Johnny Rivers in Action! (1965)

Johnny Rivers' third album wasn't a concert recording, in contrast to its two predecessors, but it was nearly their equal for sheer musical diversity. Rivers was practically a human jukebox, turning out covers of a vast range of current and fairly recent rock & roll hits, all transmuted credibly into his own stripped-down style of playing. The number three single "Mountain of Love" -- a cover of Harold Dorman's 1960 hit -- opens up an album filled with all manner of surprises: the hard-rocking "Promised Land," a fine follow ... Read More

Johnny Rivers' third album wasn't a concert recording, in contrast to its two predecessors, but it was nearly their equal for sheer musical diversity. Rivers was practically a human jukebox, turning out covers of a vast range of current and fairly recent rock & roll hits, all transmuted credibly into his own stripped-down style of playing. The number three single "Mountain of Love" -- a cover of Harold Dorman's 1960 hit -- opens up an album filled with all manner of surprises: the hard-rocking "Promised Land," a fine follow-up to his hit versions of Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" and "Memphis"; his emphatic covers of the Beatles' "I Should Have Known Better" and Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman"; a plunge back to his Louisiana origins for "I'm in Love Again"; a rocking rendition of "Rhythm of the Rain"; a punchy version of "He Don't Love You, Like I Love You"; a soulful performance of Sam Cooke's "Cupid" that manages to rock hard without sacrificing the song's lyricism; "Moody River," the most credible rock & roll cover ever done of a Pat Boone song; and the ominously snarling version of "It's All Over Now." The basic guitar-bass-drums sound is all that's here, recorded cleanly and crisply but with most of the verve and fire that one got from Rivers' concert recordings, the only augmentation a very, very restrained bit of backup singing. It's a killer album, as were most of Rivers' long-players from this period. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi Read Less