****ROY HAMILTON****

This man should be in the ROCK AND ROLL HALL of FAME !!!

"WHY?" you ask .

Have you heard his music ?

Have you READ his Wikipedia article ??

(I didn't THINK so.)

Here it is....

Roy Hamilton (April 16, 1929 – July 20, 1969)[1] was an American singer, who achieved major success in the United States R&B and pop charts in the 1950s. He is best known for his recordings of "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Unchained Melody" and "You Can Have Her".[

BIOGRAPHY :

Born in Leesburg, Georgia, United States, Hamilton moved to Jersey City in 1943, studied commercial art, had operatic and classical voice training, and was a heavyweight Golden Gloves boxer, before joining the gospel quartet, The Searchlight Singers in 1948. In 1947, he entered and won an amateur talent show at the Apollo Theater with his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". However, he did not record commercially until 1953, when he was discovered singing in a New Jersey club by a local DJ Bill Cook, who became his manager. Columbia Records saw him as a possible "crossover" singer with a foothold in both pop and R&B, and signed him to their subsidiary label Epic. His first single, "You'll Never Walk Alone", became an R&B number 1 for eight weeks, and a national US Top 30 hit in 1954, and shot Hamilton to fame.

He followed up with a string of singles that reached both R&B and pop audiences, many of which were popular show tunes of the day. These included "If I Loved You So" (#4 R&B), "Ebb Tide" (#5 R&B), "Hurt" (#8 R&B), "Unchained Melody" (#1 R&B, #6 pop), and "Don’t Let Go" (#2 R&B, #13 pop).[citation needed] His style and sound directly influenced later artists such as Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich and the the Righteous Brothers, all of whom covered his music .

In mid-1956, Hamilton announced his retirement due to his illness with tuberculosis and exhaustion, but returned the following year. When he came back, he adopted the harder gospel sound of his youth, to compete with rock and roll and the emerging soul sound. Hamilton appeared in the film Let's Rock, in 1958. His last hit record, "You Can Have Her" (#6 R&B, #12 pop), came in 1961, and was followed by the album Mr. Rock And Soul (1962). The Epic label treated Hamilton as a major star and issued sixteen albums by him. However, by the mid 1960s, his career declined while recording with MGM and then RCA.

In mid-1956, Hamilton announced his retirement due to his illness with tuberculosis and exhaustion, but returned the following year. When he came back, he adopted the harder gospel sound of his youth, to compete with rock and roll and the emerging soul sound. Hamilton appeared in the film Let's Rock, in 1958. His last hit record, "You Can Have Her" (#6 R&B, #12 pop), came in 1961, and was followed by the album Mr. Rock And Soul (1962). The Epic label treated Hamilton as a major star and issued sixteen albums by him. However, by the mid 1960s, his career declined while recording with MGM and then RCA.

His final recordings were made in Memphis, Tennessee, at record producer Chips Moman's American Sound Studio at the same time that Elvis Presley recorded there in early 1969.[6] Songs released from those sessions were versions of James Carr's "The Dark End of the Street", Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe", and "Angelica", a Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil song that had been submitted to Presley, but which he then turned over to Hamilton.

Later years and death

Hamilton died later in 1969, not long after suffering a stroke, at age 40, in New Rochelle, New York. Hamilton's "You'll Never Walk Alone" disc was brought in from the US by a sailor friend of Gerry Marsden. As a result, Gerry & the Pacemakers recorded the track to further success.

Hamilton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

"Hurt".

"Ebb Tide"

"Unchained Melody"

"Don't Let Go"

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

How many artists were influenced by , and recorded these songs ??

Roy Hamilton should be inducted !!!

Posted by bill g on Sunday, 03/29/2015 @ 00:13am

He is a great singer and should have been in the rocknroll Hall of fame years ago

Posted by Brian Davies on Wednesday, 02/16/2022 @ 08:46am

I totally agree. It's a crime that Mr. Roy Hamilton is not in the Rock and Roll HOF. Before there was Elvis, there was Roy Hamilton. In one year 1954 the songs he recorded was either number one or in the top ten including crossover, also covered by artists that made the top ten. Epic Records was put on the map by Mr. Hamilton in it's inaugural year of 1954. I can't understand why this gifted singer was overlooked by the Rock and Roll HOF committee. It's sad and shocking.

Posted by B. Smith on Sunday, 02/20/2022 @ 19:39pm

Elvis Presley copied much of his appealing style from Roy Hamilton.

Elvis loved Unchained Melody by Hamilton.

Elvis used several songs previously recorded by Hamilton as one of the mainstays of his shows.

Elvis traveled specifically to work with Hamilton on several occasions.

In other words, Roy Hamilton was one of the few in Elvis' Hall of Fame.

If Elvis belongs in theHall, so does Roy who inspired much of Elvis' sound.

Posted by Dr Ron Bernard on Tuesday, 07/5/2022 @ 11:43am

Early Influence - even if only just for Elvis Presley and The Righteous Brothers.

Posted by Bookhouse on Friday, 12/23/2022 @ 02:39am