From:   "Dik de Heer"  
Date:  Fri Oct 4, 2002  2:03 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Leroy Van Dyke
 
LEROY VAN DYKE (By Shaun Mather)

Born 4 October 1929, Spring Fork, Missouri

Singer/songwriter Leroy Van Dyke, although not a prolific hit maker, did have
two major ones, Walk On By and Auctioneer, that are still remembered today,
40 years later. Van Dyke grew up a country boy and went to the University
of Missouri to study agriculture, with the aim of being a farmer. Whilst in
college though, he began playing guitar and decided that a life among the
cows and pigs was not for him. After graduation he worked as a newspaper
reporter and then became an auctioneer! Next he was drafted and stationed
in Korea, began playing guitar again. It was here that he wrote Auctioneer.
Following military service, Van Dyke returned to journalism in Chicago. In
1956, he sang his ditty on a talent contest at WGN in Chicago. Early in
1957 he had his first hit, Auctioneer, a tongue-twisting gimmick which
climbed high on both the pop (# 19) and country (# 9) charts. Big hits didn't
follow as expected, but he landed a slot on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee tv show.
In 1961, he tried his hand in Nashville and scored with Walk on By, a perfect
example of the Nashville Sound. It topped the country charts for an amazing
19 weeks and went Top Five pop. This time he was able to follow it up, with
If a Woman Answers (Hang Up the Phone) and Black Cloud charting.
In '62 he joined the Grand Ole Opry but began to lose his grip on the charts.
In 1966 he moved to the Warner Bros label and had a minor hit with Roses
from a Stranger, followed two years later by Louisville and his last hit Texas
Tea in 1977.

CD's: Walk On By (Mercury)
The Auctioneer (Bear Family BCD 15467). 15 Dot recordings.