Johnny Rivers quotes:

Guys like Otis Blackwell and Bobby Darin, and all the guys who were writing songs for Elvis at the time, just hanging around, writing songs, talking about music.

The first time I went to New York, I met Alan Freed.

About two months into the Whisky, I borrowed some money and rented a remote recording truck.

When I came back to California in the early '60s I was hanging out with Jimmy Bowen, Phil Spector, and I wanted to be a record producer and work with other artists.

I've got a Fender Concert amp from the '60s, the one Joe Osborn used. He played his bass through it.

In early '57, I bought a Fender Telecaster.

I'd gone through periods where I didn't work live performances for probably seven or eight months at a time.

In 1965, Gibson made the red one I use now, and a black one, which was the first black 335 they ever made.

What I really remember is that people camped out everywhere, and the fact everybody expected it might turn into a big nightmare with all sorts of hassles because back in those days everybody was smoking pot and taking acid.

I loved playing and I was actually working two jobs.

My first really good guitar was a Gibson J-45.

But I always loved songs with great lyrics.

The first amp I had back in the '50s was a small Fender.

After that initial success, every chance we got we'd hire that remote recording truck and just record stuff at the Whisky because it was so inexpensive.

Alan's publishing company was in the Brill Building, and of course, the Brill Building was where all the songwriters hung out because that's where all the publishers were.

The web site and the Internet are a whole new ball game.

One of the first groups we signed was the Fifth Dimension.

One thing will lead to another and somebody will come up with a riff or a line or something we build from.