Customer Reviews

Original

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
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If you are looking for a single CD collection of Johnny Rivers' major hits, this album simply cannot be beat. It includes all of his major hits that charted in the U.S. between 1964 and 1977. The track listing is as follows: 1. Poor Side Of Town 2. Memphis 3. Mountain Of Love 4. Secret Agent Man 5. Seventh Son 6. Baby I Need Your Loving 7. The Tracks Of My Tears 8. Maybelline 9. Midnight Special 10. Cupid 11. Where Have All The Flowers Gone? 12. Under Your Spell Again 13. (I Washed My Hands In) Muddy Water 14. Summer Rain 15. Help Me, Rhonda 16. Rockin' Pneumonia--Boogie Woogie Flu 17. Sea Cruise 18. Swayin' To The Music (Slow Dancin'). And, true to the album's title, these are indeed the original versions of the songs. A definite "must-have" for those who want the conveinience of having all of Johnny Rivers' biggest hits on one CD, and in my opinion, one of the best "Greatest Hits"-type albums of all-time!

Unless you are some kind of Johnny Rivers fanatic who requires virtually everything the man ever recorded then this 1999 single disc compilation "Johnny Rivers: The Original" will likely suit you just fine. This reasonably priced offering from the Netherlands includes all the big hits you would remember from the radio like "Seventh Son" and "Mountain of Love" from his early years to the biggest and best from his heydey like the 1966 #1 hit "Poor Side of Town" , " Secret Agent Man" and of one of my personal favorites "Summer Rain". Just In case you are wondering these are all the original Imperial and United Artists recordings. No cheesy re-recordings here. The remastering job is first rate and I have absolutely no quarrel with the 18 selections chosen for this fine anthology. However, being a collector I am always a bit disappointed when no liner notes are included with something like this.

Johnny Rivers has proven to be a venerable performer. I saw him perfom several years ago and he looked and sounded every bit as good then as he did forty years ago. Last time I checked Johnny Rivers has still not been inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I am not sure that this is the right way to go about it, but Rivers and his fans have been aggresively campaigning to correct this oversight. Is he a Hall of Famer? If you have any doubts just listen to this CD. Johnny Rivers really is an American original with a sound all his own. I am hopeful that one day he will get the recognition he so richly deserves. Very highly recommended!

The remastering on this disk is excellent. The volume, tone balance, and stereo image is consistently good from track to track. Tracks are the same original arrangements you're likely to hear on the radio. If this disk has the tracks you want, buy it. You'll not be dissapointed with the quality of the sound. It's a shame the engineer who did the work isn't listed, he deserves to take a bow.

How's this for liner notes? Johnny Rivers used to date sexpot Mamie Van Doren. He had first shot at "By The Time I Get to Phoenix" but turned it down for good cause. (Glen Campbell had to be grateful). Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys sang backup for Johnny on "Help Me Rhonda". Enough? We should be grateful to have the ORIGINAL tunes on a package with so many hits. (No, Mako, "Do You Want to Dance?" wasn't a hit for Johnny but I liked all of your appearances on "M.A.S.H."). Besides Johnny's own "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Summer Rain" and "Swayin' to the Music", you have songs from an eclectic group that includes Chuck Berry, Buck Owens, Harold Dorman, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, Leadbelly (the original of many singers of "Midnight Special"), Sam Cooke, Pete Seeger, Frankie Ford, Willie Dixon, Huey "Piano" Smith and Stonewall Jackson. And you never yearn for the originals with Johnny as you might with Sonny James doing his generic versions of previous hits. Buy this package of original good stuff today. Why look elsewhere? Oh. Liner notes. Right. Gee, I love the new millineum.

Pardon me for being picky, but wasn't Johnny River's cover of Bobby Freeman's "Do You Want To Dance?" a hit? All I know is River's version of that song is stellar and it crushed me to not see it included on this album. Other than that the album is top notch with all the major hits and it's a rare sight to see such a good collection of songs on one cd for Johnny.

This is an excellent buy. It has been remastered even though it doesn't say so and the sound is perfect.

I'm 54 and Seventh Son was my song for many years of my youth.

Seriously it put tears in my eyes to hear this song again. I had completely forgotten about it. Too much pot smoking I guess!!

This album runs the gamut of my youth from Seventh Son to Summer Rain, its like growing up again through music.

If your around my age just buy it I guarantee you will remember all of them except for maybe Cupid, which I still don't remember.

Were slow dancing, swaying to the music, slow dancing just me and my girl, no one else in the whole wide world, what an excellent song way to end an album.

30/10

All of Johnny's Top 40 hits are here. These are the original versions, not re-recordings, and the sound quality is fantastic: crisp, clean and full range. If all you need is a one-disc compilation of his hits, this is it. Very highly recommended.

I was surprised at the excellent sound on this compilation. I'm no audiophile--just a regular Joe listening through a portable CD-player plugged in to the Auxilary jack in my used Honda Civic. But everything sounded so crisp: I could make out the drumming and back-up vocals, and the stereo spacing filled the car.
For the more-than-casual fan, I feel obligated to recommend the double "Secret Agent Man" set (which I've had since it came out), but this one was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.

I thought I had already done this; sorry for the delay.

I bought this album for my daughter, and she loves it. It is Johnny Rivers, for heaven's sake! :)

Yes, it was a hit.

Mickey

This is a great album if you like Johnny Rivers. Includes all his best songs. I love Secret Agent Man, Poor Side of Town and Mountain of Love.My mom had his records when I was young. Johnny did some folk albums in the 60s but this CD is all pop.