Rivers was an excellent guitar player. He did session work prior to breaking out on his own. I saw him in a club in Memphis and he played everything note for note flawlessly and effortlessly. He has a great blues voice as well. Under rated talent often overlooked.
#SECRET AGENT MAN was written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri for the opening of the American version of the British spy series #DANGER MAN, which aired in the U.S. as #SECRET AGENT from 1964~1966. River's version hit no 3 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 and no 4 on the Canadian RPM charts. #SECRET AGENT MAN became Johnny's biggest hit of his career. After many cover versions, the song has become a rock standard and one of River's signature songs.
So this song brought together several things in that era. One was a huge spy craze because of the Russians in the Cold War and the very beginning of the James Bond film series. Spies are all over the place. There was a very funny TV show called.Get Smart with Don Adams and Barbara Feldman that made fun of spies. It was very campy and very successful. The other thing this song has going for it besides the fantastic hooky riff surfer guitars were huge in that era. Early Beach boys, Jan and Dean, movies like “Beach Blanket, Bingo” was a really big deal in the early mid 60s
The Beatles Movie HELP is a spy spoof comedy… starting this genre of course, is the James Bond series of movies, starring Sean Connery. Because of its popularity it has become a thing ever since.
I loved the silliness of Help. I think the Beatles were somewhat embarrassed by its lack of anything serious. But that's it's charm. So many hidden references, Funny as hell.
Ned from Spain here coz I love this song and the TV series Secret Agent Man aka Danger Man. The awesome Patrick McGoohan played John Drake who was the anti-James Bond. No womanizing although the ladies really dug him, some cool but simple gadgets, no firearms or knives, just using his wits and fists. He was an agent for M9 or NATO usually against Russians / Commies but also military coups in Africa or S. America. Sometimes he would go rogue if he thought his superiors were wrong about a political situation. Dry sense of humor and great dialog. You should check it out sometime.
It was originally "Danger Man" which was the title of the British series. It was changed to "Secret Agent Man" here in the States so the lyrics for the US released were changed as well.
This is my favorite from Johnny. It's the version played on the radio, recorded at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Johnny was the house band when it first opened. I like this, Seventh Son, Rockin' Pneumonia (a hit in the '70s) and the Chuck Berry covers.
Check out Tony Burrows. He recorded 5 top 40 hits in the 70's, with Edison Lighthouse, Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes. Brotherhood Of Man, United We Stand. White Plains, My Baby Loves Lovin'. Pipkins, Gimmie Dat Thing. And First Class, Beach Baby. 5 hits with bands that never existed except for a group of studio musicians...
Another blast from the past is from my home town of new york, by a group known as ‘the detergents’ called “double-o-seven” it hit number 89 on billboards top 100 in ‘65. It’s a parody song about a girl who ignores her boyfriend to go watch 007 movies…give it a listen…for shits and giggles…😂…when you go up to the balcony…tell ‘em ‘nick’ sentcha…😂😂😂
this song was my first musical obsession. I was 3 years old when it came out, and kept telling my dad 'play it again!'. That sick riff is why i have 7 guitars, 13 amps, etc.
My favorite version is the one from the video "The men who make the music", raw, dirty and noisy. I didn't know the original version and could barely recognise the Devo cover 🙃
Mickey Jones became the drummer for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition and later acted in many movies and TV shows. One of his last roles was Gunther the gun store owner in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Love that Mickey Jones as an actor, usually a biker, in so many 1970s shows like Rockford Files but he was one of the drummers for Bob Dylan when he went "Electric".
Yes, this was played on the radio a lot, I too thought he said "Asian Man" when I was a kid. The track is the recording from Whiskey A Go-Go, it seems the videographer pasted the track over the video of the American Bandstand performance. The Whiskey is not too far from where I lived and is shockingly a small venue, Upstairs and downstairs.
