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Johnny Rivers


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Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Rivers named hisself after the Mississippi. An early 80s punk band, Agent Orange, covered this classic & amazing song... and a Spanish version of this very tune, called "El Hombre Secreto," is on the soundtrack of "Repo Man," one of the best movies of all time.

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I gotta tell ya all, and I may be the only one, but Johnny Rivers was one of those guys that made me cringe every time his voice came on the radio.

 

I never understood his success and never will. Found him to be marginally talented at best. More power to him and his ability to hang in there all these years

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I think Rivers is one of the best-ever artists. Tons of talent, and lots of stage presence. Only seen him twice in-person, but many times on TV, etc. He's always rocked and he continues doing it. Pretty-decent guitar picker too. Splendid songwriter also. He written and/or co-written many, many songs. [thumbup]

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I gotta tell ya all, and I may be the only one, but Johnny Rivers was one of those guys that made me cringe every time his voice came on the radio.

 

I never understood his success and never will. Found him to be marginally talented at best. More power to him and his ability to hang in there all these years

 

I know what you mean. I've always said the same thing about the Beatles!

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IMHO, though I may be misguided, I think Johnny Rivers was one of the performers who was instrumental along with the King in the transition from country western to rock and roll as I remember from my young teenage years. We all have artist/performers we don't particularly care for be it their style or type of music they play, but sometimes we have to look back and appreciate their contributions to the transitions of different music styles.

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IMHO, though I may be misguided, I think Johnny Rivers was one of the performers who was instrumental along with the King in the transition from country western to rock and roll as I remember from my young teenage years. We all have artist/performers we don't particularly care for be it their style or type of music they play, but sometimes we have to look back and appreciate their contributions to the transitions of different music styles.

I'll buy into this!

Remember that the 60's was segregated, there was white music, and 'race' music-

Here came Johnny, a clean-cut, nice looking kid, with some talent- the perfect vehicle to cross-over the barrier, mixing blues, rock and roll, and a touch of country- and that's pretty much what he did. He covered Chuck Berry, and made it acceptable to the mainstream- (more record sales) Sorta' like the stuff Pat Boone did-

He did have major backing

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I'll buy into this!

Remember that the 60's was segregated, there was white music, and 'race' music-

Here came Johnny, a clean-cut, nice looking kid, with some talent- the perfect vehicle to cross-over the barrier, mixing blues, rock and roll, and a touch of country- and that's pretty much what he did. He covered Chuck Berry, and made it acceptable to the mainstream- (more record sales) Sorta' like the stuff Pat Boone did-

He did have major backing

 

Well OK if you're gonna compare him to Pat Boone to legitimize his place among rock n roll greats ..........you win?msp_flapper.gif

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Well OK if you're gonna compare him to Pat Boone to legitimize his place among rock n roll greats ..........you win?msp_flapper.gif

No, I wasn't comparing him to Pat Boone, JR was considered a badass in his time-I was just using that as an example of the times, white-washing 'race' music to be acceptable for white audiences.

Also, if I recall correctly JR did a lot of producing for others.

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.

I think we're being a bit tough on the guy. He charted a lot of music in the 60s and 70s, including these charted in the top 20: #1 Poor Side of Town, #2 Memphis, #3 Secret Agent Man, #3 Baby, I Need Your Lovin', #6 Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, #7 Seventh Son, #9 Mountain of Love, #10 The Tracks of My Tears, #10 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin'), #12 Maybellene, #14 Summer Rain, #19 Muddy Water, and #20 Midnight Special. Not Rock'n'Roll HoF, but certainly respectable.

 

Cookie must've been cringing a lot, because the guy had a lot of air time. . B)

 

 

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I've always loved Johnny Rivers although his songs aren't over complicated they just have a certain vibe about them that most people are drawn too.I remember hearing an interview long ago with another rock legend-I forget exactly who-but I do remember him saying that Johnny Rivers is the artist most respected by his peers.Summer Rain was always my favourite of his songs.I loved the Firebird his lead guitarist used in the video,it gave me a major GAS attack.

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.

I think we're being a bit tough on the guy. He charted a lot of music in the 60s and 70s, including these charted in the top 20: #1 Poor Side of Town, #2 Memphis, #3 Secret Agent Man, #3 Baby, I Need Your Lovin', #6 Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, #7 Seventh Son, #9 Mountain of Love, #10 The Tracks of My Tears, #10 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin'), #12 Maybellene, #14 Summer Rain, #19 Muddy Water, and #20 Midnight Special. Not Rock'n'Roll HoF, but certainly respectable.

 

Cookie must've been cringing a lot, because the guy had a lot of air time. . B)

 

 

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Nope simple turn of the dial brother and I don't think anyone is being tough on the man. I was just stating that nothing he did ever moved me. Not to say others didn't like or love him but just not my cup of tea.

 

Doesn't mean you fellas aren't correct in your assessment.

 

I'm not a Zep fan at all but I respect what they accomplished and the talent in the band. Different strokes man.

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That's cool cookie. Plenty of musicians who do nothing for me but are hugely popular. That thread on drummers that was on a couple of weeks ago comes to mind. Although I like Led Zeppelin, I never thought Bonzo was as good as most others. At the risk of being flamed I think he's overrated but each to their own. We don't see eye to eye on this one but you're OK by me.

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