BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

The very first rock artist and one of its most influential artists overall, not just for setting the entire genre into motion with his debut in September 1947 but also for his multiple stylistic precedents that quickly took root and defined rock ‘n’ roll going forward.

Born in New Orleans in 1925, Brown was steeped in gospel as a child but upon singing professionally in his late teens he gravitated towards pop crooning and was considered a gimmick in clubs for being a black singer who sounded white – much like avowed Roy Brown fan Elvis Presley was later singled out for being a white singer who sounded black.

Yet in order to connect with audiences beyond the novelty aspect of his material in relation to his race, Brown began letting band member Wilbert Brown (no relation) sing bluesier songs, including one Roy had written, “Good Rocking Tonight”. When Wilbert fell ill at the start of one performance of the song Roy stepped in and reverted back to his gospel style, significantly altering the feel of the song and creating something entirely new.

Signed in the summer of 1947 to DeLuxe Records his debut on record that September launched rock ‘n’ roll and scoring more than a dozen hits over the next few years he proved to be the ideal rock star – young, brash, a great singer and equally strong songwriter who boasted a tremendous stage show backed by a top-flight band (The Mighty Mighty Men) led by tenor sax ace Leroy “Batman” Rankins.

From his unrestrained gospel-esque vocals in a decidedly secular – and somewhat profane – realm on uptempo romps to his cathartic emotional wailing in songs of romantic agony in ballads he laid the vocal blueprint for much of what followed. His lyrical cockiness was given free reign in his boastful songs which embodied the distinct perspective of the post-war black community in broader terms, setting rock apart from all other styles in terms of outlook.

Brown’s early success also helped to make New Orleans the epicenter of rock’s first two decades, providing the impetus for record companies to sign other artists from the area which in turn ensured that the sound of the city would increasingly be spread nationwide.

Though he lasted longer than most of the 40’s rock stars, hitting the charts for the last time in 1957 while the next generation of artists, among them Elvis Presley, James Brown and Jackie Wilson all openly borrowed Roy’s style, his own career was nearing the end of the line commercially. Forced for a time in the 1960’s to become a door to door salesman to make ends meet, Brown recorded sporadically over the next two decades, his career revived to a degree by acclaimed live performances with Johnny Otis early in the 1970’s which led to a new recording contract and his best selling records in twenty years along with a successful European tour.

Before he could fully capitalize on the growing interest in rock history as it began to be more thoroughly documented in the 80’s the founder of rock ‘n’ roll died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 55 shortly after a delivering rousing performance at The New Orleans Jazz Festival in 1981.

Roy Brown’s vocal prowess, stylistic versatility, deep song catalog and massive influence along with his immeasurable impact for coming up with the components of rock in the first place and spreading the sound to masses with hit after hit in its formative years make him among the Top 50 artists in rock history, yet over time Brown never received the widespread historical acclaim for such a vital career.
 
 
ROY BROWN DISCOGRAPHY (Reviews To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):
 
 
GOOD ROCKING TONIGHT
(DeLuxe 1093; September, 1947)
The record that launched rock ‘n’ roll, a call to arms featuring Brown’s brazen wailing while the vibrant scene he paints with lyrics celebrate rock’s central concepts in no uncertain terms. Compared to everything else in music at the time this was shocking, but for the audience that embraced it and would come to define rock going forward it was a transformative moment. (7)

LOLLY POP MAMA
(DeLuxe 1093; September, 1947)
A stronger composition than performance thanks to the ill-suited band who are completely out of sync with Brown who is forced to deliver a rushed vocal to compensate. Nevertheless his impressive voice and his ability in structuring the song gives plenty of indication that he was shaping up to be something out of the ordinary. (4)

SPECIAL LESSON NO. 1
(DeLuxe 1098; October, 1947)
Racy, somewhat unsettling sex-themed song is also a bit of a let-down musically, notable largely because it was cut before the full impact of his debut could be absorbed, thus giving us a look into the type of material he might’ve done without a clearer career path laid out before him. (3)

WOMAN’S A WONDERFUL THING
(DeLuxe 1098; October, 1947)
A ramshackle effort epitomizing the uncertain mindset of the period immediately after rock’s birth but before its confirmation as a viable style unto itself, well crafted to a degree but without much bite or direction. (3)

ROY BROWN BOOGIE
(DeLuxe 1107; November, 1947)
Derivative but reasonably effective crowd pleaser highlighted by the first appearance of “Batman” Rankins on sax, who delivers a blistering solo and would go on to define the tremendous band Brown would showcase over the years. (6)

MIGHTY MIGHTY MAN
(DeLuxe 1128; December, 1947)
Solid idea played a little too frantic by the still mismatched studio band, yet Brown’s lyrics perfectly capture the braggadocio spirit of rock as he revels in his newfound glory. (6)

