Johnny Rivers’ large American success of the Nineteen Sixties and 70s might not have been absolutely mirrored around the globe. However that ought to take nothing away from the Brooklyn-born artist’s contribution to popular culture. Not solely did Johnny place 29 singles on the Billboard Sizzling 100 over a prolonged 13-year span, he scored 9 High 10 hits and 18 chart albums. His greatest hit, “Poor Side Of Town,” entered the US chart on on September 17, 1966.
The versatile Rivers has at all times represented the very best virtues of American pop music, each on authentic songs and a few extremely wide-ranging cowl variations of rock’n’roll, blues, people, nation, and soul favorites. Earlier than he was even 15, in 1957, he was recording with the Spades for the Suede label, when he was nonetheless going by his delivery identify of John Ramistella.
Twelve labels in six years
The next yr, famed rock’n’roll DJ Alan Freed renamed him Johnny Rivers, and he paid his dues by recording for no fewer than a dozen totally different labels over the subsequent six years. Lastly, in 1964, got here his breakthrough on the Imperial label, with a brace of tributes to Chuck Berry: a No.2 US smash cowl of “Memphis,” and a No.12 follow-up in “Maybellene” (spelt “Maybelline” on his model).
Not like different US solo male performers, comparable to Del Shannon, Rick Nelson and Bobby Vinton who discovered it more and more laborious to compete as soon as the group period ushered in by Beatlemania actually took maintain, Rivers blossomed. He made the High 10 once more with “Mountain Of Love” after which with a canopy of Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son.”
He visited the people scene to take the Kingston Trio’s “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” again into the American High 30. Rivers confirmed his nation influences for chart revivals of Buck Owens’ “Under Your Spell Again” and Stonewall Jackson’s “(I Washed My Hands In) Muddy Waters.” In between, he made the High 3 with “Secret Agent Man,” his theme for the TV sequence Secret Agent, starring Patrick McGoohan.
The appropriate aspect of city
Then got here Rivers’ biggest-ever single, the nice “Poor Side Of Town,” composed with Lou Adler. After its Sizzling 100 debut in mid-September 1966, it grew to become a US No.1 for every week in November. Massive hits continued with spectacular regularity, together with the Motown revivals “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” and “The Tracks Of My Tears.” His pop model saved tempo with the instances to embrace mildly psychedelic pop, social conscience and extra album-oriented music, together with covers of Van Morrison and James Taylor.
Take heed to the very best of Johnny Rivers on Spotify.
Late in 1972, Johnny scored his greatest hit for some years with the rock’n’roll revival “Rockin’ Pneumonia – Boogie Woogie Flu,” and he was nonetheless making the High 10 as late as 1977 with the ballad “Swayin’ To The Music (Slow Dancin’).” Three of his albums had been licensed gold, two of them compilations; his most up-to-date studio album was 2009’s Shadows On The Moon. With profession gross sales of some 30 million, this American pop treasure continued to entertain audiences with songs from his huge catalog, earlier than saying his retirement. “I got started when I was 15 years old,” he wrote, ”so it’s time to sit down again and benefit from the grandkids.”
