For any recording artist, the odds ARE that you won’t live to see tomorrow. Johnny Rivers is one of the few singer/songwriters still standing from the early days of rock through the Beatles through progressive rock, punk rock, disco, and who knows what else. Still strong in voice and chops, he’s recently been touring around to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of when he opened up a place called the Whisky a Go Go. We caught up with the guy who’s given us songs like “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” “Midnight Special” and “Mountain of Love.” His songs have fit into a plethora of categories, from blues, rock, soul and even folk. We recently caught up with the man from Southern Louisiana, and he shared his thoughts on his career and the music scene.
WHY HAVE YOU SURVIVED WHEN OTHERS HAVEN”T
I really don’t know. I think it’s because I stuck to my original roots. I grew up in the South, in Louisiana, and there’s just blues and stuff in that area. Mixed with a little original country like Hank Williams as well as some Cajun, so that’s the sound that I grew up on. That whole sound, and that’s all I ever did. During the British Invasion (of the early 60s) I didn’t try to become The Beatles or this or that. I just did what I was comfortable in doing and playing what I played with my old band in Jr. High and High School in Baton Rouge!
That’s how we started the Whisky thing. I was just playing those old songs, the Chuck Berry stuff and all, that I had been playing in my original band.
WHY DID THE WHISKY GIG CLICK?
Well, no one else was playing that kind of music that you can even dance to. The reason the Whisky A Go Go even came about was because I was playing at the original Gazzari’s on La Cienega Blvd, and I was sitting in for awhile. Speaking of jazz, they had a little jazz trio of piano, bass and drums playing in there, and he lost his band. Jimmy Bowen and I would go in there late at night, because I was helping him out in the studio. He was producing for Frank Sinatra’s new label, Reprise Records. So, we’d go in there late at night, because they served a real good dinner until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning there, so we’d stop there for a bite after our sessions quite a bit.
Anyhow, he asked me if I could help him out because he’d just lost his jazz trio, but I told him, “Bill, you don’t want the kind of music I play in here because I’m basically a blues-rock guy.” But he said “You gotta help me out. I don’t care what you play; just don’t play too loud.” (laughs)So, I told him I’d see what I could do.
So, I called (drummer) Eddie Rubin who was playing with Don Randi at the time. They were playing a place called Sherri’s Lounge up on Crescent Heights and Sunset. So I asked him “Eddie can you fill in for a couple nights just to sit in until this guy can find another trio or jazz group?” So Don let him do it. By the second or third night everyone started getting up and dancing! The fourth night we were there Natalie Wood came in with a group of friends and she started dancing and it got in the trades. The day after that you couldn’t even get near the door. All of a sudden it became the new hot spot in town.
That’s when Elmer Valentine, then approached me, who was one of the owners of a place called PJs, which was the hot place in town at the time. He came in there and said, “You know, there’s a club up on Sunset called The Party, and some guys and I are looking at it. We think you’d be great there, and if you sign with us we’ll take over that place. I want to call it The Whisky A Go Go” I said “What kind of a name is that?” He said “Well, I just got back from a vacation in Europe. In Paris, France, there was this teeny place that was the hot club. All they do there is play records and let people dance. It’s called The Whisky A Go Go, and they call it a discotheque. What I’d like to do is to have you play three sets a night, and between each set I’ll have these gals playing these records so people can be dancing.” I said, “Well, all right.”
So, I went to Bill Gazzari and asked him for a raise and he turned me down. So I called Elmer and asked him if he still wanted to do that thing with that new place on Sunset. He said “Yeah.” “OK, let’s do it.” So, I signed up with him in December of ’63 and then at January 15 of 1964 we opened. It was a smash. I brought my following from Gazzarri’s and they PR’d it to death. Every night it was slammed with celebs and movie stars and this and that. Then in August of ’64, after their first Hollywood Bowl appearance, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came in to see us, and that created a riot in there. It was just one of those things where everyone was hanging out there.Steve McQueen was in there every night, Jane Mansfield, and all these huge movie stars were out there dancing.
I didn’t have a manager back then. I was just kind of managing myself. I had an attorney friend of mine who was pretty sharp on this and that. For awhile there was a guy named Bobby Roberts who was partners with Pierre Cossette,who eventually ended up producing the Grammys. They cut some deals for me and got me on some shows, but I really didn’t have a manager.
YOU’RE ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE FROM THAT ERA WHO HAS OWNERSHIP OF YOUR MUSIC. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT.
