Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella, November 7, 1942, New York City) is an American Rock 'N' Roll Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, and Record Producer. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues and old-time rock 'n' roll, including several cover versions. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 70s but remains best known for a string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, among them "Memphis Tennesse" (a Chuck Berry cover), "Mountain Of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side Of Town" (a US #1), "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" (a Motown cover) and "Summer Rain". He has continued to record and perform to date.[1][2]
Contents[]
Career[edit][]
1950s[edit][]
The Ramistella family moved from New York to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when young Rivers' father lost his job while he was still young. Without any formal music lessons, he began playing guitar. He learned to play from his father and uncle at age eight, and was influenced by the distinctive Music Of Louisiana. While in junior high school he started sitting in with a band calledThe Rockets led by Dick Holler who later wrote a number of songs including "Abraham, Martin And John" and "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron".[1][2]
Ramistella formed his own band, The Spades, in Junior High School and made his first record at age 14, while still a student at Baton Rouge High School.[1] Some of their music was recorded on the Suede label as early as 1956.[3]
On a trip to New York in 1958, he met Alan Freed, who advised him to change his name. So Johnny Ramistella had a Baton Rouge attorney change his name to Johnny Rivers after theMississippi River that flows through Baton Rouge.[1] Freed also helped Rivers score some recording contracts on the Gone label.[2] From March 1958 to March 1959, Rivers released three records which did not sell well.[1]
Rivers returned to Baton Rouge in 1959. While playing throughout the American South alongside Southern comedian Brother Dave Gardner, one evening in Birmingham, Rivers met Audrey Williams, the first wife of Hank Williams. He followed her to Nashville, where he recorded two more records. They were not successful either, but Johnny stayed in Nashville as a songwriter and Demo singer for $25 a demo. While in Nashville, Rivers worked alongside Roger Miller. By this time Rivers's self-esteem about his singing had diminished. He thought he would never make it as a singer, so writing, not singing, moved to the forefront.[1][2]
1960s[edit][]
In 1958, Rivers met fellow Louisianan, James Burton, the guitarist at the time in a band led by Ricky Nelson. Burton later recommended one of Rivers' songs, "I'll Make Believe," to Nelson, who went on to record it. In 1961, Rivers went to Los Angeles to meet Nelson, then he moved there and worked as a Songwriter and Studio Musician. In 1963, Rivers big break came when he filled in for a jazz combo at Gazzarri's, a nightclub in Hollywood where his instant popularity drew heavy crowds of customers there.[1][2][4]
In 1964 Elmer Valentine gave Rivers a one-year contract to open in his new nightclub, Whisky A Go Go, on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.[1][4] The Whisky a Go Go opened only three days before The Beatles' song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" entered the Hot 100.[2] And the subsequent British Invasion knocked almost every American artist off the top of the charts. But Rivers was so popular that producer Lou Adler decided to issue Johnny Rivers Live At The Whisky A Go Go.[1] The Live Album reached #12 on the charts and the single "Memphis Tennessee" reached the US Hit Parade #2 spot [5] in July 1964. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a Gold Disc.[6] According to Elvis Presley's friend and employee, Alan Fortas, Presley played his friend (Rivers) a test pressing of "Memphis" that Elvis had made but not released. Rivers was impressed, and much to Presley's chagrin, Rivers recorded and released it, even copying the arrangement (Fortas writes: "After that, Johnny was on Elvis's shit list" and was persona non grata from then on).[7] Rivers's version far outsold the Chuck Berry original from August 1959 which stalled at #87 in the US.;[8]
In 1964 and 1965 Rivers continued to record mostly live performances, including Go-Go-Style records with melodies featuring folk and Blues Rock influences including "Maybellene" (another Berry cover), after which came "Mountain Of Love", "Midnight Special", "Seventh Son" (written by Willie Dixon) and Pete Seeger's" Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" all of which were hits.[1][9]
Starting in 1963 Rivers had worked with writers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri on a theme song for the American broadcast of a British television series, Danger Man, which starred Patrick McGoohan. At first Rivers balked at the idea, feeling that he did not have the talent to make a record on an international label, but eventually he relented. The American version of the show, titled Secret Agent, went on the air in the spring of 1965. The theme song became intensely popular and created demand for an expanded single version. River's single of "Secret Agent Man" reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1966.[10] It sold one million copies, achieving gold disc status.[6]
[1][2]Rivers in a publicity photo in 1973
In 1966 Rivers switched gears and began to record ballads characterized by his smooth, soulful voice. And with smooth-sounding background vocalists (mostly women), he produced successful hits such as "Poor Side Of Town", which would be his biggest chart hit and his only number one record. He also started his own record company, Soul City Records, where he won a Grammy Award as the producer of The Fifth Dimension (who recorded "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" and "Wedding Bell Blues" - both number-one hits with Rivers's label). Rivers is also credited with giving songwriter Jimmy Webb a major break, when the 5th Dimension recorded Webb's song "Up, Up, and Away".[2]
Rivers continued to record more hits covering other artists, including "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" (cover of the Four Tops) and "The Tracks Of My Tears" (cover of The Miracles), both went Top 10 in 1967. In 1968, Rivers released Realization, a number-five album on the LP charts that included the #14 pop chart single "Summer Rain", written by a former member of The Mugwumps, James Hendricks. The album included some of the psychedelic influences of the time and marked a subtle change in his musical direction, with more thoughtful types of songs, included such ballads as "Look To Your Soul" and "Going Back to Big Sur".[11]
1970s[edit][]
[3][4]Rivers On October 11, 1975
In the 1970s Rivers continued to record more songs and albums that were a success with music critics, but did not sell as well as some of his earlier hits.L.A. Reggae (1972) reached the LP charts as a result of the #6 hit "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", a cover version of the Huey "Piano" Smith And The Clowns song. The track became Rivers's third million seller, which was acknowledged with the presentation of a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association Of America (R.I.A.A.) on January 29, 1973.[6] Other hits at that time were "Blue Suede Shoes" (cover of Carl Perkins) in 1973, which would reach the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100,[3] and "Help Me Rhonda" in 1975 (originally a #1 hit for The Beach Boys) on which Brian Wilson helped with back-up vocals. His last Top 10 entry was "Swayin' To The Music (Slow Dancing)" (originally recorded by Funky Kings and written by Jack Tempchin who penned "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and Already Gone" for the Eagles), which reached #10, followed by his last Hot 100 entry, "Curious Mind (Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um)" (cover of Major Lance), both from 1977. He also sang the title song to the late night concert influenced TV show The Midnight Special.[11]
1980s to current[edit][]
Rivers continued recording into the 1980s (e.g., 1980s Borrowed Time LP), although his recording career decreased. Despite his music not having reached the best seller charts for quite a while, Rivers is still touring, doing 50 to 60 shows a year. Increasingly he has returned to the blues that inspired him initially.
In 1998 Rivers reactivated his Soul City imprint and released Last Train to Memphis.
[5][6]Rivers performing at the Mohegan Sun Casino On June 18, 2011, In Connecticut
In early 2000 Rivers recorded with Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Paul McCartney on a tribute album dedicated to Buddy Holly's backup band, The Crickets.
In all Rivers had nine Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and 17 in the Top 40 from 1964 to 1977. In total, he has sold well over 30 million records.
Rivers is one of a small number of performers, such as Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd (from 1975's Wish You Were Here onward), Queen, Genesis (though under the members' individual names and/or the pseudonym Gelring Limited) and Neil Diamond, who have their name as the Copyright owner on their recordings. (Most records have the recording company as the named owner of the recording.) This development was spearheaded by the Bee Gees with their $200 million lawsuit against RSO, the largest successful lawsuit against a record company by an artist or group.
On June 12, 2009, Johnny Rivers was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.