''Let's Have a Party'' is the debut album by the American rock band

the Rivieras The Rivieras were an American rock band that formed in the early 1960s in South Bend, Indiana. They had a hit with the song " California Sun". History The Rivieras were made up of teenagers from South Bend Central High School. (This band shoul ...

released in 1964 by

USA Records USA Records was an American, Chicago based independent record label. Jim Golden started the USA label as part of Chicago's Allstate Distributors in 1960, which was owned by Paul Glass. USA Record Co., Inc. had its office at 1448 South Michigan A ...

. This album contains the band's biggest hit, "California Sun", which reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The album continues the band's popular surf style, and contains covers of classic and contemporary rock and roll hits. The album's title track is a cover of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's "

Let's Have a Party "Let's Have a Party" is a 1957 song written by Jessie Mae Robinson and recorded by Elvis Presley for the movie '' Loving You''. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom under the title "Party" and peaked at #2 in the UK Singles Chart. W ...

", written by

Jessie Mae Robinson Jessie Mae Robinson (née Booker, October 1, 1918 – October 26, 1966) was an American musician and songwriter, whose compositions included many R&B and pop hits of the 1940s and 1950s, including " Black Night", "I Went To Your Wedding", an ...

. The album was reissued in Sweden in 1967 with the name ''California Sun!!'' by Sonet and Grand Prix Records. Another album sharing the title ''Let's Have a Party'' was released in Sweden in 1989 by Star-Club Records, but features an entirely different track listing; Side A is non-LP single tracks, and Side B has tracks from ''

Campus Party Campus Party (CP) is a conference and hackathon. Founded in 1997 as a technology festival and LAN party, the event was first held in Málaga, Spain, and has since been run in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador ...

''. All tracks from ''Let's Have a Party'' were later compiled onto ''California Sun: The Best of the Rivieras'' in 2000.

Background

With the band's newfound success with "California Sun", the Rivieras set out to record a full-length effort in February 1964 at Chicago's Columbia Recording Studios ("California Sun" was previously recorded in July 1963). While "California Sun" had become the band's biggest hit at this point, the band's original singer, Marty Fortson and guitarist, Joe Pennell had both left for the Marines. By the time of recording, they had been replaced by Bill Dobslaw and Jim Boal, respectively. Fortson and Pennell are uncredited for their contributions on "California Sun". Dobslaw aside, all members of the band were currently attending high school in South Bend, Indiana by the time of the album's release.

Track listing

Original release

Star-Club Records release

Personnel

* Bill Dobslaw — singer, management, producer * Paul Dennert — drums * Otto Nuss — organ * Doug Gean — bass guitar * Jim Boal — lead guitar * Willie Gaut — rhythm guitar, vocals (lead vocals on "Killer Joe") * Marty "Bo" Fortson —

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

on "California Sun" * Joe Pennell —

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

on "California Sun" Production * Bill Thomson —

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Don Bronstein Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a ...

— cover * Jim Golden — liner notes * Miriam Linna — liner notes (Star-Club Records version)

References

Rock-and-roll albums 1964 albums {{1960s-rock-album-stub