Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Riversis an Italian-American rock 'n' roll singer, songwriter, legendary guitarist, and record producer. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, among them "Memphis", "Mountain of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth7 November 1942
CountryUnited States of America
Alan's publishing company was in the Brill Building, and of course, the Brill Building was where all the songwriters hung out because that's where all the publishers were.
The web site and the Internet are a whole new ball game.
I think after 1970 or so, after I sold Soul City, I took off for awhile and didn't do too many gigs.
James was back there on a vacation, ... He was one of my favorite guitar players. I had written this song ('I'll Make Believe') that everyone said sounded like a good song for Ricky Nelson. I gave it to James. He took it back to Los Angeles and then called me and said, 'Hey, that song you gave me, I played it for Ricky and he likes it. He's gonna record it.' I went, 'Wow.' That was a big deal at the time because Elvis was in the Army and Ricky was the top guy.
Jack and I usually get together and sit around in the afternoons and start throwing ideas around.
I was working at this club in downtown L.A. from four to eight at night, just Eddie Rubin, the drummer, and I.
I accepted an offer to do a concert for the reopening of the Mall of Memphis.
He was signing everyone else up, ... He just didn't think I could sell any records.
Guys like Otis Blackwell and Bobby Darin, and all the guys who were writing songs for Elvis at the time, just hanging around, writing songs, talking about music.
I play my old songs but I have to keep playing new ones. That's what keeps you going.
In early '57, I bought a Fender Telecaster.
After that initial success, every chance we got we'd hire that remote recording truck and just record stuff at the Whisky because it was so inexpensive.
I'd gone through periods where I didn't work live performances for probably seven or eight months at a time.
I learned some chords and I started watching anybody I could, once I really got into it.