Michael J. Fox delivered one of cinema’s great iconic scenes when he mimed to Chuck Berry’s hit song “Johnny B. Goode” in the 1988 movie Back to the Future. The film — for those who don’t already know it — centers on Fox’s character Marty McFly, a 1980s teen who travels back in time to 1955.
On the surface, the use of Berry’s tune for Fox’s big scene seems appropriate. His McFly performs “Johnny B. Goode” at a high school dance after he time travels to the mid 1950s, a time when Berry was earning his stripes to become the Father of Rock and Roll.
For the scene, Fox even played an electric guitar that was one of Berry’s favorites: a cherry red Gibson ES-345 semihollow. The very guitar Fox used in the movie is itself famous today: Once filming wrapped, the instrument disappeared and is now the subject of a newly launched search initiated by Gibson.
The Berry reference is certainly justified. The guitarist was a star in 1955 after he scored a hit from out of nowhere with his tune “Maybellene,” a revved-up country rocker with amusing lyrics delivered in Berry’s lightning-quick delivery.
The tune was a culture-shifting phenomenon that set the stage for more Chuck Berry hits to come, including “Roll Over Beethoven,” “School Days,” “Sweet Little Sixteen” and, of course, “Johnny B. Goode.” The latter song’s double-stop-studded introduction would become a favorite of budding guitarists in rock’s early era, an essential rite of passage to becoming a bona fide rock guitarist.
There’s just one problem with Back to the Future and Fox’s iconic scene.
Music aficionados will note that the scene in which he performs “Johnny B. Goode” is set in 1955. “Johnny B. Goode” wouldn’t come out until 1958.
But that’s not an issue. McFly is just giving the kids a glimpse into the music of their very near future.
The real problem is that ES-345 he borrows from the band that’s performing at the dance. Gibson didn’t begin to design the model until 1958, basing it on the ES-335 introduced that year. For that matter, the ES-345 wasn’t available for purchase until the following year.
In other words, the only way McFly could have performed “Johnny B. Goode” on a Gibson ES-345 in 1955 is if he brought one with him — or stopped in some other time — say 1959? — on his travels back to the Eisenhower era.
Or maybe the guitarist for the band is a fellow time traveler too?
That unforced error joins several intentional anachronisms included in the scene. Fox astounds the audience with a performance inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen as he employs ear-screeching feedback, power chords and two-handed tapping.
As the music rolls to a stop, Fox turns to face his bewildered, silent audience.
“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet,” he says.
“But your kids are gonna love it.”
Indeed they did. Chuck Berry went on to inspire the next wave of guitarists, from John Lennon and Keith Richards to Ace Frehley and Angus Young. Although his music aged out of the pop music parade, it remained timeless both for guitarists and fans of rock and roll’s first wave.
Berry died in 2018 just as he was hoping to revive his career with his first album in 18 years, and was buried with the model of guitar that became a staple of his live performance — not Gibson’s ES-345 but the ES-355.
