Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942)[1] is an American retired musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential artist.[2] Rivers is best known for his 1960s output, having popularized the mid-60s 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.[2][3] 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",[a] "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain".[4][5] Ultimately, Rivers landed 9 top ten hits and 17 top forty hits on US charts from 1964 to 1977.[3][6]
Ramistella formed his own band, the Spades, and made his first record at 14 while he was a student at Baton Rouge High School.[4] Some of their music was recorded on the Suede label as early as 1956.[7]
On a trip to New York City in 1958, Ramistella met Alan Freed, who advised him to change his name to "Johnny Rivers" referencing the Mississippi River that flows through Baton Rouge.[4] Freed also helped Rivers get several recording contracts on the Gone label.[5] From March 1958 to March 1959, Johnny Rivers released three records, including "Baby Come Back" (a non-Christmas version of Elvis Presley's "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)"), none of which sold well.[4]
Rivers returned to Baton Rouge in 1959 and began playing throughout the American South alongside comedian Brother Dave Gardner. One evening in Birmingham, Alabama, Rivers met Audrey Williams, Hank Williams' first wife. She encouraged Rivers to move to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found work as a songwriter and demo singer. Rivers also worked alongside Roger Miller. By this time, Rivers had decided he would never make it as a singer and songwriting became his priority.[4][5]
1960s
Rivers performing at a USO show in An Khê, Vietnam, 1966.
In 1958, Rivers met fellow Louisianan James Burton, a guitarist in a band led by Ricky Nelson. Burton later recommended one of Rivers's songs, "I'll Make Believe," to Nelson, who recorded it. They met in Los Angeles in 1961, where Rivers subsequently found work as a songwriter and studio musician. His big break came in 1963 when he filled in for a jazz combo at Gazzarri's, a nightclub in Hollywood where his instant popularity drew large crowds.[4][5][8]
In 1964, Elmer Valentine gave Rivers a one-year contract to open at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.[4][8] The Whisky had been in business just three days when the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" entered the Billboard Hot 100.[5] The subsequent British Invasion knocked almost every American artist off the top of the charts but Rivers was so popular that record producer Lou Adler decided to issue Johnny Rivers Live at the Whisky a Go Go,[4] which reached No. 12. Rivers recalled that his most requested live song then was "Memphis",[9] which reached No. 2 on Cash Box on 4–11 July 1964[10] and also on the Hot 100 on 11–18 July 1964. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[11] 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 much to Presley's chagrin, Rivers recorded and released it even copying the arrangement.[12] Rivers's version far outsold the Chuck Berry original from August 1959, which stalled at No. 87 in the US.[13]
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.[15] It sold a million copies also winning gold disc status.[11]
Rivers (left) playing with Argentine guitarist Pappo, 1986
Rivers continued releasing material into the 1980s (e.g. 1980's Borrowed Time LP), garnering an interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand in 1981,[19][20] although his recording career was winding down. Around this time, Rivers turned to Christianity.[21]
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.[23]
On June 12, 2009, Johnny Rivers was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.[4] His name has been suggested many times for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he has never been selected. Rivers, however, was a nominee for 2015 induction into America's Pop Music Hall of Fame.
On April 9, 2017, he performed a song, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, at the funeral for Chuck Berry, at The Pageant, in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 2019, Rivers announced his farewell tour.[24] His last live performance was in July 2023 at Commerce Casino near Los Angeles.[25]
^ abPoore, Billy (1998). Rockabilly: A Forty-Year Journey, p. 101. Hal Leonard Corporation; ISBN0-7935-9142-2.
^ abQuisling, Erik, and Williams, Austin (2003). Straight Whisky: A Living History of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll on the Sunset Strip, pp. 19–21. Bonus Books, Inc. ISBN1-56625-197-4.
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