By 1966, Johnny Rivers had been recording and hitting the charts for two years, starting in 1964 with a song called “Memphis.” The problem was, Johnny was only recording cover songs, songs that had been done previously by other people. He was making good money and becoming famous doing that, but he wanted to record a song that he had written. So, he took a chance and recorded “Poor Side of Town” which Johnny Rivers himself had written. This was not a cover. It was a risk, would people accept a new song from Johnny Rivers or would this terminate his career. You know by now that the risk paid off big time. It gave Johnny his first and, unfortunately, his only number one song, but he had a hit that he wrote.

Johnny Rivers was born John Henry Ramistella in 1942 in New York City. When he was just three years old, his family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he grew up. He was greatly influenced by the musicians of New Orleans, like Fats Domino, who actually came to his school and performed a concert there.

He participated in a few local bands during high school and even started one himself called the Spades. When he was eighteen, he travelled back to New York with the intention of meeting Alan Freed. This was 1958 and Freed was famous for coining the term rock and roll and was a big name in New York. Johnny actually met Freed and got him to listen to him sing. Freed was impressed but told him his name was too long and recommended he shorten it. Since Johnny came from Baton Rouge which is right on the Mississippi River, they decided on Johnny Rivers.

From there Johnny travelled all over. He was writing songs and submitted one called “I’ll Make Believe” to Ricky Nelson who was very popular at the time. Ricky liked the song and recorded it. This gave Johnny the confidence to move to Los Angeles and get into the music business himself. In Los Angeles, he began singing at Gazzarri’s, a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Many great groups have played at Gazzarri’s, like the Doors, the Byrds and Van Halen. While Johnny was singing there a record producer Lou Adler came up to him and offered him a recording contract. He was to sing on the Imperial label which was the same label Fats Domino recorded on and Johnny was thrilled. His first hit was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis.” He continued recording over the next two years until he took a chance on “Poor Side of Town.”

Johnny Rivers continued to hit the charts on and off until 1977. He has continued to be active in the business, recording with other acts and is still active today, although not recording hits anymore. Today, Johnny Rivers is 75 years old.

“Poor Side of Town” entered the pop charts on October 8, 1966 and spent one week at number one.