[Flávio Bittencourt]

Johnny Rivers celebrates 70 at B.B. King's

Artigo de Jim Bessman em Examiner ponto com.

"NO DIA 7 DE NOVEMBRO [7.11.2012, próxima quarta-feira], 

JOHNNY RIVERS - QUE É UM AMIGO VERDADEIRO DO BRASIL -

COMPLETARÁ 70 ANOS DE IDADE!  PARABÉNS AO MÚSICO

QUE TANTO SUCESSO FEZ NOS ANOS 60 E 70, TAMBÉM

ENTRE NÓS, BRASILEIROS."

(O RESPONSÁVEL PELA COLUNA)

                                         Parabéns, Johnny Rivers!

                                         Obrigado, Jim Bessman!

2.11.2012 - Artigo de Jim Bessman em Examiner ponto com - "Johnny Rivers celebrates 70 at B.B. King's".  F. A. L. Bittencourt ([email protected])

• Johnny Rivers
• September 27, 2012
• By: Jim Bessman (*)

Johnny Rivers was in a hurry last week to get off the phone and catch the shuttle Endeavor on its farewell flyover the Los Angeles area.

A New York music journalist, who was a huge fan and wanted to hold him up to talk about all his historic 1960s hits, wasn’t particularly helpful, but Rivers spoke fast and courteously, and broke away in time to catch the once-in-a-lifetime sighting.

But he couldn’t remember the last time he played New York—or where. At least the journalist remembered the place—the long since closed Tramps—and agreed with Rivers that the gig was years and years ago.

Both, meanwhile, were excited about his first New York gig since: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, tomorrow night. It’s being called Johnny Rivers Comes Home--A 70th Birthday Celebration (Rivers was born in New York, but grew up in Baton Rouge, La.) and will feature a band including three members of the Fab Faux: guitarist (and Conan bandleader) Jimmy Vivino, Late Show With David Letterman bassist Will Lee and drummer Rich Pagano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video: Johnny Rivers performs "Maybellene" and "Memphis"

“I’ve sat in with them before, and I’m kind of excited about it,” said Rivers, who will bring his longtime regular keyboard player Skip Edwards in for the B.B. King’s gig. “It should be a fun show.”

There will be some new songs, three acoustic numbers, a couple album cuts and one or two tunes that he hasn’t recorded—but the bulk of Rivers’ set, of course, will feature his classic hits of the mid- to late-1960s, including his 1966 No. 1 "Poor Side Of Town", "Secret Agent Man," “Memphis,” “Maybellene,” “The Tracks Of My Tears,” “Mountain Of Love,” “Seventh Son” and “Baby I Need Your Lovin'.”

“A lot of them became rock ‘n’ roll standards—which is good,” said Rivers. “A lot of songs were also hits by other artists, like ‘Baby I Need Your Lovin’” was from the Four Tops, ‘Memphis’ and ‘Maybelline’ were Chuck Berry, ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’ was The Miracles. ‘Memphis’ was a song I used to do in Baton Rouge.”

Rivers left Louisiana for Los Angeles in the early ‘60s. In 1964 he opened at what became the renowned Whisky à Go Go, where he recorded Johnny Rivers Live At The Whisky à Go Go—from which came his 1964 No. 2 hit "Memphis."

“I had a lot of success with the live Whisky stuff,” says Rivers, whose first five official albums were cut live there and yielded the other hits “Secret Agent Man” and “Seventh Son.” “But it wasn’t all that unusual: Trini Lopez [1963 hit] ‘If I Had A Hammer’ came from a live album. His drummer Mickey Jones became my drummer.”

While making his own immortal hits, the soulful Rivers went on to start the Soul City Records label, to which he signed the Fifth Dimension; he signed unknown songwriter Jimmy Webb (now chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame) to his Rivers Music Publishing, and Webb supplied the Fifth Dimension with their Grammy-winning 1967 hit “Up, Up And Away” (Rivers also gave Glen Campbell his first country chart-topper in Webb’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”).

“I’m dialing things down now—maybe one or two shows a month,” he said. “I was in Vegas last week, and next month after the New York date I’ll be in Lake Charles, La. I mainly do weekends at casinos and state fairs and festivals and good showrooms.”

With 17 gold records, 29 chart hits, two Grammy Awards and over 30 million records sold, Rivers enjoyed one of rock’s great male vocal careers, covering folk, blues, soul and old-time rock ‘n’ roll along with original material.

“At my age now, I just take it one day at a time!” concluded Rivers at 70, rushing out in time to catch the shuttle.

(http://www.examiner.com/article/johnny-rivers-celebrates-70-at-b-b-king-s)

(*) - Jim Bessman, Manhattan Local Music Examiner.

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JOHNNY RIVERS - Secret Agent Man (1966),

Youtube:

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LEGENDA ORIGINAL DA PRIMEIRA FOTOGRAFIA

ACIMA REPRODUZIDA:

(J. DOUGLAS,

http://www.jdthedj.com/JazzFest07JohnnyRivers.aspx)