Roy Brown
Roy Brown was an influential American singer-songwriter known for his contributions to rhythm and blues music. Born to a religious family, he was encouraged to pursue music from a young age, particularly by his mother, who was a church organist. After moving to Galveston, Texas, in 1946, Brown gained prominence with his hit "Good Rockin' Tonight," which he later sold to DeLuxe Records. Despite the initial success, his career saw fluctuations as musical trends evolved, and he struggled to maintain popularity during the rock-and-roll boom of the 1950s.
Brown’s unique vocal style, characterized by melismatic singing, set him apart from his contemporaries and paved the way for his later hits, including "Let the Four Winds Blow" and "Love for Sale." His music not only showcased his songwriting abilities but also influenced a generation of artists, including notable figures like Sam Cooke and Whitney Houston. In the late 1970s, he experienced a revival in his career, particularly in Scandinavia, before passing away in 1981. Roy Brown's legacy endures as a key figure who shaped the transitions between rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
Subject Terms
Roy Brown
American rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter
- Born: September 10, 1925
- Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Died: May 25, 1981
- Place of death: San Fernando, California
Brown, an important figure in the post-World War II rhythm-and-blues scene of the late 1940’s, introduced gospel-inspired vocal stylizations.
The Life
Born to True Love and Yancy Brown, a conservative, religious couple, Roy Brown was encouraged toward musicality as a child by his mother, the organist and choir director at her church. Upon his mother’s death when he was fourteen, Brown followed his father to Houston, Texas, and then Los Angeles.
By 1946 Brown had become a professional singer and relocated to Galveston, Texas, where he composed his first hit, “Good Rockin’ Tonight.” By the following year Brown was back in New Orleans, where he tried, unsuccessfully, to sell his song to blues shouter Wynonie Harris. However, Brown was able to sell his own performance of “Good Rockin’ Tonight” to Jules Braun of DeLuxe Records. Upon noting the good sales of Brown’s version, Harris changed his mind and decided to record and release the song, ending up with a greater hit than its composer had.
During the period 1948-1951 Brown recorded a number of hits for the DeLuxe label, but in subsequent years the popularity of his recordings declined. During the rock-and-roll boom of the mid-1950’s, Brown was unable to capitalize on the explosion of a sound that he had helped to create, and his recordings for King Records sold inadequately. His record sales did improve when he signed with Imperial Records in 1957, releasing “Let the Four Winds Blow” and a version of “Party Doll” to placement on the national sales charts.
The 1960’s were lean years for Brown, whose musical style seemed archaic for that decade. In 1970, remembered by fellow bandleader Johnny Otis, Brown was contracted to close Otis’s show at the Monterey Jazz Festival, and he did it to great acclaim. That performance was dramatic enough to gain Brown a contract with Mercury Records, which released “Love for Sale,” Brown’s first hit record in nearly fifteen years. In the later 1970’s the Scandinavians discovered Brown, releasing a compilation album of his older work and welcoming him in a successful tour of the region. By 1980 Brown was enjoying a resurgence in popularity, performing at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood and in 1981 headlining the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This resurgence of Brown’s musical prominence was cut short by his death from a heart attack in May of that year.
The Music
Brown’s early years of singing in church provided good training for his vocal technique, honing his ability to sing melismatically, with multiple notes per syllable of text. This gave his voice a flexibility and tunefulness not typical of the blues shouters of the era and made his music distinctive and desirable, thus eminently salable to rhythm-and-blues audiences. Also, unlike many singers who simply bought songs to perform, Brown wrote and recorded his own material, making him one of the earliest in the category singer-songwriter.
“Good Rockin’ Tonight.” Brown’s first big hit record was from his initial recording session upon reaching New Orleans in July, 1947. A classic rhythm-and-blues tune, it describes the pleasures to be had meeting with one’s lover in the evening. The remarkable aspect of the performance is Brown’s voice, light and elegant (a contrast to Harris’s strident, shouting vocal style). The song enjoyed even greater popularity when it was sung by Elvis Presley in 1954 for Sun Records and sold two years later to RCA.
“Hard Luck Blues.” This song was produced for King Records around 1953, but it did not achieve the healthy sales of Brown’s recordings for DeLuxe. The hot up-tempo rocker shows Brown coming close to the standard rhythm-and-blues shouting style. His confident tenor voice traces melodic lines and high notes that would have defeated many of his contemporaries in rhythm and blues. Also notable is the arrangement, featuring a larger, more elaborate sound of horns and guitar than found in his earlier recordings.
“Let the Four Winds Blow.” Recorded on January 22, 1957, this was Brown’s big hit for Imperial Records and a second chance to demonstrate the salability of his music. The song reflects the changes in the popular-music scene that had occurred since Brown’s previous time on the charts. His higher, tuneful vocals were successful at matching the newer, lighter sound aimed at the teenage buyer. After several years of struggling, Brown had once again written a piece perfect for its day, showing his mastery of rock and roll.
“Love for Sale.” After appearing at the Monterey Jazz Festival as part of Johnny Otis’s show, Brown was sought out by Mercury Records to record “Love for Sale.” Here Brown returns to slow blues, singing with passion and feeling. The melismatic flexibility of his voice is apparent, and the lighter, tuneful sound is undiminished. Brown rerecorded this song for a late 1970’s album, and it is heard in a live recording made near the end of his life.
Musical Legacy
Brown’s appearance in the late 1940’s was timely. His smooth, romantic style proved to be highly desirable to the record-buying public and for a few years made him a top-selling performer. Brown helped steer the rhythm-and-blues style of his era toward the rock-and-roll sound of the mid-1950’s, and elements from his performance style were appropriated by many singers of succeeding decades, such as Sam Cooke, Al Green, and Whitney Houston.
Principal Recordings
albums:Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris, 1959; Hard Times, 1968; The Blues Are Brown, 1968; Cheapest Price in Town, 1979; Courage, 1995; Saturday Nite, 1999.
singles: “Let the Four Winds Blow,” 1957; “Party Doll,” 1957.
Bibliography
Broven, John. Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans. Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing, 1978. Short biography of Brown’s life and career and a good description of the New Orleans rhythm-and-blues scene from which he emerged.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Roy Brown Part 1: Good Rockin’ Tonight.” Blues Unlimited 123 (January/February, 1977).
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Roy Brown Part 2: Hard Luck Blues.” Blues Unlimited 124 (March/June, 1977). Two-part article consists of an interview with Brown in the late 1970’s and covers facts about and personal impressions of Brown through the years.
Harris, Sheldon. “Roy Brown, 1925-1981.” Living Blues, no. 52 (Spring, 1982). Obituary and sympathetic summation of Brown’s career, with interesting details not found in other sources.
Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia. New York: Penguin Books, 2001. Includes a brief but insightful entry on Brown.
Tosches, Nick. Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll. New York: Da Capo Press, 1999. A book on the early singers and musicians who invented the rock-and-roll style in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Includes an interesting chapter on Brown, discussing the ups and downs of his career.