Roy James Brown (September 10, 1925 – May 25, 1981) was
an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had a significant
influence on the early development of rock and roll and changed the direction
rhythm and blues was headed in. His original song and hit recording "Good
Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Bruce
Springsteen, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, James Brown, the Doors,
and the rock group Montrose.
Brown was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 10,
1925. As with most R&B singers, he started singing gospel music in the
church. His mother was an accomplished singer and church organist. After a move
to Los Angeles, California sometime in the 1940s, and a brief period spent as a
professional boxer in the welterweight category, he won a singing contest in
1945 at the Million Dollar Theatre covering "There's No You",
originally recorded by Bing Crosby. In 1946, Brown moved to Galveston, Texas,
where he sang in Joe Coleman's group performing mostly songs from the Hit
Parade, in a club called the Club Granada. His numbers included a song he wrote
entitled "Good Rocking Tonight".
After being rejected by the Armed Forces because of flat
feet, he secured his first major job in a Shreveport, Louisiana club singing
mostly pop ballads such as "Stardust" and "Blue Hawaii".
The owner of Bill Riley's Palace Park hired him, as Brown told a Blues Unlimited
interviewer, because of his appeal as "a Negro singer who sounds
white." It was at the Palace Park that Brown started developing a blues
repertoire, learning contemporary R&B tunes such as "Jelly Jelly"
(recorded by Billy Eckstine). He returned to New Orleans in 1947, where he
performed at The Dew Drop Inn.
Brown was a big fan of blues singer Wynonie Harris. When
Harris appeared in town, Brown tried but failed to interest Harris in listening
to "Good Rocking Tonight." Dejected, Brown approached another blues
singer, Cecil Gant who was appearing at another club in town. Brown introduced
his song, and Gant had Brown sing it over the telephone to the president of De
Luxe Records, Jules Braun, reportedly at 4:00 in the morning. Brown was signed
to a recording contract immediately. Brown recorded the song in a jump blues
style with a swing beat. It was released in 1948 and reached #13 on the US
Billboard R&B chart. Ironically, Wynonie Harris covered it and hit the top
of Billboard's R&B chart later in 1948. Presley also covered the song for
Sun Records in 1954.
Brown continued to make his mark on the R&B charts,
scoring 14 hits from mid-1948 to late 1951 with De Luxe, including "Hard
Luck Blues" (his biggest seller in 1950), "Love Don't Love
Nobody", "Rockin' at Midnight," "Boogie at Midnight,"
"Miss Fanny Brown," and "Cadillac Baby", making him, along
with Harris, one of the top R&B performers for those three years.
After his popularity peaked, Brown began to experience a
lull in his career. Doo-wop and R&B groups were quickly gaining popularity
as the standard sound of R&B in the early to mid-1950s. The decline of his
fortunes coincided with his successfully winning a lawsuit against King Records
for unpaid royalties in 1952, one of the few African American musicians to do
so in the 1950s. This has led some, such as author Nick Tosches (in his book
Unsung Heroes Of Rock 'N' Roll, which contained a chapter on Brown) to believe
that Brown may have been blacklisted.
Brown's other misfortunes included trouble with the IRS.
When confronted by the government for unpaid taxes he owed, he approached Elvis
Presley for help. Presley wrote him a check on a brown paper bag, but it wasn't
enough to keep him out of jail. Brown did a little prison time for tax evasion.
Brown had a brief comeback through Imperial Records in
1957. Working with Dave Bartholomew, Brown returned to the charts with the
original version of "Let the Four Winds Blow", co-written with Fats
Domino, who would later have a hit with it.
He returned to King Records where his popularity ground
down to a low by 1959, but he sporadically managed to find work and do some
recording through the 1960s, making appearances where ever he was wanted. To
supplement his income, Brown sold the rights to "Good Rocking
Tonight". "I was selling door to door," he once reminisced,
referring to his stint as an encyclopaedia salesman.
In 1970, Brown closed The Johnny Otis Show at the
Monterey Jazz Festival. As a result of the crowd's positive reaction, he
recorded "Love For Sale", which became a hit for Mercury Records.
In the late 1970s, a compilation album of his old work
brought about a minor revival of interest. In 1978 he had a successful tour in
Scandinavia following the releases of Laughing But Crying and Good Rocking
Tonight. Shortly before his death he performed at the Whisky A Go-Go in West
Hollywood, California and headlined the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
in 1981.
Brown died of a heart attack, at Pacoima Lutheran
Memorial Hospital, near his home in the San Fernando Valley on May 25, 1981. He
was 55 years old. The Reverend Johnny Otis conducted the funeral. He was
posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame the same year. (Info edited
from Wikipedia)
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For “Roy Brown – Good Rockin’ Brown” go here:
http://www31.zippyshare.com/v/YOk8zs2r/file.html
01 Good Rockin' Tonight
02 Lolly Pop Mama
03 Special Lesson No 1
04 Woman's A Wonderful Thing
05 Roy Brown Boogie
06 Please Don't Go
07 Mighty, Mighty Man
08 Deep Sea Diver
09 Cry Baby Blues
10 Miss Fanny Brown
11 Farm Town Gal
12 I'm The Man Who Sings The Blues
13 Bye Baby Bye
14 Jailhouse Blues
15 Looking For A Woman
16 Whose Hat Is That
17 My Mama's Boy Friend
18 Wine Women And Song
19 Midnight Rider
20 The Gal's Drunk Again
21 'Long About Midnight
22 Miss Fanny Brown Returns
23 Roy Brown Boogie
24 Whose Hat Is That
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