The "Secret Agent" TV show with Patrick McGoohan was too adult for me to keep up with at the time, but I always tuned in at the start just to listen to that cool theme song.
met mickey the drummer,back in the seventies,when he was in the group first edition.he came to the music shop i worked for two days in a row,and related his drumming journey.some stops were with trinny lopez,johnney rivers first edition with kenny rogers,studio work,then he became an actor,with many film credits,he was very cool
I had the pleasure of working (20 years later) with Johnny River's favorite recording engineer, Mark Friedman, who said he worked with Rivers in all of his recordings. This is a lip sync of the studio version. Doesn't look like the Whiskey. Probably a TV studio. The original recording was probably made at Goldstar studio in Melrose.
Johnny Rivers wa s major hit aker in the 1960's and into the 1970's, and a record producer. Rivers's version of Secret Agent Man peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Canadian RPM chart, one of the biggest hits of his career.
There's something you should realize when you're judging or rating this song. This was a song that was written to be the theme song of a TV. Series back in the early 60s. It was during the heyday of the beginning for 007 James Bond movies and others like it. I think the series ran for about 4 years, so it was successful. But. Anyway, when you're writing a song for a movie or a TV weekly series. You gotta keep in mind that he's boxed in to the lyrics. Being something directly related to what they're about to watch. Thus, it makes it to be a generalized commercial type. A song which as you can see it was. Even though it does have that really great riff.
This was the theme song to an early 1960s TV show (Secret Agent Man) about spies. Remember this was the "Cold War" era, and James Bond 007 and anything revolving around spying was Big. Russia vs The US and the world were on the brink of nuclear war, so this secret agent theme was very real in those days. Love Johnny Rivers southern Rock style.
Given that Patrick McGoohan was the star of Secret Agent Man (AKA Danger Man), when he was also the star of The Prisoner, it was never stated, but you got the feeling that it was essentially the same character. The Prisoner having been the most cerebral TV show at that time... perhaps still.
@@mikeholmes5308 My mom and I watched both of these shows shown very late local time on Sunday nights. Loved Patrick McGoohan and followed him throughout his career. And yes, "The Prisoner" was a great , yet underrated show.
You asked for more Johnny Rivers recommendations so here are a few suggestions: Goin' Back To Big Sur (his hometown), Tracks O' My Tears 'n Baby I Need Your Lovin'.
@visaman Johnny Rivers' real name is John Henry Ramistella who like numerous American musicians following the "British Invasion" sometimes adopted a slightly Anglo accent for certain songs to make them more appealing to music fans...
I was just playing this song on my digital piano a few days ago and I have a few comments on the song. Like you said, the riff is great. I was impressed with that Jonny Rivers played the riff himself. I always assumed it was studio musicians. As for the riff, I finally got it right when playing on the piano few days ago. I tried years ago on the guitar, and I could never get it right. Also, on your comment about the riff being great but the rest of the song just OK. I know what you mean. I play from sheet music, and I've played this melody many times on guitar and piano. The melody is actually a lot better than it seems on the record. It doesn't seem that great on the record because it's not high energy. But playing the melody instrumentally, it surprised me how much soul and depth the melody has. Some melodies are like that, when you play them, there is a lot more too them than is apparent from the recording. This isn't Johnny's fault. It's just a mismatch of a high energy riff and chorus, along with a more subdued main melody that doesn't fit in energy wise but is still a surprising strong melody with a lot of depth.
