Personnel: Johnny Rivers (guitar, vocals); Dean Parks, Larry Carlton (guitar); Larry Knechtel (piano, organ); Michael Omartian (piano); Billy Lee Riley (harmonica); Joe Osborn (bass, 12-string guitar); Hal Blaine, Mickey Jones, Jim Gordon (drums).
THE BEST OF JOHNNY RIVERS brings together 16 of the finest recordings from the 1960s pop/rock star including "Secret Agent Man" and "Poor Side Of Town."
Liner Note Author: Alan Warner.
EMI's BEST OF JOHNNY RIVERS is only one of several Johnny Rivers anthologies to omit the original hit singles which made the blue-eyed soul singer's reputation back in the '60s. (The compilation entitled GREATEST HITS on the Soul City label is another.)
However, it does include a handful of previously unreleased live tracks in addition to the usual updated studio recordings. Rivers made his reputation as a live performer--indeed, many of his hit singles were live, or at least live in the studio--and it's these recordings, including a rollicking "Rockin' Pneumonia," that will be of interest to Rivers fans.
