From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Sep 10, 2002  1:21 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Roy Brown
 
ROY BROWN (By Dave Penny and Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Roy James Brown, 10 September 1925, New Orleans, Louisiana
Died 25 May 1981, Pacoima, California

As a child, Roy was encouraged musically by his mother, True Love
Brown, who was an organist for and director of their local church choir.
After she died when Roy was 14, he moved with his father to Houston
and then to Los Angeles, where he won a talent competition 3 years later
singing Tex Ritter's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle". In 1946,
Roy moved to Galveston, TX and formed his first band - The Mellowdeers -
broadcasting over radio station KGCB; singing firstly as a balladeer and
then increasingly in the new jump blues style. Returning to New Orleans
in 1947, Roy ran into blues-shouter Wynonie Harris and offered him his
song "Good Rockin' Tonight" which was met by a rejection. He then
auditioned the song to Cecil Gant who introduced him to Jules Braun of
DeLuxe Records who signed him to the label. "Good Rockin' Tonight"
became Roy's first record release in fall 1947 and his first R&B chart hit
(#11) in spring 1948, although it was then covered by Wynonie Harris
who took his version to the top of the chart. Roy continued to have
hits on DeLuxe such as "Long About Midnight" (# 1), "Rainy Weather
Blues" (# 5), "Rockin' At Midnight" (# 2) or "Boogie At Midnight" (# 2)
until 1952, by which time he had been transferred to the King label with
whom he remained until 1955.
Between 1956-58, Roy recorded rock'n'roll in New Orleans for Imperial
Records, enjoying his final R&B chart hits with his cover of rockabilly
Buddy Knox's "Party Doll" and his own "Let The Four Winds Blow".

Returning to King in 1959, Roy spent the early 1960s label-hopping from
Home The Blues in Memphis to DRA in Los Angeles. He performed
"Good Rockin' Tonight" at the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival and
compilations of his prime recordings on Swedish label Route 66 in the
late 1970s revitalised his career. He died in May 1981 within weeks of
a triumphant return to New Orleans, performing at the Jazz & Heritage
Festival.

(Taken from Dave Penny's liner notes to the CLASSICS 5021 CD,
edited by Jean-Marc Pezet)

Recommended listening:
"1947-1949" CLASSICS CD 5021 (France)
"Vol 2 1950-1951" CLASSICS CD 5036 (France)
"Blues Deluxe" CHARLY CD 289 (UK)
"Mighty Mighty Man" ACE CDCHD459 (UK)
"Complete Imperial Recordings" CAPITOL 7243 8 31743 2 4 (UK)