This is the Ed Sullivan Show.... not the Whiskey -a Go-Go. "Secret Agent Man" (Johnny Rivers song), a song written by Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan used as the opening theme for American broadcast of the TV series Danger Man,known as "Secret Agent" in the USA. The show starred actor Patrick McGoohan, who was considered more than once for the role of James Bond. This is the ORIGINAL version of Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers, which has been hijacked by so many others for movies and other stuff, like the Monkees' I'm Believer [written by Neil Diamond] was Hijacked for the Shrek movie and everyone thought Smash Mouth wrote it, that it was brand new. Big Boomer Yawn and Eye Roll here lol. Or Unchained Melody in the movie Ghost...
it isnt remotely close to anything from Bond and by this time the Bond series wasnt even invented. first bond film was in 1969 this dropped in 66 so no
Here’s a link to the James Bond Theme….the background melody is what Rivers took his cover of for his riff……th-cam.com/video/J9-cDa4JCwM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=nbv5fTfvUzlYGBhN
Iron Maiden - Infinite Dreams Manfred Mann's Earth Band Solar Fire th-cam.com/video/w-Yyq-HB5WI/w-d-xo.html Frank Marino&Mahogany Rush: "Sister Change th-cam.com/video/56eGD_NC0eg/w-d-xo.html Montrose - Rock Candy th-cam.com/video/CtDO3qBo72M/w-d-xo.html Pat Travers - Crash And Burn th-cam.com/video/TzZSA0S4_OM/w-d-xo.html Robert Plant - Sixes and Sevens th-cam.com/video/fVV2_HxWZ4w/w-d-xo.html robin trower For Earth Below th-cam.com/video/KS-0O6n1UAI/w-d-xo.html Sapphic Musk KITTENZ th-cam.com/video/nBC-ehtW6NQ/w-d-xo.html steve miller Sacrifice th-cam.com/video/yVBWrG-xoPU/w-d-xo.html Scorpions Animal Magnetism th-cam.com/video/6EKGOBPBSxE/w-d-xo.html
You have a greater concept than most about the Wrecking Crew, probably because you bother to research and read. Larry Knechtel invented the piano part for Simon and Garfunkels classic Bridge Over Troubled Water. Carol Kaye on bass, the only female musician in the wrecking crew, was a bad ass jazz guitarist as well. Among many things she contributed, the bass part suggested by Brian Wilson, to Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, and the Bass pattern to improve The Beat Goes On by Sonny and Cher. Simple but effective. Music critics [with their head up a certain orifice] bitched about the Monkees being a fake band yet the wrecking crew was used on so many other singers and group recordings...how stupid...
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Rivers was an excellent guitar player. He did session work prior to breaking out on his own. I saw him in a club in Memphis and he played everything note for note flawlessly and effortlessly. He has a great blues voice as well. Under rated talent often overlooked.
Summer Rain, summer of '67. His best.
My favourite JR song!
Next song from Johnny should be "Poor Side of Town." It's Fantastic. It may have been his biggest hit song. I think Johnny is still alive in his 80s.
he did it
That riff is lifted from the James Bond theme which came out in 1962. Started the whole secret agent craze
Another timeless classic 60’s guitar riff. It doesn’t take but 5 seconds to realize what era this is from. AM radio pop standard, in the best way.
This song got a lot of radio play. I liked his song, Summer Rain
I've always loved this song! Try "Mountain of Love" by Johnny Rivers, that's a cool song too
#SECRET AGENT MAN was written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri for the opening of the American version of the British spy series #DANGER MAN, which aired in the U.S. as #SECRET AGENT from 1964~1966. River's version hit no 3 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 and no 4 on the Canadian RPM charts. #SECRET AGENT MAN became Johnny's biggest hit of his career. After many cover versions, the song has become a rock standard and one of River's signature songs.
I remember the show in the USA for sure!
Johnny Rivers song "Rockin Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu" is a really good one.
That appeared to have been the Whiskey-a-Go-Go audio laid over a TV performance. As far as I know, this is the hit version.
Check out Mountain of Love.
So this song brought together several things in that era. One was a huge spy craze because of the Russians in the Cold War and the very beginning of the James Bond film series. Spies are all over the place. There was a very funny TV show called.Get Smart with Don Adams and Barbara Feldman that made fun of spies. It was very campy and very successful.
