JOHNNY RIVERS At The Whisky à GoGo"

Original Released on LP Imperial
9264 (mono) - 12264 (stereo)
(US, February 1964)

The Whisky a Go-Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has been called the first real American discothèque. It was opened January 11, 1964, at the site of an old bank building that had been remodeled into a short-lived club called the Party, by a former Chicago policeman, Elmer Valentine. Though the club was billed as a discothèque, meaning only recordings with no bands, the Whisky a Go-Go opened with a live band led by Johnny Rivers (born John Ramistella in New York City on November 7, 1942, he changed his name by suggestion of disc-jokey Alan Freed) and a short-skirted female DJ spinning records between sets from a suspended cage at the right of the stage. When the girl DJ danced during Rivers' set, the audience thought it was part of the act and the concept of Go-Go dancers in cages was born. 

Johnny Rivers rode the Whisky-born "go-go" craze to national fame with records recorded partly live at the Whisky. This Rivers debut album was one of the first LPs that I’ve bought with my own money. The year was 1965 or 1966 and I was just beginning to discover all the excitement of rock ‘n roll. The main attraction of those days were of course The Beatles but this album meant really something new to me. The tracks seemed very carefully chosen to introduce me to such classics like “Memphis”, “Oh Lonesome Me”, “Walkin’ The Dog” or “Multiplication” (only some time later I’ve discovered the original versions of Chuck Berry, Don Gibson, Rufus Thomas and Bobby Darin). I’ve listened to these ten tracks hundreds of times and through the years I’ve always returned to this exciting album with the same pleasure: old passions never die! I have made a new back cover, because my original LP is very damaged and no one could read anything at all. And I didn't forgot to include some of the celebrity endorsements that appeared on it.