Roy Young (musician)
| Roy Young | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Roy Young |
| Born |
1937 London, England |
| Genres | Rock and roll, boogie-woogie, rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, keyboards |
| Years active | Since 1958 |
| Labels | Fontana, Ember, Philips Records, RCA Victor, MCA |
| Associated acts |
Tony Sheridan The Beatles Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers The Roy Young Band |
| Website | http://www.royyoung.com/ |
Roy Young (born 1937) is a British rock and roll singer, pianist and keyboard player. He first recorded in the late 1950s before performing in Hamburg with the Beatles. After a stint with Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, he released several albums with his own band as well as recording with Chuck Berry and David Bowie, among others.
Biography
He was born in London and moved with his family to Oxford at the age of five.[1] He learned to play boogie-woogie piano at home and in snooker clubs, left school at age 14, and joined the Merchant Navy. While in Australia, he saw the film Blackboard Jungle, and, after returning to England, began a career as a professional singer and musician.[1][2]
In 1958 he auditioned successfully for Jack Good's TV show Oh Boy!, singing and playing piano in the style of Little Richard, and performed regularly on other British TV pop music shows including Drumbeat, where he was backed by the John Barry Seven, and Boy Meets Girls.[2][3] Billed as Roy "Rock 'em" Young, he recorded his first single, "Just Keep It Up" / "Big Fat Mama" in 1959 for Fontana Records. He released several more singles on the Fontana and Ember labels over the next two years, but they were not commercial successes. Young performed at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, and toured the UK and Ireland with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, among others.[2][4]
In 1961, he began working at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, where he played with Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, who briefly included Ringo Starr, and recorded with Sheridan.[4] He then won a contract to play at the rival Star-Club, where he met the Beatles, and began performing with them in spring 1962. According to Young, Brian Epstein offered him a place in the group once they had returned to England and signed a record contract, but Young turned down the offer because he had a contract with the Star-Club.[2][4][5]
Young returned to England in 1964 and joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers – also managed by Epstein – as their keyboard player and second vocalist, regularly duetting with Bennett on covers of Sam and Dave songs, including "I Take What I Want" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'". The group toured with the Beatles in 1966, and Young featured on their hit version of the Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My Life", produced by Paul McCartney. He continued with the Rebel Rousers until they split up in 1969, and then formed the Roy Young Band, who released two albums, The Roy Young Band (1971) and Mr. Funky (1972); band members included Dennis Elliott, later of Foreigner.[1][4] The band backed Chuck Berry on tour.[4]
In 1976, Young recorded with David Bowie for the Young Americans album, and the following year played on Bowie's album Low.[1][3] He continued to perform with the Roy Young Band in Canada and the US,[2] and also worked with, and managed, Long John Baldry in the 1970s.[4] He toured the US in the 1980s with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson,[5] and also performed at Star-Club reunion concerts with Tony Sheridan, Howie Casey, Johnny Gustafson and Jimi Magnole[2]
He released an album, Still Young, in 2006, featuring songs written by Dennis Morgan.[1]
Discography
- 1961: My Bonnie -Tony Sheridan with The Beat Brothers (later corrected to read with The Beatles). Young plays prominently throughout this album except on the two Beatle tracks.
- 1963: Twist At The Star Club Hamburg A live album of "The Star Combo", Young sings and plays on three songs ("Rip It Up", "Keep A-Knocking", and "Margie" and plays on the instrumental "C-Jam Twist"). He also plays on Tony Sheridan's two tracks, "Skinny Minny" and "What'd I Say" (for some reason Sheridan is listed under the pseudonym of "Dan Sherry"). The 'STAR COMBO' consisted of Tony Sheridan, Roy Young, Colin "Melander" Crawley, Ricky Barnes and Johnny Watson). This release was a rare LP on Philips with Roy Young's photo on the back cover. As noted, Sheridan is credited as "Dan Sherry" though HIS PICTURE is very clearly displayed on the front cover singing at 'The Star Club' (with bassist Colin "Melander" Crawley and saxophonist Ricky Barnes). (There are songs by four other groups as well).
- 1964: "Ain't She Sweet" (side 1) with the Beatles, Sweet Georgia Brown recorded 1962
- 1966: Meet The Beat (two versions, on 10" and 12" & CD, but with radically different tracks, sharing only two songs. The 12" features 1966 recordings (with "The Big Six") of "Jailhouse Rock", "Fever", and "Shake, Rattle and Roll")
- 1971: The Roy Young Band - Band also includes Howie Casey.
- 1972: Mr. Funky
- 1996: Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers Live And Dangerous (also released as "Rock Masters: Feel It" [Beat Brothers —Roy Young, Howie Casey – recordings of "Good Golly Miss Molly" and others. On some of these 1995 live-recordings (e.g."Good Golly Miss Molly") the lead vocal is actually by Roy Young
- 1996 & 2001: Sheridan In Control (also released as 'Fab Four Collection') "with The Beat Brothers- Roy Young, Howie Casey" – 1995 recordings of "Johnny B. Goode", "Money", "My Bonnie", "Skinny Minnie"
- 2006: Still Young
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rishton, Jo (2 April 2006). "Interview with Roy Young". The Beat Goes On and On. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 de Heer, Dik (July 2009). "Roy Young". Black Cat Rockabilly. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- 1 2 Whelan, John (16 February 2002). "A Roy Young interview, December 22, 2001". The Ottawa Beatle Site. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Roy Young Biography". Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- 1 2 Little, Reg (12 April 2012). "John, Paul, George and Roy". Oxford Times.