Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential artist. Rivers is best known for his 1960s output, having popularized the mid-1960s discotheque scene through his live rock and roll recordings at the Los Angeles nightclub Whisky a Go Go, and later shifting to a more orchestral, soul-oriented sound during the latter half of the decade. These developments were reflected by his most notable string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, many of them covers. They include "Memphis", "Mountain of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain". Rivers had a total of nine top-ten hits and 17 top-forty hits on the US charts from 1964 to 1977.

On a trip to New York City in 1958, Ramistella met DJ-promoter Alan Freed, who suggested the name change to "Johnny Rivers" referencing the Mississippi River that flows through Baton Rouge.

In 1964, Elmer Valentine gave Rivers a one-year contract to open at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. which reached No. 2 on Cash Box on July 4–11, 1964 and also on the Hot 100 on July 11–18, 1964. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. According to Elvis Presley's friend and employee, Alan Fortas, Presley played a test pressing of "Memphis" for Rivers that Presley had made but not released. Rivers was impressed and, added it to his live act, and much to Presley's chagrin, recorded and released his live cover version before Presley’s cover. Rivers's version far outsold the Chuck Berry original from August 1959, which stalled at No. 87 in the US.

Rivers continued to record mostly live performances throughout 1964 and 1965, including Go-Go-style records with songs featuring folk music and blues rock influences including "Maybellene" (another Berry cover), after which came "Mountain of Love", "Midnight Special", "Seventh Son" (written by Willie Dixon) plus Pete Seeger's" Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", all of which were hits.

thumb|upright|Ad for Rivers's album Realization, 1968

In 1963, Rivers began working with writers P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri on a theme song for the American broadcast of a British television series Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan. At first Rivers balked at the idea but eventually changed his mind. The American version of the show, titled Secret Agent, went on the air in the spring of 1965. The theme song was very popular and created public demand for a longer single version. Rivers's recording of "Secret Agent Man" reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966. It sold a million copies also winning gold disc status.

Rivers continued to record more hits covering other artists, including "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", originally recorded by the Four Tops, and "The Tracks of My Tears" by the Miracles, both going Top 10 in 1967. In 1968, Rivers put out Realization, a No. 5 album that included the No. 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, like the song "Hey Joe" with a two-minute introduction, and marked a change in Rivers's musical direction with more introspective songs including "Look to Your Soul" and "Going Back to Big Sur".

1970s

In the 1970s, Rivers continued to record more songs and albums that were successes with music critics but did not sell well. However, his cover-hits laden album L.A. Reggae (1972) reached the LP chart as a result of the No. 6 hit "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," a cover version of the New Orleans Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns song that features a rollicking New Orleans-style stride piano solo introduction by L.A.'s Wrecking Crew keyboard great Larry Knechtel. 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.

Other Hot 100 top 40 hits from that time period were 1973's "Blue Suede Shoes" (originally recorded in 1955 by Carl Perkins) although his recording career was winding down. Around this time, Rivers turned to Christianity.

In 1998 he reactivated his Soul City Records label and released Last Train to Memphis. 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.

thumb|left|200px|Rivers performing at the Mohegan Sun Casino on June 18, 2011, in Connecticut

He is one of a small number of performers whose names are listed as the copyright owner on their recordings. Most records list the recording company as the owner of the recording. Others include Mariah Carey, 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. The practice began with the Bee Gees and their $200 million lawsuit against RSO Records, 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. His last live performance was in July 2023 at Commerce Casino near Los Angeles.

Discography

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References

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