SIDE B REVIEWS: Molland, Solem and Miller Honor Chuck Berry with Johnny B Goode Tribute
Updated: 10 hours ago
Chuck Berry’s songs have never belonged to one era. They passed from jukeboxes to arenas, from teenage guitar players to seasoned songwriters, from early rock & roll stages to every generation that learned where the backbeat lived.
That reach sits at the center of a new rendition of “Johnny B. Goode” from Molland, Solem & Miller, featuring the late Joey Molland of Badfinger, Phil Solem of The Rembrandts, and singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeff Miller.
Released October 16 through Minneapolis-based Hygh Tension Records, with distribution by Virgin Music Group, the single arrived as fans marked the 100th anniversary of Berry’s birth on October 18. It also serves as the first preview of a 12-song Chuck Berry tribute album due May 14, 2027.
More than a standard cover project, the recording captures a friendship. It brings together three musicians whose own careers connect to different corners of pop and rock history, all turning back toward one of rock & roll’s founding voices.
A tribute built on friendship and shared songs
The project began in Minneapolis, where Molland, Solem, and Miller were all living at the time. A local connection helped set the story in motion. Willie’s American Guitars, a well-known guitar shop in the city, brought Molland and Solem together for a benefit performance.
The rehearsals quickly showed that something clicked.
Molland, known for his work as guitarist and vocalist with Badfinger, brought the melodic rock touch heard on songs like “No Matter What,” “Day After Day,” and “Baby Blue.” Solem, a founding member of The Rembrandts, carried a catalog that includes “Just the Way It Is, Baby” and “I’ll Be There for You,” the theme from Friends. Miller, a singer-songwriter and guitarist, recognized the spark between them and encouraged the collaboration to keep going.
“They started playing their hits, backing each other up, and it was just stupendous,” recalls Miller. “It was great, the two talents together.”
That sense of mutual support became the base of the trio’s work. They were not simply trading songs. They were listening, adapting, and finding room for each other’s voices and guitars.
Soon, their acoustic performances moved beyond Minneapolis and onto the road. Along the way, the idea of honoring Berry began to take shape.
Why “Johnny B. Goode” still carries so much weight
“Johnny B. Goode” is one of the most recognizable rock & roll songs ever recorded. Its opening guitar figure is practically a language of its own. Even listeners who cannot name the chord progression often know the sound the instant it starts.
For musicians, the song represents more than nostalgia. It captures the promise of rock & roll in plain terms, speed, confidence, rhythm, and a story about a gifted guitar player chasing a larger life through music.
That made it a natural entry point for Molland, Solem, and Miller’s tribute.
Molland’s vocals on the new recording now carry added emotional weight following his passing in 2025. His performance helps introduce the album not only as a salute to Berry, but also as a preserved moment among friends and collaborators.
How the Chuck Berry tribute album came together
The idea for a full tribute grew out of the trio’s shared admiration for Berry’s writing and guitar playing. During their time performing together, they discovered that they connected not just over the famous songs, but over the breadth of Berry’s work.
“We all realized we loved Chuck Berry and loved all kinds of different songs of Chuck Berry,” Miller explains. “We said, ‘Okay, well, let’s do a tribute to him.’”
That simple decision turned into a recording project years in the making.
The album will include interpretations of Berry favorites such as:
“Roll Over Beethoven”
“Nadine”
“Carol”
“You Never Can Tell”
“Memphis”
“Little Queenie”
“Around and Around”
Together, those songs show different sides of Berry’s genius. Some move with teenage urgency. Some tell sharp little stories. Some lean into dance-floor joy. Many do all of that at once.
For Molland, the project also held a personal connection. He had a friendship with Berry’s daughter, Ingrid Berry Clay, who was aware of the recordings. That link gives the tribute another layer, tying the work not only to Berry’s songs, but to people connected to his life and legacy.
A legacy carried through players, not just records
Chuck Berry’s influence can be heard across rock, pop, rhythm and blues, punk, roots music, and countless bar bands that still build sets around his riffs. His songs gave musicians a framework: tight stories, ringing guitar lines, driving rhythm, and just enough swagger to make everything lift.
Molland, Solem, and Miller approach that legacy as working musicians who understand what Berry gave them. Their version of “Johnny B. Goode” is not presented as a museum piece. It is a living song, played by artists who carried their own histories into it.
That is what gives the tribute its heart.
It honors Berry’s centennial, but it also honors the friendships music creates. A benefit show led to rehearsals. Rehearsals led to road performances. Shared songs led to an album. Now, after Molland’s passing, the recordings preserve a collaboration that might have started casually, but became something lasting.
“Johnny B. Goode” remains the announcement. The larger tribute is still ahead. And if the single makes one thing clear, it is that Chuck Berry’s music still has a way of bringing guitar players, singers, and listeners into the same room.
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