The Borrower in Chief

Chuck Berry has had a reputation down the years of being somewhat litigious when it came to other artists using his material in a way that he thought plagiaristic; the Beatles and 'here, comes ol' flat top' comes to mind. It's therefore somewhat surprising that Mr. Berry himself was not above the odd bit of borrowing from other musicians. In 1958 his classic Johnny B. Goode opened with an intro that has become something of a signature piece. In actual fact Chuck was playing under the influence. Twelve years earlier, in 1946 Louis Jordan was the man that every aspiring black musician looked up to. Along with his Tympany Five he recorded Ain’t That Just Like A Woman. The guitarist with the Tympany Five was Carl Hogan and his guitar intro to the song was almost note for note the same as Chuck Berry’s later recording. As the old adage goes, there ain’t no such things as new ideas, there’s just old ones thought of again.