The other thing this song has going for it besides the fantastic hooky riff surfer guitars were huge in that era. Early Beach boys, Jan and Dean, movies like “Beach Blanket, Bingo” was a really big deal in the early mid 60s
Summer Rain is my favorite
This used to be on the radio a lot.
Secret Agent Man was a big hit and 007 was around in the movies. Johnny was a versatile singer songwriter with a lot of talent
The Beatles Movie HELP is a spy spoof comedy… starting this genre of course, is the James Bond series of movies, starring Sean Connery. Because of its popularity it has become a thing ever since.
I loved the silliness of Help. I think the Beatles were somewhat embarrassed by its lack of anything serious. But that's it's charm. So many hidden references, Funny as hell.
His studio version of tracks of my tears is excellent.
met him once in my office in the mid 80's. nice guy
It’s a good song, not one I would seek out, but will listen to if I come across it
Seventh Son is another great song from Johnny Rivers.
Ned from Spain here coz I love this song and the TV series Secret Agent Man aka Danger Man. The awesome Patrick McGoohan played John Drake who was the anti-James Bond. No womanizing although the ladies really dug him, some cool but simple gadgets, no firearms or knives, just using his wits and fists. He was an agent for M9 or NATO usually against Russians / Commies but also military coups in Africa or S. America. Sometimes he would go rogue if he thought his superiors were wrong about a political situation. Dry sense of humor and great dialog. You should check it out sometime.
Baby I Need your lovin, California Dreamin
It was originally "Danger Man" which was the title of the British series. It was changed to "Secret Agent Man" here in the States so the lyrics for the US released were changed as well.
Look up his history he was a major force in music!
Spot On lee, Yeah! It was the riff that sold the song,plus easy to sing along lyrics!
Like this but now stuck in my head..lol
thumbs up!!! good memories
Wowee, what a throw back to childhood! Wasn't this inspired by the popularity of the TV series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."?
Yep. It was played a lot in 1966.
This song felt so cool when it came out, but sorta forgot about it. Enjoyed seeing the video.
For years as a kid we all thought he was saying Secret Asian man
😂 Yup!
Do you secretly want to be Asian?
This is my favorite from Johnny. It's the version played on the radio, recorded at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Johnny was the house band when it first opened. I like this, Seventh Son, Rockin' Pneumonia (a hit in the '70s) and the Chuck Berry covers.
Check out Tony Burrows. He recorded 5 top 40 hits in the 70's, with Edison Lighthouse, Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes. Brotherhood Of Man, United We Stand. White Plains, My Baby Loves Lovin'. Pipkins, Gimmie Dat Thing. And First Class, Beach Baby.
5 hits with bands that never existed except for a group of studio musicians...
Another blast from the past is from my home town of new york, by a group known as ‘the detergents’ called “double-o-seven” it hit number 89 on billboards top 100 in ‘65. It’s a parody song about a girl who ignores her boyfriend to go watch 007 movies…give it a listen…for shits and giggles…😂…when you go up to the balcony…tell ‘em ‘nick’ sentcha…😂😂😂
For some reason I always hear Secret Asian Man!
this song was my first musical obsession. I was 3 years old when it came out, and kept telling my dad 'play it again!'. That sick riff is why i have 7 guitars, 13 amps, etc.
I heard this on the oldies radio just last week
Fascinating. I've only ever heard the DEVO version (which is amazing).
Now Devo! Their version is bonkers and ace 😊
My favorite version is the one from the video "The men who make the music", raw, dirty and noisy. I didn't know the original version and could barely recognise the Devo cover 🙃
Hombre Secreto by the Plugz!!
This song made the misheard lyrics website as many people heard it as "Secret Asian Man"
Mickey Jones became the drummer for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition and later acted in many movies and TV shows. One of his last roles was Gunther the gun store owner in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Love that Mickey Jones as an actor, usually a biker, in so many 1970s shows like Rockford Files but he was one of the drummers for Bob Dylan when he went "Electric".
