The Goode City

 

    St. Louis takes pride in its own.  When a local kid, makes it big, The Lou is proud.  Jon Hamm and Kevin Kline are revered in the city as acting icons—not to mention Ken Page is adored as a local treasure.  In the music world, Nelly and Sheryl Crow rank up there with Ike and Tina Turner as St. Louis locals who made good.  Yet, of all these notables, the king of St. Louis’ own is the patriarch of rock n roll: Chuck Berry.

                Chuck Berry attended Sumner High School where he gave his first on-stage performance.  His life, of course, did not always run smoothly—whose ever does?  Still, at his death at age 90, the city of St. Louis mourned collectively. 

                Of all Chuck Berry’s music, “Johnny B. Goode” is likely the best known.  It was a hit in its own right, but had a resurgence in the 1980s with its prominent placement in the movie Back to the Future (pretty sure Marvin Berry is apocryphal).

                As with many other songs, there was always a question in my young mind about why someone kept telling Johnny to be good.  Was the kid prone to misbehavior?  After all, he did not do so well with reading and writing.  He did play the guitar well—perhaps they were encouraging Johnny to always play his best.  The people passing by seemed to be pleased with his playing.

                Silly me, the song is not “Johnny, be good”; the song is “Johnny B. Goode”.  Johnny’s surname of Goode was a reference to Goode Avenue which, incidentally, runs along one side of Sumner High School.  You will not find Goode Avenue anymore.  The road’s name was changed to Annie Malone Drive in honor of Annie Malone who was an inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.  She was a benefactor for the Orphans Home and helped them purchase a facility on Goode Avenue, hence its renaming.

                So there you have it.  Johnny B. Goode was good, and St. Louis couldn’t be prouder.