 Johnny Rivers managed to put seventeen songs in the top forty
from 1964 to 1977. He was versatile enough to do folk songs, blues, covers of
old-time rock-and-roll songs, and some original material, all of them in his own
unique style. He was also adept as a songwriter, guitarist, and as a producer.
Johnny Rivers moved to the West Coast in the early 60's and by 1963 found
himself playing at the Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
He was the headline act, and played covers of some catchy
tunes from the not too distant past. Rivers signed with the Imperial label and
recorded an album in 1964, Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go. It reached
number 12 on the LP charts and a single from the album, a spirited cover of
Chuck Berry's Memphis, reached number two on the pop charts. In 1966 Rivers came
up with his biggest hit ever, Poor Side Of Town, which would be his only number
one record. He also started his own label and called it Soul City Records. One
of the artists that signed with Soul City, James Hendricks, wrote a song that
Rivers recorded and turned into a hit with Summer Rain. Johnny did the theme
from a TV show and turned Secret Agent Man into a hit. The 5th Dimension signed
with Soul City Records and eventually recorded two number one hits on Rivers'
label, Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In and Wedding Bell Blues. Johnny continued to
put up more hits, including two more top ten records in 1967 with Baby I Need
Your Lovin' and a cover of the Miracles' The Tracks Of My Tears.
Imperial became United Artists [it is now EMI] and Johnny
Rivers continued recording albums. He recorded for other labels, including
Atlantic, Epic and Big Tree. Occasionally one of his tracks would reach the top
forty, such as his cover of Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes in 1973 or the Beach
Boys' Help Me Rhonda in 1975, on which Brian Wilson helped with backup vocals.
His last entry on the charts was Swayin' To The Music [Slow Dancin'], a top ten
hit in 1977. He continued recording into the 80's. Johnny Rivers had a total of
nine top ten hits from 1964 until 1977. The mark he made on the recording
industry is significant.
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