Yes, this was played on the radio a lot, I too thought he said "Asian Man" when I was a kid. The track is the recording from Whiskey A Go-Go, it seems the videographer pasted the track over the video of the American Bandstand performance. The Whiskey is not too far from where I lived and is shockingly a small venue, Upstairs and downstairs.
The "Secret Agent" TV show with Patrick McGoohan was too adult for me to keep up with at the time, but I always tuned in at the start just to listen to that cool theme song.
met mickey the drummer,back in the seventies,when he was in the group first edition.he came to the music shop i worked for two days in a row,and related his drumming journey.some stops were with trinny lopez,johnney rivers first edition with kenny rogers,studio work,then he became an actor,with many film credits,he was very cool
Check out the Devo cover of this song.
I had the pleasure of working (20 years later) with Johnny River's favorite recording engineer, Mark Friedman, who said he worked with Rivers in all of his recordings. This is a lip sync of the studio version. Doesn't look like the Whiskey. Probably a TV studio. The original recording was probably made at Goldstar studio in Melrose.
That dancing!!!!! Love it
That was a theme song for a TV show called Secret Agent Man.😊
wow, takes me way back. thanks L33!
Stand up and dance like the people in the background😂
Love his vocals
I recall this being played on our local AM station
Johnny Rivers wa s major hit aker in the 1960's and into the 1970's, and a record producer. Rivers's version of Secret Agent Man peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Canadian RPM chart, one of the biggest hits of his career.
Secret Agent tv shows were all the rage at this time
This was recorded live at The Whiskey Au Go Go. He is lip synching to it on some tv show. This was the theme song to the tv show "Secret Agent Man".
Damn, Haven't heard this in a long while.
There's something you should realize when you're judging or rating this song. This was a song that was written to be the theme song of a TV. Series back in the early 60s. It was during the heyday of the beginning for 007 James Bond movies and others like it. I think the series ran for about 4 years, so it was successful. But.
Anyway, when you're writing a song for a movie or a TV weekly series. You gotta keep in mind that he's boxed in to the lyrics. Being something directly related to what they're about to watch. Thus, it makes it to be a generalized commercial type. A song which as you can see it was. Even though it does have that really great riff.
courageous cat and minute mouse
That guitar riff shows up in every James Bond movie.
This was the theme song to an early 1960s TV show (Secret Agent Man) about spies. Remember this was the "Cold War" era, and James Bond 007 and anything revolving around spying was Big. Russia vs The US and the world were on the brink of nuclear war, so this secret agent theme was very real in those days. Love Johnny Rivers southern Rock style.
Given that Patrick McGoohan was the star of Secret Agent Man (AKA Danger Man), when he was also the star of The Prisoner, it was never stated, but you got the feeling that it was essentially the same character. The Prisoner having been the most cerebral TV show at that time... perhaps still.
@@mikeholmes5308 My mom and I watched both of these shows shown very late local time on Sunday nights. Loved Patrick McGoohan and followed him throughout his career. And yes, "The Prisoner" was a great , yet underrated show.
You asked for more Johnny Rivers recommendations so here are a few suggestions: Goin' Back To Big Sur (his hometown), Tracks O' My Tears 'n Baby I Need Your Lovin'.
Johnny Rivers is one of those multi-talented Italian-Americans...
you mean Americans?
With a British accent?
@visaman Johnny Rivers' real name is John Henry Ramistella who like numerous American musicians following the "British Invasion" sometimes adopted a slightly Anglo accent for certain songs to make them more appealing to music fans...
@coinneachmaclellan3121 wow I did not know that!
I was just playing this song on my digital piano a few days ago and I have a few comments on the song.
Like you said, the riff is great. I was impressed with that Jonny Rivers played the riff himself. I always assumed it was studio musicians.
As for the riff, I finally got it right when playing on the piano few days ago. I tried years ago on the guitar, and I could never get it right.
