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Johnny Rivers - Is he the most underrated performer or what?

Johnny Rivers - Is he the most underrated performer or what?

  • Yes - Strickly for the hits though

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yeah - though it sounds like his albums maybe interesting too!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Johnny who?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Na - I hate Johnny Rivers!!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Geez man your stuck on some groups/artists from the 60s man - I hate them all and you - (okay)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No - perhaps for some other reason though?

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

CP/M User

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I got his CD a while back which has two of his 60s albums, Rewind & Realization - which are more or less stunning.

Rewind has a couple of well known tracks The Tracks of my Tears & Baby I Need your Lovin'. The real highlight for this album would have to be the tracks written by Jimmy Webb. From what I believe Rivers was the initial founder of Jimmy Webb, even though Richard Harris did a couple of albums with him & Glenn Campbell had great success from his & The Fifth Dimension with Up, up & away. The Webb songs found on Rewind are Carpet Man, Tunesmith, Sidewalk Song (27th Street), Do what you gotta do, Rosecrans Boulevard, The Eleventh Song (an unusual song which seems to be missing Rivers - more instrumental) & Sweet Smiling Children (it sounds like this track influenced some of the Pink Floyd albums - with illrevelant sound in radio commercials being used in the background).

The second album Realization starts with a physchedelic Rivers interpretation of Hey Joe before moving to a more relaxing album, I think anyone who likes Summer Rain would more or less like this album as with Rewind this album has some fine tracks like Look to your soul, Summer Rain, The Way we Live, an interesting interpretation of Procal Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale (I think Rivers may have a better version - very well orchestrated - still Brooker/Reid wrote & perform the song it's their own, so it just goes to show how cleverly crafted the song was). Then there's Brother, where are you?, Scott Mckenzie's What's The Difference & Rivers own Going Back to big sur before closing with Positively 4th Street.

IMO it was certainally an interesting period for Rivers, before that he was the clubs performer doing lots of Rock 'n' roll type stuff. Personally I always thought Summer Rain was his best song, though the album which accompanies this was certainally a gem to find & made in 1968 (at a time where Albums were starting to become another thing than just a singles album). For some time I had his Best Of (?!?) album stuff which was good at the time, though his albums tend to be another story to be a must have.
 
Re: Johnny Rivers - Is he the most underrated performer or w

Re: Johnny Rivers - Is he the most underrated performer or w

It's a bit tricky to describe Johnny Rivers for those who don't know him.
So I thought it would be better to post a link (from Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Rivers

In a nut shell he was a Rock 'n' Roll figure in the early 60s, before turning
into some sort of Soul Folky figure head with the albums I've mentioned
above.

CP/M User.
 
Johnny Rivers was awesome. There used to be a television show on in the UK called Secret Agent (predecessor of The Prisoner, both starred Patrick McGoohan) that later migrated over to the US as part of a cultural exchange and naturally Secret Agent Man was the theme song. Definitely not a name you hear tossed around a lot anymore, but good music to listen to.
 
"animekenji" wrote:

> Johnny Rivers was awesome. There used to be a television show on in
> the UK called Secret Agent (predecessor of The Prisoner, both starred
> Patrick McGoohan) that later migrated over to the US as part of a
> cultural exchange and naturally Secret Agent Man was the theme song.
> Definitely not a name you hear tossed around a lot anymore, but good
> music to listen to.

Good to hear that. Yes, I know Secret Agent Man - I've got it on my Best
of Johnny Rivers album. They definitely had a thing going in the 60s with
Secret Agents. James Bond hit the threatre (in Sean Connery/George
Lazenby/David Niven), there were also other spin offs with films, but also TV shows downto the wacky Get Smart & the more serious Mission Impossible, The Man from Uncle.
We are literately bombed with TV shows being released on DVD too, so I
think there's many others unknown to myself (not sure if their 60s or 70s
shows). Thunderbirds even that that occassional spy thing going for it! ;-)
If anyone knows the Missing Dr. Who Story - The Enemy of the World,
then this sounds like another of those thriller based stories which an
action pack set.

Yes, definitely recommend (if you haven't got) that CD. I'm quite
interested in getting another one of his CD, but the music shop seems
reluctant to get it in (perhaps cause it's an imported CD).

CP/M User.
 
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