Roy Brown

Roy Brown's name belongs near the summit whenever historians compile a roster of R&B trailblazers whose work shaped the birth of rock & roll. The singer's groundbreaking 1947 DeLuxe Records recording of "Good Rockin' Tonight" reached the summit of the R&B charts thanks to Wynonie Harris's immediate version and later received covers from Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and numerous other foundational rock figures, Pat Boone included. Brown's melismatical pleading and gospel-steeped approach also left a lasting mark on the singing styles of B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and Little Richard, along with countless other significant vocalists. An undisputed innovator, Brown reigned as a major R&B star from 1948 to 1951, his uninhibited recordings serving as a direct harbinger of rock's emergence.

The future hitmaker entered the world in New Orleans and spent his formative years shifting between locations, beginning in Eunice, Louisiana, where church singing and sugarcane-field labor occupied his time, then moving to Houston, Texas, and finally settling in Los Angeles at age 17. Bing Crosby ranked as his preferred vocalist until a nine-month nightclub engagement in Shreveport, Louisiana, introduced him to the blues. He composed "Good Rockin' Tonight" while leading a band in Galveston, Texas. Harris initially declined the number when Brown offered it, yet pianist Cecil Gant, impressed by Brown's commanding New Orleans performance, telephoned a drowsy Jules Braun, DeLuxe's head, in the middle of the night to audition the song. Although Brown's own release, backed by Bob Ogden's band, achieved solid sales, Harris's rendition claimed the higher chart position.

Brown soon claimed the R&B charts for himself, notching 15 hits on DeLuxe between the middle of 1948 and the close of 1951. These ranged from the anguished, tear-filled blues of "Hard Luck Blues," his top-selling single in 1950, to the celebratory up-tempo numbers "Rockin' at Midnight," "Boogie at Midnight," "Miss Fanny Brown," and "Cadillac Baby." Sales declined sharply after 1952, yet several later sides for Cincinnati's King Records—"Hurry Hurry Baby," "Ain't No Rockin' No More," "Black Diamond," and "Gal From Kokomo"—stand among his most vigorous rockers. Unable to reap commercial rewards from the rock & roll style he helped originate, Brown experienced a brief resurgence at Imperial Records in 1957. Teaming with New Orleans producer Dave Bartholomew, then enjoying success with Fats Domino, he returned to the charts with the original "Let the Four Winds Blow," later a Domino hit, and delivered the fiery, saxophone-driven tracks "Diddy-Y-Diddy-O," "Saturday Night," and "Ain't Gonna Do It." Artistic missteps occurred as well; his lifeless reading of Buddy Knox's "Party Doll," which surprisingly charted, ranks among his weakest efforts, comparable only to the juvenile "School Bell Rock" cut during a short 1959 return to King.

Following an extended commercial drought, Brown's well-received appearance with Johnny Otis's ensemble at the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival and a 1973 LP for ABC-BluesWay began restoring his long-dormant career momentum. The revival arrived too late, however; Brown suffered a fatal heart attack in 1981 at age 56, his pivotal role bridging postwar R&B and rock's early ascent still largely overlooked by the broader public.