Johnny Rivers Vinyl Record Albums

Johnny Rivers (born John Ramistella on November 7, 1942 in New York City) is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. In 1960, Rivers met fellow Louisiana native, James Burton, the bass player for Ricky Nelson. Burton gave Ricky one of Johnny's songs. Ricky Nelson liked it and recorded it. In 1961, Rivers went to Los Angeles to meet Nelson. He stayed, working as a song writer and studio musician. In 1963, Rivers used to hang out at a late night place called Gazzari's owned by Bill Gazzari. One night, the jazz trio that played at Gazzari's quit. Gazzari asked Johnny to fill in for a few days until he could find another jazz group. Johnny agreed and history was made. When word got out about the new, funky rock n' roll being played by the guy with the smooth, southern voice, crowds flocked to Gazzari's.In 1964, Elmer Valentine then gave Johnny Rivers a one-year contract to open his new club, Whisky A Go-Go, on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The Whisky opened three days before The Beatles released "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and the British Invasion knocked almost every American artist off the top of the charts. But Johnny Rivers was so popular, producer Lou Adler decided to issue Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go. The live album reached #12 on the charts and the single "Memphis" (a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee") reached #2. A star was born. Johnny Rivers had created the Go Go sound, part of a scene which included Go-Go dancers.Into 1966, Johnny Rivers continued to record mostly live, Go Go style records including "Maybelline" (another Berry cover), "Mountain of Love", "Midnight Special", and "Seventh Son", all of which were hits.