Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella, 7 November 1942, in New York) is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was versatile enough to do folk songs, blues, covers of old-time rock 'n' roll songs, and some original material, all of them in his own unique style. Rivers's greatest success came in the mid and late 1960s with a string of hit songs (including "Seventh Son," "Poor Side of Town" and "Secret Agent Man"), but he has continued to record and perform to the present. Career 1950s The Ramistella family moved from New York to Baton Rouge, Louisiana when John was five years old. Without any formal music lessons, he began playing guitar--learned from his father--at the age of eight, and was influenced by the distinctive music of Louisiana. Ramistella formed his own band, The Spades, in junior high school and made his first record at age 14, while sti