What did it gain Johnny, being at The Wiskey A Go Go?

Jim replied

Well that is really how he got that particular recording contract at all.

He was a songwriter and session singer-guitarist, working in LA with people like Ricky Nelson, when he accidentally ended up with a residency in Bill Gazzari's Night Club which normally featured jazz acts, when one night, the act failed to show.

This club attracted a lot of movie stars and label execs, and Johhnny played there for most of 1963, and started attracting huge numbers to the club.

Nearly all the live clubs in those days were jazz clubs, but the younger Hollywood set had been brought up on rock and roll, and so when Elmer Valentine opened the Whiskey A Go Go on Sunset Strip, he offered Johnny a one-year contract to perform six nights a week at what was then an astronomical salary.

Of course, Johnny brought a lot of his old audience with him, and one of the people who attended on opening night was Lou Adler.

At this point, the UK invasion was in full swing, and albums, as opposed to singles, were beginning to be the new vehicle for breaking acts.

US execs also noticed that a lot of the UK acts sounded more or less the same on stage as they were on record, and so labels began to wise up to the idea that if a band could not perform well live, you were wasting your money signing them,

So almost every act which arrived in LA or New York looking for a deal, was told to play live for a while and try again, whereas back in the late 50's and early 60's, lots of acts were signed first for their looks, then their voice, and hopefully the fact that they might develop an ability to perform live later on.

Many were really terrible live - nervous, out of tune, off key etc.

Anyway Adler decided to record several weeks of Johnny's live shows, and issue them as an slbum "Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go", initially just in LA, but with copies supplied to DJs in all the major markets outside of California.

Of course, a lot of the top New York DJs had either been to the Whiskey A Go Go, or had at least heard about it, and the press was full of stories about "LA's Own Peppermint Lounge" so it got an amount of airplay, in spite of the fact that Rivers was ptactically unknown to the general public.

It was a bit unusual, in that the album came first - then the single, whereas up to then it was usually the other way around - but this was in fact quite common with "live" albums.

"Joey Dee Live At The Peppermint Lounge" album had preceded "Peppermint Twist", "Trini Lopez Live At PJs" had preceded "If I Had A Hammer", the "4 Preps Live On Campus" had preceded "More Money For You And Me" so there was a history of issuing the live album first, and then taking a single off them.

Also, the "live" idea was becoming popular - even the fake live concept (US Bonds "Quarter To Three" - Premiers "Farmer John" etc).

Adler wanted "Maybellene" as the first single, but he noticed that DJs outside California were playing "Memphis" more than any other track, so he went with that song, even though it was the live staple of a lot of the Liverpool groups touring the US at that moment, and a version by Dave Berry was due out in the US at the same time.

I cannot recall now how many versions of each song had been recorded live, somewhere around 7 or 8 I think, so the best version of each song one was picked for the album, and the same with the links, but it sounds quite seamless, and the first time I heard it, I thought it was all one performence on one night.

So, on the album, Johnny introducing "Memphis" on take 11, might be inserted before Johnny singing "Memphis" on take 5, and as a result, acoustics often sound a bit off.

Also, a lot of reverb was added later to the live recordings - Johnny's live performances were a lot drier - and this sometimes sounds odd on the links, but otherwise, it is 90% of what would you would probably have heard if you were there in the club that night (or all of those nights!).

John also wrote...

Why risk a good, hit recording, that could end up poor, because an uncontrollable audience?

Jim replied.....

Well, he didn't in that the albums usually comprised tracks taken from different nights, so if you muffed it up one night, you simply use the night night's version.

I remember being at a Drifters show which was also being recorded, and when one of the band missed the intro for "On Broadway", the whole show just stopped - we were told to applaud aagin, and then they just re-started the song!

Up to that moment, most of us had no idea it was being recorded live, but as far as they were concerned, it was the recording tgat mattered - not us the audience!

• RE: John Rivers - Live or Studio? - John 10/29/2008 09:25:59 EDT (0)