Johnny Rivers

The American rock & roll singer-songwriter and music producer Johnny Rivers was born John Henry Ramistella, on the 7 of November 1942, in New York City; at the age of five his father moved the family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rivers' father began teaching him to play the guitar at the age of eight and his recording career began in 1956 at the age of 14 while still in junior high school. At 16, while on a trip to New York City, Rivers got his first break when he met rock and roll pioneer DJ Alan Freed who hooked Rivers up with a recording contract. Rivers' soulful, bluesy Louisiana rock was not popular when his first few records were released, but when he started performing at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip, his sound found an audience; it quickly became known as the "Go Go sound".

Rivers eventually ended up with many hit songs, including "Seventh Son", "Poor Side of Town", and "Secret Agent Man", from more than 30 albums. It was as producer for 5th Dimension, who were signed to Rivers' own record label Soul City Records, that eventually led to his only Grammy Award. Rivers has continued to record, with his most recent release, Last Boogie in Paris: The Complete Concert (live), released in 2007. His last Top 10 chart entry was in 1977 with "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)".