Johnny Rivers Rolls Along

Johnny Rivers (John Henry Ramistella, b. 1942) is a guy who defied conventional wisdom. He arrived on the scene at the precise same time as the British Invasion. An American who specialized in covers of rock and roll tunes that were several years old, he was neither a songwriter nor an innovator (in a time when those things were highly valued), but just an appealing talent, and he competed successfully at the top of the music business on that basis for over a dozen years.

Rivers grew up in Lousiana and was taught to play and sing by his father and uncle. In the late ’50s he often sat in with The Rockets, a local band headed up by Dick Holler, later known for “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (1966) and “Abraham, Martin and John” (1968). Rivers first gained a following with a regular gig at The Whiskey-a-Go-Go in Hollywood, leading to a record contract. His first hit singles, covers of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis” and “Maybelline” arrived in 1964. As the sixties began exploding, he subtly tacked with the times to stay relevant. In 1965 it was about blues and folk covers: “Midnight Special”, “Seventh Son”, and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” In 1966 he went British Invasion Adjacent, recording “Secret Agent Man”, the theme song to the British spy series Secret Agent (known as Danger Man in the U.K.) That same year, he had a #1 hit with one of his own compositions, the socially relevant “Poor Side of Town”. In 1967 came two Motown covers, “Tracks of My Tears” and “Baby I Need Your Lovin'”, and his most “artistic single”, the beautiful, moody “Summer Rain”.

In the late ’60s and early ’70 Rivers’ popularity dipped a little but he remained in the top 100. Then in 1972 he had another huge hit with a cover of Huey “Piano” Smith’s “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”. This was right around the time the ’50s nostalgia craze was starting to hit. That same year his cover of “Midnight Special” became the theme song for the eponymous tv show. In 1975 his cover of the Beach Boys’ “Help Me, Rhonda” went to #22, just as that band was experiencing a revival. In 1977, his last top ten hit “Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin’)”. I was in Junior High at the time, and had no idea that he was the same guy who sang those oldies hits from a decade before, which I also knew.

By the ’80s Rivers was no longer charting. He effectively stopped recording around the middle of the decade, though he never stopped performing live. He still performs live, even though he already announced his retirement. He turns 80 today.