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The life and career of Roy Hamilton, a thread:
Roy Hamilton was born Rodothas Hamilton on April 16th, 1929 in Leesburg, Georgia, where he first started singing in church at the age of six.
When he was 14, his family moved to New Jersey in search of a better life. While living there, he studied commercial art and was even gifted enough to have some of his works on display in galleries in New York City.
In February 1947, Roy won a amateur talent contest at the Apollo Theater, but didn’t get the big break he wanted, recalling: "I couldn't get a break, I really had nothing different to offer, they were seeking Blues singers at the time, and I didn’t know any blues at all."
To support himself while developing his vocal style, he worked as a electric technician during the day, and a amateur boxer at night, with a record of six wins and one defeat. The 6th win being a rematch against the man who had beaten him.
Roy later recalled about his last boxing match: "I never liked to hurt anyone, I just don't have that killer instinct a professional boxer has to have."
In 1948, he joined the Searchlight Gospel Singers and studied light opera with vocal coach J. Martin Rolls for more than a year. In 1953, the Searchlight Singers broke up, and Roy headed back into pop music, finally feeling he had something different to offer.
In mid-1953, Roy was discovered at a Newark nightclub by Bill Cook, who became his manager. Cook made a demo tape of Roy singing and brought it to Colombia Records. He was then signed to Okeh Records.
On November 11th, 1953, Roy started his first recordings sessions for Okeh Records in New York City, which produced his version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the musical Carousel
Before the single was released, Columbia resigned Roy to the newly-launched label, Epic Records. "You'll Never Walk Alone" then went on to top the Billboard charts for eight weeks and became a Top-30 hit.
The next single, another Rodgers and Hammerstein tune, "If I Loved You", went on to reach #4 on the R&B charts.
On July 24th, 1954, Roy, along with fellow singers Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan, appeared on the bill of "Star Night", Since he was the newcomer of the lineup, he was given only six minutes to perform two songs.
His plan was to perform "You'll Never Walk Alone" and its b-side. But Perry Como announced during rehearsals that he was going to be performing it that night. Roy was forced into performing a replacement on the spot, and decided on "Ebb Tide"
By the time he had finished and exited the stage, all 82,000 audience members were on their feet, applauding.
On July 28th, four days after his Star Night appearance, Epic Records set up a recording session for Ebb Tide, which became his third straight hit.
On Saturday, September 11th, 1954, Roy made his national television debut on CBS's Stage Show, followed by another television appearance months later on The Ed Sullivan Show on March 6th, 1955, where he performed "You'll Never Walk Alone"
Ten days after his Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Epic rushed to set up a recording session for Roy to record Al Hibbler's version of "Unchained Melody". Roy's version went on to reach the top spot on the R&B chart and #6 on the Pop chart.
Shorty after "Unchained Melody", Roy recorded the following songs: Vincent Youman's "Without a Song", Jimmy McHugh's "Cuban Love Song", Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Everybody's Got a Home But Me", and Frank Loesser's "Somebody Somewhere"
In mid-1956, Roy developed a lung condition bordering on tuberculosis, and announced his retirement. When he returned a year later, he could no longer generate hits because of rock and roll becoming predominant in the music industry.
So in late-1957, Epic persuaded Roy into recording "Don't Let Go", an R&B/rock record produced by Otis Blackwell. By early-1958, "Don't Let Go" became the 2nd US Top-15 hit of his career and the first ever Top-40 hit to be recorded in stereo.
In 1958 and 1959 respectively, Roy appeared in the films "Let's Rock!", where he performed "Here Comes Love" and "The Secret Path to Love", and "Hawaiian Boy", appearing in an cameo role performing "Unchained Melody" (Roy pictured below in "Let's Rock!")
Roy's last hit record, "You Can Have Her", came in 1961, and was followed by the 1962 album Mr. Rock And Soul. By the mid-60s, while he was signed to MGM then RCA, his recording career declined.
In January 1969, Roy made his final recordings in Memphis, Tennessee at American Sound Studio, where he met long-time fan, Elvis Presley, who gave over a song that was submitted to him, "Angelica".
Other songs from the session includes: "It's Only Make Believe" and "The Dark End Of The Street"
In early July 1969, Roy suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in New Rochelle, New York, and was taken to New Rochelle General Hospital where he laid in a coma for more than a week before being removed from life support and passing away at the age of 40.
At his funeral services, messages of condolences by Elvis, gospel legend Mahalia Jackson and blues legend B.B. King were read.
In 2010, Roy was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and family and fans are currently working to get him on the ballot, and inducted, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(End of thread)
