Tag: Rivieras

If you are interested…Dave at A Sound Day posted an article I wrote on the Replacements.

This was garage band rock and roll at its best. It’s hard not to feel good when this song comes on the radio. The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada (CHUM), and #6 in New Zealand in 1964. It’s one of those songs that just make you feel good.

Now…is this band from sunny California? No…not even close. They are from South Bend Indiana. They were a garage band and the members all went to South Bend Indiana Central High School in the early sixties. They were originally called the Playmates but alas…there was another band in the area with the same name. They ended up naming themselves after the Buick Riviera.

The song was written by Henry Glover and recorded first by Joe Jones and his version made it to #89 on the Billboard Charts. Instead of guitars, Joe Jones’s version used horns. It’s also been covered by The Ramones, The Beach Boys, Frankie Avalon, The Shondells, and dozens more.

Marty “Bo” Fortson left shortly after this single came out to join the Marines and go off to Vietnam. The other band members dropped out one by one under pressure from their parents to go on to college and stop playing this rock ‘n’ roll.

The song was written by Hendry Glover. Glover was a producer for an independent record label King Records. At one time, record mogul Morris Levy of Roulette Records was listed as a co-writer but that got taken off. Levy was the founder and owner of Roulette Records, which had known ties to the mafia. After the Jones version failed to gain popularity the Rivieras ran with it.

The Ramones covered this one as well.

California Sun

Well I’m going out west where I belong
Where the days are short and the nights are long

Where I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun

Well, I’m going out west
Out on the coast
Where the California girls
Are really the most

And I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun

Well, the girls are frisky
In old ‘Frisco
A pretty little chick
Wherever you go

And I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun