Roy James Brown (September 10, 1925 — May 25, 1981[1]) was a pioneering Rhythm & Blues singer, songwriter and musician who had a primary influence on the early development of rock & roll music. Brown sang R&B tunes with a gospel feel, the first blues singer to do so.[citation needed] Although many historians and fans consider Clyde McPhatter the main singer to infuse the gospel sound into R&B, Brown started the trend of combining the church sound into R&B. The "call and response" and shouting gospel style was limited to the church prior to Brown's arrival to the music scene. After Brown's debut, it became the standard. His seminal "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition, his melismatical pleading, gospel-steeped delivery impacted the vocal styles of B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Jackie Wilson and Little Richard, among others. His role as a crucial link between postwar R&B and rock's initial rise is severely underappreciated by the masses.[2]
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[edit] Career
Brown was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.[1] As most R&B singers have, he started singing gospel music in the church. His mother was an accomplished singer and church organist.[3] After a move to Los Angeles, California some time 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 Theater covering "There's No You" by Bing Crosby. Brown admitted to being a big fan of Crosby's. 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 like "Stardust" and Bing Crosby's "Blue Hawaii." The owner of Bill Riley's Palace Park hired him, as Roy himself told a Blues Unlimited interviewer, because of his appeal as "a Negro who sounds white." It was at the Palace Park that Brown started developing a blues repertoire, learning contemporary R&B tunes like "Jelly jelly" (recorded by Billy Eckstine).[4] He returned to New Orleans in 1947, where he performed at The Dew Drop Inn.[5]
Brown was a big fan of blues singer Wynonie Harris. When Harris made an appearance in town, Brown tried but failed to interest Harris in listening to "Good Rocking Tonight." Dejected, Brown went down the street to where another blues singer named Cecil Gant was appearing. Brown introduced his song, and Gant had Brown to sing it over the phone to the president of De Luxe Records Jules Braun at 4am, who signed him immediately. Brown recorded the song in a jump blues style with a swing beat. It was released in 1948 and reached #13 on the Billboard R&B charts. Ironically, Harris quickly covered it and hit the top of Billboard's R&B chart later in 1948.[6] Elvis Presley also covered the song for Sun Records in 1954; later re-released on RCA Victor when his recording contract was sold to that record label in 1956.[citation needed]
Brown continued to make his mark on the R&B charts, scoring 15 hits from mid-1948 to late 1951 with DeLuxe, ranging from the emotionally wracked crying blues of "Hard Luck Blues" (his biggest seller of all in 1950) to the party-time rockers "Love Don't Love Nobody", "Rockin' at Midnight," "Boogie at Midnight," "Miss Fanny Brown," and "Cadillac Baby." Strangely, his sales slumped badly from 1952 on, even though his frantic "Hurry Hurry Baby," "Ain't No Rockin' No More," "Black Diamond," and "Gal From Kokomo" for Cincinnati's King Records rate among his hottest house rockers. Brown was arguably the undisputed king of R&B from 1948 to 1951.[6]
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 contains a chapter on Brown) to believe that Brown may have been blacklisted. Brown's misfortunes also included prison time for tax evasion. When his popularity ebbed in the rock and roll era, he tried teen-slanted songs like "School Bell Rock", but had little success and more or less retired.[7]
Brown did not experience commercial success during the mid-1950s rise of rock and roll, although he had a brief comeback through Imperial Records in 1957. Work with New Orleans producer Dave Bartholomew, who was experiencing success at the time with Fats Domino, Brown returned to the charts with the original version of "Let the Four Winds Blow" (co-written by Domino), which would become a hit later for Domino. He also released a few other notable rockers, such as "Diddy-Y-Diddy-O," "Saturday Night," and "Ain't Gonna Do It".[6]
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.[6] To supplement his income, Brown sold the rights to "Good Rocking Tonight." He also worked as an encyclopedia salesman.[8]
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.[3]
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 release of Laughing But Crying and before the release of 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 during the spring of 1981.
Brown died of a heart attack, at Pacoima Lutheran Memorial Hospital,[9] near his home in the San Fernando Valley just outside Los Angeles on May 25, 1981. He was 55 years old.[1][10] The Reverend Johnny Otis conducted the funeral. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame the same year.
In 2008, two of his songs, "Butcher Pete Pt. 1" and "Mighty, Mighty Man" were included in the video game Fallout 3.
