Johnny Rivers
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Johnny Rivers (born John Ramistella on November 7, 1942) is an American rock and roll singer from New York City.
He grew up in Baton Rouge and was influenced by the distinctive music of Louisiana. He first became a success at the West Hollywood club Whisky A Go-Go, often by covering Chuck Berry songs.
This background showed up in his first set of hit records in 1964 and 1965, including "Memphis", "Maybelline", "Mountain of Love", "Midnight Special", and "Seventh Son".
Then he adopted a more idiosyncratic approach in 1966 and 1967, producing hit portrayals of paranoia ("Secret Agent Man", theme music for the Secret Agent television series), economic divisions ("Poor Side of Town", his only #1), and the 1967 Summer of Love ("Summer Rain"), all characterized by his smooth, soulful voice. "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" and "The Tracks of My Tears" were also hits during this time.
In the 1970s, more hits came, including "Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu" and covers of The Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda" and Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes"; his last was "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)" in 1977. In all, Rivers had 9 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and 17 in the top 40.
Rivers continued touring into the 1990s, and began recording again in 1998.