"...Nowhere Else To Go..."
With titles like "Shelter In Time Of
Storm", "Believe In Me" and his own "Nowhere Else To
Go" - 60ts and 70ts burn out Johnny Rivers had embraced Christianity as a
saviour and turned classics like "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by The
Four Tops and the Traditional "Uncloudy Day" (made famous by The
Staple Singers on Epic Records in the Sixties) into songs of celebration and
positivity and not just another set of obvious feet shufflers.
"Not A Through Street" by JOHNNY
RIVERS was originally issued Stateside early 1983 on Priority Records PJU 38439
- a 12-track album of holy-roller tunes or themes thereabouts and as far as I
know this is the first digital outing for that 80ts Christian Rock album. Details...
UK released March 2018 - this gorgeous-sounding
BGO reissue of "Not A Through Street" by JOHNNY RIVERS on Beat Goes
On BGOCD1331 (Barcode 5017261213310) transfers that forgotten platter onto a
single CD, adding on a card slipcase, an annotated and expanded booklet and new
2018 High Def Remastering by ANDREW THOMPSON.
His cover of Dion's "Golden Sun, Silver
Moon" and Sam Cooke's monumental "A Change Is Gonna Come" are
given suitably imbued performances too. Fans of that superb Soul Group THE
WATERS should also note that their gorgeous Harmony Vocals can be heard on
"Nowhere Else To Go", "Reach Out (I'll Be There)",
"Believe In Me", "Shelter In Time Of Storm" and "How
Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" with Lead Singer and Soloist Oren Waters
on "Nowhere Else To Go" and "Golden Sun, Silver Moon" (see
my review of their 1980 platter "Watercolours" on Arista reissued in
2018 as an Expanded Edition CD by Big Break Records of the UK). Another
highlight is Leo Graham's "Turning Point" and "New Meaning"
by singers Jim and Ginger Hendricks.
For sure, some of the dreaded 80ts production
values linger – and in a bad way - but for any fan who's ever liked this forgotten Johnny Rivers album -
this fab-sounding 2018 BGO CD Reissue is the one to own...