I own the songs that I’ve done over the past 30 years, but the original ones belong to Capitol/EMI. A lot of the old catalogue is still over there. I did re-record a lot of those songs with the original musicians, so I have the re-records of all those big hits and we’ve been selling them for a long time. I’ve never had one person say “Hey, it’s not the original.” That’s how close they are!
YOU’VE HAD A GREAT EAR FOR SINGER/SONGWRITERS. HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO TODAYS’?
Well, you’ve had guys like the great Jimmy Webb, who I’m performing with I signed with back in the 60s to Soul City and connected him up with Glen Campbell.
It’s a different era now. I’m from the era when you had some real songs with chord changes and melodies. A lot of that is lost today. It’s hard for me to relate to a lot of this music today. And the singing today… they’re oversinging. I call it “vocal gymnastics.” Even when you hear the current singers do The Star Spangled Banner at some sports event, I mean, my God, who needs to do all of that stuff? Just sing the melody, man! I’m just from a different era.
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHEN YOU WERE STARTING THAT SURPRISED YOU BY NOT MAKING IT BIG?
A lot of great talents were around, so everyone can’t “make it.” There’s just so much that goes into somebody becoming successful. There’s timing, being at the right place at the right time, the right recording, the right record company…. Like I told you how this thing happened with me, it was timing and luck.
Look, I had the feel, and I could play and I could sing those songs and had this great dance feel, but it was all a matter of timing. I was discouraged at the time I was working with Jimmy Bowen, and I had stopped pursuing…I was still learning a lot by hanging out with Jimmy. He was producing guys like Sammy Davis Jr. and had a huge hit with Dean Martin’s “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime” which was a #1 record. Eventually he did “Strangers in the Night” with Frank Sinatra. So I was learning a lot and was getting into the production thing, which is why I was eventually able to produce my own records as well as other artists. I did the 5th Dimension’s first album Up, Up and Away, which won 7 Grammys including Record of the Year and Song of the Year with Jimmy Webb’s song. Some of Jimmy’s songs were on that album.He and I worked on that album together.
YOU ALSO PERFORMED AT THE MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL
There were a lot of great artists there. Paul Simon hit me there. He sang the first night when I appeared. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Who…they were all there and were incredibly talented, along with the Mamas and Papas. They sure had a hard time following Jimi Hendrix!
IS THERE ANYONE NOWDAYS PERFORMING THAT IMPRESSES YOU?
There are a lot of young guys around that are great. Jon Bonamassa is a great blues guitar singer and blues guitar player. Johnny Lang’s another guy that’s doing the blues; he’s got some chops and can really sing and play. There are always guys that are coming around like that. I’m from the blues/jazz world. On Tuesday nights I like to go out and hear John Pisano playing , and that album I did 2-3 years ago called Shadows on the Moon I used Dave Carpenter on bass, which was the last recording he did. I’ve always loved the jazz world although I’m not a jazz player personally.
I did some recordings in the 50s in New York City and a young guy by the name of Kenny Burrell was on those recordings as well. He was just doing the pop-rock sessions at the time, but he’s one of the best jazz guitarists in the world today.
WHAT IS IT THAT INSPIRATES YOU TO STIMULATE YOUR CREATIVE GELS?
I love poetry and read TS Elliott, but mainly I’m a music fan. These days I love to listen to BB King’s Bluesville channel on Sirius radio. They play a lot of the stuff that I grew up with; Bobby Blue Bland and Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and stuff like that. And that’s really really my roots. The South and South Louisiana, including Louis Prima. He was a big influence on me. That’s jus t part of my-I love the feel and the rhythm of it. There’s just something special about the Southern Louisiana/New Orleans feel, rhythm and sound. I actually recorded my first record in 1957 when I was playing in Baton Rouge in South Louisiana with my band. I recorded my first record at Cosmos Studio in New Orleans with the house band which was the same band for Fats Domino, Little Richard and all that stuff like Huey Smith and the Clowns. All that stuff on Ace Records, and on and on. That’s my roots.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO AN ASPIRING MUSICIAN ON HOW TO BECOME A STAR
What’s the advice I give any musician? Always take your wallet on stage. Let’s leave it at that!
IT’S THE SPIRIT OF KEEPING TRUE TO YOUR MUSICAL VISION WHEN SURROUNDED AND ATTACKED BY ALL THE LATEST FADS THAT COME AND GO LIKE COVERS OF “PEOPLE” MAGAZINE. WHILE THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE SURVIVING, IN THE MUSIC FIELD IT’S BLUES, RHYTHM AND HONESTY, ALL OF WHICH RIVERS HAS USED IN ABUNDANCE DURING HIS SUCCESSFUL HALF CENTURY OF DELIVERING THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN LIFE. WE SALUTE HIM!