph seekers in the boarding area. I have always thought of him as a local hero. My personal fave song is ‘No Particular Place to Go’.
Congratulations to the real “King of Rock’n'Roll”!
His guitar sound is great, and he is the first rock poet. “As I was a-motivatin’ over the hill, I saw Maybelline in a Coup DeVille..” Priceless!
As far a guitar riffs go though, I gotta go with “Pinball Wizard” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Pete Townshend could play a guitar that enrgized listeners like a bugle call. Add the onstage energy and wow!