Summer Rains: The Essential Rivers 1964-1975

Why does Lou Adler still say the first six songs were recorded live at the Whiskey A Go-Go on Sunset Blvd? They were cut in the studio with audience noise over dubbed. Great material, winning performances, but what is wrong with the truth nearly sixty years later?This is a fine collection by a man now singing The Lord's praises. Contains all you HAVE to have from Rivers, including the sublime Poor Side Of Town, Summer Rain, and his immortal cover of Positively Fourth Street which Bob Dylan praised to the rafters. ( In 1966 Dylan nicked Rivers' drummer Mickey Jones from Rivers for Dylan's "boo, hiss, boo" World Tour which so upset the folkies.) It also has Gram Parsons' Brass Buttons on it but for some reason does not have Gram's Apple Tree included...so the only way you can buy Apple Tree (as Parsons never cut it himself) is to buy The Coal Porters' 1995 album Los London. Go figure.

This is an excellent CD, and a great overview of Rivers' career. He was at his peak from the mid-late 60's, with a renewal in the early 70's. To be honest, I don't agree with those who say he had a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career, but he comes close. Certainly, when compared to some in the HOF, he does belong there. The only clunker here (and it was a hit, which always makes me shudder) is "Jesus Was A Soul Man (And I'm Sure Sold On Him)". I'd thankfully forgotten this turkey, and I don't think I realized that Rivers is the artist who made it. Lord, what a bomb! But, this album is wonderful.

Ok, I am one of those baby boomers and recently bought a new GM vehicle with the XM radio in it. They play a lot of Johnny Rivers music on the 60's station and I got hooked on Johnny Rivers again. So, I bought this for the car without the XM radio. I like the "twang" in Johnny's singing and this is a good selection of his best hits. There are a few other ones I never heard before, but far more top singles to make this a good deal. Too bad he still isn't touring to see him in person. I saw him years ago with the Four Seasons. He was the opening act and I liked him the best.

In a bout of nostalgia I decided to buy this anthology of Johnny Rivers. I remembered his hits as very, very good. The bottom line is that his hits remain wonderful. Johnny Rivers remains a possessor of a few excellent original hits and a top-notch performer of rock & roll and Motown covers. Other songs suffer from fairly bland arrangements and iffy songwriting. This is a CD to rip, remove the inessentials and burn a tight CD of wonderful memories.

Excellent "sampler" of Johnny Rivers' music and his talent. There was one important song that was not included which would have made the CD complete: Slow Dancing. It is one of my favorite songs of his. However, I knew when I bought the CD that it was not included but being a fan of his music I bought the CD anyway and was not disappointed.

I'm very happy with the transaction that took place between the seller and myself. Very fast shipping and item came as described!!! Price better than other sites on Internet.I'm a fan of Johnny Rivers and I found many of his songs on many music download sites, including Amazon. But my favorite song of his is Summer Rain. All I found was remakes of the song, not the original that is heard on the radio. The cd I purchased has the version I want along with many of the other songs I love of his.

If you're a casual Johnny Rivers fan, this is a great collection of his material. In my opinion Poor Side of Town is, by far, the best-produced and arranged Johnny Rivers recording and I can do without many of the live, or simulated live, covers of other's songs. A survey of the 60s would be incomplete without including him though.

Years ago, I had purchased many of these same songs on an 8-Track tape (you younger readers may have to google "8-track"); I really loved the collection of Johnny's greatest hits, especially "Mountain of Love". I've long since lost that tape (and the player), so I was happy to see this collection available on CD.

GOOD CD

What surprise - great songs!

Great music!

収録曲---#1:MEMPHIS/#2:MAYBELLINE/#3:MOUNTAIN OF LOVE/#4:MIDNIGHT SPECIAL/#5:SEVENTH SON/#6:MUDDY WATER/#7:SECRET AGENT MAN/#8:UNDER YOUR SPELL AGAIN #9:WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE/#10:POOR SIDE OF TOWN/#11:BABY I NEED YOUR LOVIN'/#12:THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS/#13:CARPET MAN #14:DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO/#15:TUNESMITH/#16:SUMMER RAIN(SINGLE VERSION)/#17:LOOK TO YOUR SOUL/#18:GOING BACK TO BIG SUR/ #19:POSITIVELY 4th STREET/#20:BRASS BUTTONS/#21:JESUS IS A SOUL MAN/#22:MUDDY RIVER/#23:ROCKIN'PNEUMONIA-BOOGIE WOOGIE FLU/#24:BLUE SUEDE SHOES #25:HELP ME RHONDAこのコンピレーションCDは複数のレーベルから選曲されている.(#1-22:Imperial Records/#23-24:United Artists Records/#25:Epic Records)タイトル通り'64年-'75年の代表曲が網羅されている.(ジミー　ウエブ:#13,14,15/ボブ　デイラン：#19/グラム　パーソンズ:#20の作品を取り上げている)本CDを聴けばウイスキー　ア　ゴーゴーでのパフオーマンスから段々本格的なシンガーに変貌してゆく様子がよく解る.'60年代のPOPSに興味がある方にお勧め!! 収録曲の中で一番好きな曲は"MUDDY RIVER"です.

Excellent quality CD. It has almost all of Johnny Rivers' hits save Swayin' To The Music.