MISS FANNY BROWN
(DeLuxe 1128; December, 1947)
Flexing his writing skills Brown offers up a riveting melodrama worthy of the stage, effectively shifting his persona to one of confusion and shame while matching the tawdry tale of the lyrics with a distressed vocal that’s more than up to the task. (7)

‘LONG ABOUT MIDNIGHT
(DeLuxe 1154; March, 1948)
A brilliant after hours lament that’s a vocal tour de force for Brown who wrings untold emotion out of every line, in the process showing off his versatility and confirming his place at the head of the rock movement. (8)

WHOSE HAT IS THAT?
(DeLuxe 1154; March, 1948)
Brown’s energetic performance can’t salvage a song whose story is in poor taste, but as he was still in search of his first legitimate hit and was trying on different personas the attempt is at least understandable, if not pardonable in a court of law. (3)

MISS FANNY BROWN RETURNS
(DeLuxe 3189; September, 1948)
Unimaginative sequel which by trying to artificially shoehorn the existing characters into an ill-conceived happy ending invalidates the original, and far-better, record entirely… an affront to creativity. (1)

RAINY WEATHER BLUES
(DeLuxe 3198; November, 1948)
Rock’s most dynamic singer of his era lays into a song about sex and delivers all of the emotional exuberance required to connect, aided immensely by a strong arrangement and a surprisingly lethal guitar. (7)

‘FORE DAY IN THE MORNING
(DeLuxe 3198; November, 1948)
Emotionally cathartic performance is masterfully delivered but the despondent nature of the song makes it less accessible for casual listening and more suited to hearing in a state of solitary emotional confinement. (6)

ROCKIN’ AT MIDNIGHT
(DeLuxe 3212; March, 1949)
It may be just a re-write of Good Rocking Tonight but the arrangement’s been overhauled and it rolls out of the garage a fine-tuned machine, its engine roaring at full throttle with a confident Brown at the wheel. (9)

JUDGMENT DAY BLUES
(DeLuxe 3212; March, 1949)
Returning to his gospel upbringing in a fire & brimstone delivery Brown offers yet another facet of his persona, unexpected, interesting and ultimately worth the effort. (6)

RIDING HIGH
(DeLuxe 3226; June, 1949)
Though well sung and enthusiastically played the song comes across as a shallow highlight reel of past glories, a warmed over pastiche of his best traits rather than something original… still good, but not up to our heightened expectations for Brown. (6)

PLEASE DON’T GO (COME BACK BABY)
(DeLuxe 3226; June, 1949)
A rather surprising hit for such a below-par performance as Brown wallows in misery, incoherently blathering about being dumped for reasons which should be obvious after listening to him whine like this. (3)

BOOGIE AT MIDNIGHT
(DeLuxe 3300; October, 1949)
Arguably the pinnacle of Brown’s career, certainly one of the defining rock hits of the 1940’s, a blistering hot party anthem in which he and Batman Rankins compete to see which one can explode first in this unrelenting orgy of musical decadence. ★ 10 ★

THE BLUES HAS GOT ME
(DeLuxe 3300; October, 1949)
From the highs of perhaps his best side to the lows of one of his worst on the flip, this finds Roy taking us back a half dozen years with an hoary arrangement, a story that isn’t very original or deep and a mindset that almost refutes his bolder declarations as rock’s leading figure. (2)

BUTCHER PETE
(DeLuxe 3301; January, 1950)
A record that deserves its notoriety as Brown and the band are frantic from start to finish over both sides of the record highlighted by great sax solos and vocal enthusiasm, but the questionable content and its single-minded repetitiveness might be too much to take. (6)

I FEEL THAT YOUNG MAN’S RHYTHM
(DeLuxe 3302; April, 1950)
Brown’s tremendous for the most part here, singing with gusto on a song that astutely blends braggadocio with underlying insecurity, but holding him back some is a band that’s plenty energetic but a little too brassy to match his swagger. (7)

END OF MY JOURNEY
(DeLuxe 3302; April, 1950)
A despondent – if overreacting – Roy is saddled with an appropriately maudlin – but uninspired and outdated – arrangement leading to a rather desultory – though well sung – record that is easily bypassed without much guilt on the listener’s part. (3)

HARD LUCK BLUES
(DeLuxe 3304; May, 1950)
Perhaps Brown’s most compelling performance, a tour de force of emotional anguish set to music with descriptive imagery and a sparsely bleak arrangement to complete the atmosphere, but if anything it’s almost too emotionally powerful to be easily embraced. (8)

NEW REBECCA
(DeLuxe 3304; May, 1950)
Though its revelations of sorrow in the lyrics don’t mesh with the unrelentingly wild music and vocal delivery this record is so infectious that it hardly matters, with both Brown and The Griffin Brothers band hitting like a ton of bricks. (7)

