Born John Ramistella in New York City in 1942, Johnny was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With out any formal music lessons, he learned to play the guitar from his father and formed a band called "The Spades" while he was still in high school. Some of their material was recorded on the "Suede" label as early as 1956.

On a trip to New York City in 1958, he became acquainted with Alan Freed, and he changed his name to that suggested by the celebrated disc jockey: Johnny Rivers. Freed was instrumental in securing a recording contract for Johnny Rivers with "Gone" in the late 50's. Although he had no big hits on the Gone label, it was a significant boost to Rivers' career.

Johnny Rivers moved to the West Coast in the early 60's and was asked to fill in one night at an L.A. nightclub called Gazzarri's. He really had no act and no band at the time. He just sat on a stool, playing his guitar and singing, with a drummer as his only accompanist. Within three nights, the line-up to see Johnny went around the block.

In 1963 he was offered a chance to play and record at the Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He was the headline act, and played covers of some catchy tunes from the not too distant past. His act was similar to one that had been made popular by Trini Lopez, the main act at PJ's in Los Angeles. Rivers signed with the Imperial label and recorded an album in 1964, Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go. It reached number 12 on the LP charts and a single from the album, a spirited, live cover of Chuck Berry's Memphis, reached number two on the pop charts. Johnny Rivers had his first big hit and had made the successful transition from nightclub entertainer to chart-busting pop singer.

His next hit was another Chuck Berry cover, Maybelline, which he followed with Mountain Of Love and Midnight Special. In 1965 he had hits with a cover of a song that had been written by blues artist Willie Dixon, Seventh Son, and with Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone.

In 1966 Rivers wanted to try something different and came up with his biggest hit ever, Poor Side Of Town, which would be his only number one record. He also started his own label and called it Soul City Records. One of the artists that signed with Soul City, James Hendricks, wrote a song that Rivers recorded and turned into a hit with Summer Rain.

Johnny then did the theme from a TV show and turned Secret Agent Man into a hit, capitalizing on the then-current fascination with foreign espionage. The 5th Dimension signed with Soul City Records and eventually recorded two number one hits on Rivers' label, Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In and Wedding Bell Blues. Johnny continued to put up more hits, including two more top ten records in 1967 with Baby I Need Your Lovin' and a cover of the Miracles' The Tracks Of My Tears. Rivers had a successful number five album on the LP charts with Realization in 1968; it marked a subtle change in his musical direction, with more thoughtful types of songs.

Johnny continued to record more songs and issue more albums in the early 70's which were a success with music critics but did not sell as well as some of his earlier hits. One of these albums, L.A. Reggae in 1972, dented the LP charts as a result of the top ten pop song that had been included on it, a cover of Huey Smith & the Clowns 1957 R&B record Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu.

Imperial became United Artists [it is now EMI] and Johnny Rivers continued recording albums. He recorded for other labels, including Atlantic, Epic and Big Tree. Occasionally one of his tracks would reach the top forty, such as his cover of Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes in 1973 or the Beach Boys' Help Me Rhonda in 1975, on which Brian Wilson helped with backup vocals. His last entry on the charts was Swayin' To The Music [Slow Dancin'], a top ten hit in 1977.

Johnny Rivers managed to put seventeen songs in the top forty, ten of which were top ten, from 1964 to 1977. In total, he has sold well over 25 million records. He was versatile enough to do folk songs, blues, covers of old-time rock-and-roll songs, and some original material, all of them in his own unique style. He was also adept as a songwriter, guitarist, and as a producer.

He continued recording into the 80's and although his music hasn't reached the best seller charts for quite a while, he is still a much sought after live act and still tours to-day, doing 50 to 60 shows a year.

In early 2000, Johnny recorded with Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Paul McCartney on a tribute album dedicated to Buddy Holly's backup band, "The Crickets".

Jonny Rivers' Biggest Hits:

1964-Memphis
1964-Maybellene
1964-Mountain Of Love
1965-Midnight Special
1965-Seventh Son
1966-Secret Agent Man
1966-Muddy Water
1966-Poor Side Of Town
1967-Baby, I Need Your Lovin'
1967-Tracks Of My Tears
1967-Summer Rain
1972-Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
1975-Help Me Rhonda
1977-Slow Dancin'

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