From Johnnys 1974 album Road. Written by Jimmy Webb. The southern tone in much of Rivers music was authentic. John Henry Ramistella was born November 7, 1942, in New York City. When he was about five, his father wound up out of work. The Ramistellas moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where an uncle, head of the Louisiana State University art department, got Johns dad work painting houses and antiquing furniture. Johns first musical inspiration was his father. My dad and uncle used to get together and play these old Italian folk songs on mandolin and guitar. As John started playing, he listened to R&B on the late-night radio, megawatt stations like WLAC in Nashville. However, R&B was a way of life in Baton Rouge. When I went to Baton Rouge Junior High, Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed and guys like that used to play at our dances, Rivers says. By junior high, he was sitting in with various local bands, including one led by Dick Holler, who later wrote Abraham, Martin And John. Hollers guitarist was the still-unknown Jimmy Clanton. Holler, Rivers says, introduced me to a lot of R&B artists and opened up a whole new world for me. Johnny formed his own band The Spades in 1956. We played all Fats tunes... Little Richard, Larry Williams, Bobby Bland, Rivers says. We became the hot little band around Baton Rouge. Then Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis hit so I took on a little touch of rockabilly. Johnny and The Spades toured Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. His first recording, Hey Little Girl, was released by the Natchez, Mississippi-based Suede label, and sold well on The Spades touring circuit. In 1957, John flew to New York during a school vacation and stayed with an aunt there. He wanted to meet Alan Freed. And he did. It was like a scene out of an Alan Freed movie, Rivers says. He was at WINS in Columbus Circle. I stood in front of the radio station. It was freezing cold and he came up with Jack Hooke who was his manager. I said My names Johnny Ramistella. Im from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I have a band. I play and write and Id like you to hear my music. Alan gave me his card and said We have an office down at the Brill Building on Broadway. Why dont you come down tomorrow afternoon? I went down and Jack Hooke was there and I played four or five songs. Hooke called George Goldner, owner of Gone and End records, whose office was also in the Brill. Legendary songwriter Otis Blackwell, author of Dont Be Cruel and Great Balls Of Fire arranged Johns debut single Baby Come Back b/w Long, Long Walk. Freed also gave Johnny a new name. I was sitting around with Jack and Alan and they were gettin ready to release the record, John remembers. Alan (said) Your name... you need to come up with something a little more musical. We were talkin about where I grew up on the Mississippi River and somehow Rivers came out of that, That was the first time I used that name. Baby Come Back was released in March 1958. His New York contacts also led to releases like Your First And Last Love on the Dee Dee label, issued that August, and Youre The One on the Guyden label, released in March 1959. None were hits. Back in Baton Rouge, Rivers began touring as a solo act with innovative Southern comedian Brother Dave Gardner. At a show in Birmingham, Alabama, he met Hank Williams widow Audrey, who brought him to Nashville around 1959 and got him a contract with Cub, a subsidiary of MGM Records. He cut two singles for Cub backed by some of Nashvilles best session players: Floyd Kramer, Buddy Harman, Bob Moore, and Hank Garland, who became a close friend. Johnny also hung out with Roger Miller, then a promising songwriter at Tree Music, Rogers publishing company. Rivers credits his uncanny gift of finding good songs and writers to his New York and Nashville experiences. I learned that the song was everything from hangin out at the Brill Building and in Nashville around Tree Music, he says. I used to cut demos for Hill and arrange songs when I was in New York, Guys like Otis Blackwell would come in with a new tune and theyd get me to do the Elvis Presley sound and cut demos for them. 25 bucks a demo. ( johnnyrivers) https://youtube/watch?v=owruOIb8R_A&google_comment_id=z13vyfbo1ye1ybmdb23lejnodqfmvdpfr&google_view_type#gpluscomments
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 06:48:43 +0000
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