DREAMING BLUES
(DeLuxe 3306; August, 1950)
Not well remembered today this has strong lyrics, tremendous playing by Edgar Blanchard and the horn section and a vocal in which Brown lays back and squeezes every ounce of emotion from his soul, a record overshadowed by his hits yet can stand with any of them. (8)

LOVE DON’T LOVE NOBODY
(DeLuxe 3306; August, 1950)
Sheer brilliance from top to bottom as Brown turns the subject matter on its head, singing a downbeat song in upbeat fashion, his voice soaring to sell the first rate lyrics all while the band matches him every step of the way with a flawless arrangement. ★ 10 ★

CADILLAC BABY
(DeLuxe 3308; September, 1950)
Fueled by the raging hormones of rock ‘n’ roll lust Brown is in top form here vocally, rhythmically and lyrically, tearing down the road at breakneck speed in a music vehicle that hardly needs a jump start since it’s about an entirely different kind of riding. (9)

‘LONG ABOUT SUNDOWN
(DeLuxe 3308; September, 1950)
While similar in approach to an earlier hit, the update makes a few key changes in the optimistic outlook and the supporting instruments which transforms this into something suitably new as Roy sells the perspective well and Johnny Fontenette’s sax shines behind him. (7)

TEEN AGE JAMBOREE
(DeLuxe 3311; December, 1950)
Though the concept is alright, the actual results are dreadful as Brown clearly has no idea what his younger fans’ lives are actually like, whitewashing their social activities and then adding insult to injury by framing it in outdated musical motifs. (2)

DOUBLE CROSSIN’ WOMAN
(DeLuxe 3311; December, 1950)
From the dire theme to the despondent vocals and the stark accompaniment, this is a really good blues record… unfortunately it’s being aimed at the rock market and evaluated in that setting where its qualities won’t be met with the same appreciation. (4)

SWEET PEACH
(DeLuxe 3312; March, 1951)
Balancing despair and elation along with some vaguely suggestive allusions to certain medical misconduct on the part of a saucy female doctor, this has a great New Orleans-styled horn intro and an efficient arrangement behind Brown’s typically impassioned vocals. (7)

GOOD MAN BLUES
(DeLuxe 3312; March, 1951)
Though the topic of impending domesticity runs counter to the song’s vibrant mood this is one of the most explosive rock records to date, incorporating every facet of the music’s past glories in the arrangement while Roy wails with vocal passion until the walls come tumbling down. (8)

BEAUTICIAN BLUES
(DeLuxe 3313; May, 1951)
Though Brown’s voice is as good as always the song’s theme and some of its lines are ridiculous in what he chooses to praise about this woman and because he plays it straight rather than as a farce it falls flat, something not helped by a modest arrangement. (4)

WRONG WOMAN BLUES
(DeLuxe 3313; May, 1951)
A vocal tour de force as Brown wrings out his emotions on a sob story with a surprisingly potent sexual twist containing strong lyrics and a tight arrangement that allows the band to add to the feel without detracting from the star. (7)

BIG TOWN
(DeLuxe 3318; July, 1951)
One of Roy’s best written songs, a pulp tale put to music, laying out the plot with a jeweler’s eye for detail and singing it with a casual self-assurance that is disarming and if the music is merely window dressing, the scenes he paints are so vivid it doesn’t matter. (8)

TRAIN TIME BLUES
(DeLuxe 3318; July, 1951)
Though the plot is nothing too fresh, the vocals are sterling and the band is hitting on all cylinders with a great interwoven arrangement highlighted by Edgar Blanchard’s versatile sounding guitar which makes this an invigorating track. (7)

BAR ROOM BLUES
(DeLuxe 3319; October, 1951)
Exquisitely crafted with some great lyrics and a complex but accessible arrangement featuring some stellar guitar work from Edgar Blanchard behind Brown’s laid back but evocative vocals resulting in a well deserved Top Ten hit. (8)

GOOD ROCKIN’ MAN
(DeLuxe 3319; October, 1951)
A solid premise. strong vocals and some good lyrics are undercut by a derivative title while a good mid-tempo groove fueled by some nice drumming has no musical fireworks in the solo to lift the track to the heights it requires to put this across better. (6)

I’VE GOT THE LAST LAUGH NOW
(DeLuxe 3323; March, 1952)
Equal parts highs and lows as Brown is curiously lacking conviction here in the both the story and his delivery, coming across as unusually artificial, but the band after some early missteps redeem things with two great solos on sax and guitar. (5)

BROWN ANGEL
(DeLuxe 3323; March, 1952)
A well-written and brilliantly performed breakup song that finds Brown pouring out his emotions in heartrending fashion while the subdued arrangement hits all the right buttons in discreetly supporting him and adding emotional color to his lament. (8)