Johnny Rivers, "Knock Three Times" c/w "Oh What A Kiss," United Artists UA 741 (rel. 7/1964; tracks recorded c. 1961)
As Johnny Rivers' live renditions of rock 'n' roll nuggets became major chart hits, his rockin' past was trawled for possible treasures by other labels. Among them was United Artists, who assembled enough tracks for a cash-in LP, Go, Johnny Go! The material on this would-be exploitation album is excellent--solid rock 'n' roll that owes an obvious debt to Elvis Presley, which is common for the era.
Many of these masters were licensed from Philadelphia label Chancellor Records and this summer '64 single debuted a side from Rivers' Nashville session of 1961. Both songs are written by Music City cleffers and feature the usual cast of Nashville cats, including an outstanding steel guitarist. I far prefer this material to the looser recordings of Rivers' time with Imperial Records. It doesn't need the conceit of a live performance to boost its effect. These are solid country-rock items similar to what the Everly Brothers did at the time. They're well worth hearing.
"Knock Three Times" is by Benny Joy, Georgia-born rockabilly whose 1950s singles carry four-figure valuations nowadays. In 1961, Joy was settled in as a Nashville songwriter. His work was recorded by Burl Ives, Charlie Rich, Jackie Wilson, Carl Perkins, Loretta Lynn and many others. A pedal steel guitar, like a searchlight that cuts through fog, leads this swaggering bluesy rocker. It may be played by Walter Hayes, who did a similar part on The Everly Brothers' 1960 recording "Nashville Blues." Strings and a subdued vocal chorus add to the majesty of this brooding-but-friendly offer of friendship and acceptance when the chips are down for a friend.
Rivers, an Italian-American youth born in New York city but raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, delivers this stirring song in an Elvis-esque style, with a bayou flavor that sets him apart from so many imitators of rock's biggest icon. Despite its obvious appeal, "Knock Three Times" didn't become a hit. Two releases saw it fail.
"Oh What a Kiss" was co-written by Jimmy Dickens, pint-size country novelty king who would soon hit the pop charts with "May The Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose." Eddie Rager and Larry Kirby co-wrote this pop-rocker which sounds like it was penned for Bob Luman after his chart-topping "Let's Think About Living" in 1960. Rivers sounds much like Luman on this side--perhaps it was a demo for the more famous singer. The basic recording is lo-fi, and there's a mismatch with the crisper string and vocal chorus parts, which sound like they were added later to make this commercial-release-worthy.
It's less strong than "Knock Three Times," which was the obvious A-side. All that mattered, with this single, was to divert purchases from Rivers' current material. As said, the resultant cash-in album is quite good, but must have puzzled less astute buyers once they got the shrink-wrap off and plopped the LP on their Magnavox hi-fi set.
Rivers made some excellent late examples of the rockabilly style on his earlier singles. This work got a legit CD release in 2013's That's Rock And Roll!, The 1957-1962 Recordings, a Hoodoo Records release well worth getting.
Tomorrow: Pacific Northwest instrumental sounds by Kent, Washington's Exotics, on a scarce 1960 Jerden Records release.
What a commanding voice Rivers had. Yeah, so what if these are Elvis impressions—he still had something unique there. I love that last guitar lick at the fade out of "Oh What A Kiss"–a hard-driving sound that we'd get from him in a few more years. "Secret Agent Man" and "Summer Rain" were some of my radio faves in my teenage years.
ReplyDeleteDamn! Great early vocals by Rivers. When I was a kid I bought a 45 of his version of "Mountain of Love" and still have it.
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