Also, on your comment about the riff being great but the rest of the song just OK. I know what you mean.
I play from sheet music, and I've played this melody many times on guitar and piano. The melody is actually a lot better than it seems on the record. It doesn't seem that great on the record because it's not high energy. But playing the melody instrumentally, it surprised me how much soul and depth the melody has. Some melodies are like that, when you play them, there is a lot more too them than is apparent from the recording. This isn't Johnny's fault. It's just a mismatch of a high energy riff and chorus, along with a more subdued main melody that doesn't fit in energy wise but is still a surprising strong melody with a lot of depth.
Always loved this tune as well as the series................you also really need to check out the cover version by Devo....it'll grow on you!
YES!!!
This was the theme song for a short lived tv show, and yes it was played on AM radio a lot!!!
was . also was for tv series secret agent
Suggestion; "Apache" by The Shadows, and "Caravan" by The Ventures.
such a fun song. if Bond had been a bit more camp, this could have been in a sound track..
"Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" was probably his last hit in the 70s.
“Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin’)” in 1977 was his last Top 40 hit and his final Gold record.
I always thought this song was about a ninja, and it was called Secret Asian Man.
This is the Ed Sullivan Show.... not the Whiskey -a Go-Go. "Secret Agent Man" (Johnny Rivers song), a song written by Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan used as the opening theme for American broadcast of the TV series Danger Man,known as "Secret Agent" in the USA. The show starred actor Patrick McGoohan, who was considered more than once for the role of James Bond. This is the ORIGINAL version of Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers, which has been hijacked by so many others for movies and other stuff, like the Monkees' I'm Believer [written by Neil Diamond] was Hijacked for the Shrek movie and everyone thought Smash Mouth wrote it, that it was brand new. Big Boomer Yawn and Eye Roll here lol. Or Unchained Melody in the movie Ghost...
For years I thought it was Secret Asian Man😊
Slow dancing is another good song
Lee...have you watched the Austin Powers movies? They're groovy baby!! 😂❤
Secret Asian Man……they’re bringing you a menu and and you’re ordering chow main!
This song reminds me of Mack the Knife by Bobby Darren, I really don't know why...
It was a big hit for Rivers. The riff is basically taken from the James Bond 007 theme.
it isnt remotely close to anything from Bond and by this time the Bond series wasnt even invented. first bond film was in 1969 this dropped in 66
so no
I prefer the DEVO cover version of this song, together with the weird video clip 😀👍
a real master from baton rouge tnks from brazil noob
Here’s a link to the James Bond Theme….the background melody is what Rivers took his cover of for his riff……th-cam.com/video/J9-cDa4JCwM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=nbv5fTfvUzlYGBhN
Whiskey A-Go-Go (live) recording. Lip synch tv show.
Classic song! Methinks a little lip syncing going on in this video. 🤔
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Seriously. Check out that riff in the hands of DEVO.
You have a greater concept than most about the Wrecking Crew, probably because you bother to research and read. Larry Knechtel invented the piano part for Simon and Garfunkels classic Bridge Over Troubled Water. Carol Kaye on bass, the only female musician in the wrecking crew, was a bad ass jazz guitarist as well. Among many things she contributed, the bass part suggested by Brian Wilson, to Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, and the Bass pattern to improve The Beat Goes On by Sonny and Cher. Simple but effective. Music critics [with their head up a certain orifice] bitched about the Monkees being a fake band yet the wrecking crew was used on so many other singers and group recordings...how stupid...
It's possible that this WAS recorded at the Whiskey-A-Gogo, but the video is a lip-sync.
The lack of a cord on the guitar is a dead giveaway.
I'm 68....what am I doing here? :)
Secret Asian men need to avoid persuasive lips, otherwise they may not live to see tomorrow.
A fun song…..but it’s better to hear it while doing other things, as opposed to staring at a video screen.
In many of the 60's rock'n roll TV shows the artists were lip syncing.