From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue May 7, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Roy Hall
 
ROY HALL (By Shaun Mather)

Born James Faye Hall, 7 May 1922, Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Died 2 March 1984, Nashville, Tennessee

Who's the hard drinkin', rompin' piano pounder who first cut Whole Lotta
Shakin' Goin' On - that's right, Roy Hall. He began his career in 1949 with
a trio of singles on the Fortune label of Detroit. He moved to Nashville
and opened the Music Box bar where he became a regular performer.
He played some studio dates with Webb Pierce, Marty Robbins and
Hawkshaw Hawkins among others, and his no-nonsense piano style
easily adapted to the new strains of rock 'n' roll. Pierce arranged a
contract for him at Decca and among his singles was Shakin'. When
the song became a worldwide hit via Jerry Lee Lewis, Hall who'd written
the song under the pseudonym Sunny David lost the royalties to an
ex-wife who'd reared her ugly head. A little bitter about his finances
he was quoted as saying during a binge "I was trying to get away from
the income tax. They finally caught my ass too." A fine showman and a
more than acceptable rocker (eg. Three Alley Cats, Dig That Boogie, Blue
Suede Shoes), he continued to play the concert circuit until his death.

More info: http://www.webspawner.com/users/royhallbio/
Further reading: Nick Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll, p. 109-113.
Recommended listening: Diggin' That Rock-a-billy-Boogie - TRG/Hound
(A Dutch bootleg, Shaun, but I must admit I've got it too. 28 tracks from
1949-58. The liner notes are shamelessly copied from the Tosches chapter.
Dik)