Johnnie Johnson, who died yesterday at his home in St. Louis, hired Chuck Berry to play guitar for his Sir John’s Trio in 1952, and ended up lending his name to Berry’s rock ‘n’ roll signature, “Johnny B. Goode.”

As Berry’s piano player for two decades, Johnson added an indispensable rhythmic urgency to such classics as “Maybelline,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Widely credited within the industry as the co-writer of these songs and many others, Johnson received no official credit, or royalties, for his contributions. A lawsuit he brought against Berry in 2000 was dismissed by a federal judge who ruled that too many years had passed since the songs were written.

Johnson toured constantly with Berry, up to “My Ding-a-Ling,” Berry’s 1972 hit, and his only no. 1. Thereafter he performed in public less often. He was working as a bus driver for senior citizens in St. Louis in 1986 when he was “rediscovered” by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who persuaded him to play in Berry’s band for the tribute film “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

His career revived, Johnson went on to release his first album, “Blue Hand Johnnie,” in 1987. In demand by such rockers as Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, and Styx, Johnson played numerous guest dates and toured extensively. He released five albums, primarily blues and boogie woogie, including “Johnny Be Bad” in 1992, and “Johnny Be Back” in 1995. His last performance was in February, with Bo Diddley.

Johnson grew up in West Virginia, and learned the piano as a boy, performing in public and on the radio starting at age 8. In 1941, at 17, he moved to Detroit to work at a Ford defense plant and got his first taste of playing in clubs. Later, he served in the Marines during World War II, playing in USO bands, sometimes backing up Bob Hope. After the war, he moved to Chicago, where he played jazz standards and was part of a bustling music scene that included Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters.

Johnson met Berry when the guitarist sat in for an ailing band member at a New Year’s Eve gig. Berry soon took over leadership of the band from the more reticent Johnson, and insisted on making recordings. “He did so many things for the band,” Johnson recalled in an interview on the Web site www.bluesmusicnow.com. “He had a car and he could get out. We didn’t have a booking agent or nothing, so he got out and hustled up the jobs. After “Maybelline” became a hit in 1955, the band went on the road as the Chuck Berry Trio.

The distinctive Berry sound seems to have been the result of close collaboration between the two musicians. In “Hail! Hail!” Keith Richards says, “I learned that a lot of the licks we associated with Chuck were actually piano lines that Johnnie came up with. Chuck adapted them to guitar. Without somebody to give him them riffs – voila! no song – just a lot of words on paper.” Only much later did Johnson realize that royalties were at stake.

“Johnnie was an easy foil,” Travis Fitzpatrick, author of the Johnson biography “Father of Rock and Roll,” said in the www.bluesmusicnow.com article. “He was drinking a whole lot at the time, and he had no idea … he went in and made a record, he got paid $100, and got a cigar.” Johnson gave up drinking in the early 1990s.

Johnson also toured and recorded with bluesman Albert King during the 1960s and ’70s; recording credits later in his career include Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, Al Kooper, and Buddy Guy albums, and numerous compilations.

Despite suing Berry, Johnson remained on fairly good terms with him, and would usually sit in on piano whenever Berry’s incessant touring brought him through St. Louis.

Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, in the Side Man category.

Johnnie Johnson

Born July 8, 1924 in Fairmont, W.Va.; died April 13 of natural causes at his home in St. Louis; survived by his wife, Frances, whom he married in 1989, and six children from previous marriages.