Johnny Rivers C/D?

Altogether, based on the dozen-odd songs of his I'm familiar with, I find the guy too nondescript to rate anything so extreme as a DUD.

I've found some of the later singer/songwriter stuff for real cheap and it's worth a listen if you like Tim Hardin/Bobby Darin(folk-rock era type of thing. Slim Slo Rider in particular.

I say classic, but not really the hits, dig around a little and it's there.

that's also the title of jimmy webb's book about the craft of songwriting, in which he strangely ignores most of his actually great songs while going to great lengths to try to prove that all of his not-so-great songs were in fact great. a fascinating but ultimately maddening book. the world needs more books about songwriting, an art that a lot of songwriters themselves don't understand.

Those early 70s s/s albums sucked though (xpost)

I have a vinyl 2-LP best of on BJ that's surprisingly excellent w/some country-ish pop stuff but I can't access it right now.

Thanks I was wracking my brainpan trying to think of that one.

B.J's cover of Hank's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was awesome, though.

Is my face red. DUH.

As for Johnny Rivers, huge DUD. OMG do I hate the sound of that guy's voice. I admit the riff on Secret Agent Man is cool but that's about it. The fact that his massacre of "Memphis" still gets played more than the achingly murky Chuck Berry version is an extra twist of the knife even aside from the fact that it completely sucks. I haven't heard it in a while but I wouldn't be surprised if he put handclaps and a disco beat in there just to give it some extra "pep."

DOCTOR CASINO: Joe South wrote "Boondocks," and recorded it farther on down the line, but it was Billy Joe Royal who had the hit.

So, DUD.

Johnny Rivers' take on "Poor Side of Town" means more to me than the entire Beach Boys/BW catalog; it's one of the most heartbreaking - and heartbreakingly beautiful - songs ever.

And this song appears on neither album, but "Poor Side Of Town" had this badass twangy blues riff at the end of each and every chorus. It's a great song as it is, but that one riff dots the i, crosses the t, and puts the frosting on the cake.

Just the other day, I was listening to Rivers' single of "Don't Look Now" on Capitol, where he's giving this Ernest Tubb song a teen-pop treatment (ala Brian Hyland), and it sounds damned fine for what it is. Not as R&B-oriented as his usual output. I think this was recorded just before his hits started on Imperial...

"Summer Rain" is such a`jam

Had a weird moment where I got confused and thought I was listening to another nasal Southern singer- Michael Stipe!

... and Gene Clark too... his voice is higher than Gene's but there's a definite resemblance there

Unashamed soul patch

I admit I had to google that to find out what exactly you meant there

saw this in the racks yesterday :

http://www.johnnyrivers.com/album_covers/realization.jpeg

was intrigued so did the google thing and decided to dash back today and grab it.

result.

wonderful psych-orchestral excess with a dash of rock-n-soul.

i guess this dip into psych was a one-off ?

<3 that record, was a gateway to seeking out other mainstream artist's soul-searching psych oddities.

the cover alone made me find out more.

and yes, it fits very nicely with my david axelrod obsession.

(has a similar bass style to carole king/wrecking crew which i love)

carole king = carole kaye of course.

doh.

ahh. having just scoured the very small print it does indeed appear that a lot of the wrecking crew were involved with the making of this album.

should have guessed as much.

Had a weird moment where I got confused and thought I was listening to another nasal Southern singer- Michael Stipe!

... and Gene Clark too... his voice is higher than Gene's but there's a definite resemblance there

― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Tuesday, 25 January 2011 15:45 (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've been searching for a Singers Who Sound Alike thread, and surprisingly there doesn't seem to be one, just so I could blow your minds with the fact that I'm listening to a Johnny Rivers album and have only just realized that he sounds uncannily like Gene Clark... and then I discover I thought the same thing seven years ago, which was probably the last time I listened to a Johnny Rivers album. So, anyway, I'm listening to a Johnny Rivers album and bejesus but he sounds uncannily like Gene Clark! His voice is lighter and higher but his phrasing is almost identical, honestly you could pass this album off as a recently discovered attempt at an MOR album by Gene Clark and get away with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46-IXL79Tg

Both played the Whisky a Go Go in the summer of '66, so I bet they knew each other

I think he must have been aware of the resemblance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfV4_BNYIq0

Tell that to Johnny Rivers

Heard on the radio he turned 80 today. They were playing "Poor Side of Town," one of the greatest singles ever.

The 1960s version of Glen Frey, or maybe Pat Boone.

Damn, that's cold.

They were playing "Poor Side of Town," one of the greatest singles ever.

Yeah, beautiful song. So generous in its sentiments.

I think his version of "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" is better than the Four Tops: it really builds to that crescendo. He did screw up that one line though.

His "Tracks of My Tears"? OK, not so much, but it's credible.

"Summer Rain" is a weird song. The lyrics are about a happy, fulfilling relationship, but the track itself sounds melancholy, spooky even. Yearning.

This revive is hitting the spot. “Poor Side of Town” and “Secret Agent Man” are obvious favorites, but so many of his covers are surprisingly good, including “Positively 4th Street.” Maybe Dylan himself said something good about it, don’t know where to look for that, maybe upthread.

Heh.

Johnny Rivers shows up a bit in the JJ Cale documentary 'To Tulsa and Back' as Cale led the band that was their house replacement group at the Whiskey Au Go Go when Rivers was off or on the road. That booking was when John Cale became JJ, as the owner of the Whiskey already knew about John Cale from the VU.

Another thing I picked up somewhere was Johnny Rivers did pretty well with the money, as he got paid handsomely doing all those early Vegas bookings and was able to roll them into other investments.

"Poor Side of Town," one of the greatest singles ever.

yes!!!!