One of the names that certainly most contributed to the creation process and thr explosion of what would become rockabilly and rock and roll, was rhythm and blues singer Roy Brown. His personal way of singing provided all the feeling, enthusiasm, energy and self-confidence that new music required. The release in 1948 of his song “Good Rocking Tonight” marked a before and after in the evolution of popular music. Together with him, other musicians like B.B. King or Jackie Wilson followed that way that, later on, would be taken by a whole generation of performers like Wynonie Brown, Little Richard, Dave Bartholomew, James Brown and, of course, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others, who built up rock & roll as the music of the twentieth century.

Born on September 10, 1925 (although in his graveyard his birth date is credited as 1920) in New Orleans or, according to other people, in Kinder, Louisiana, in a family where his mother was a gospel choir director and organ player, Roy created his first band at the age of thirteen. A year after his graduation, Roy travelled to Los Angeles to make a living as a singer, although he started to earn money as a boxer. In 1945 luck smiled on him, starting a fruitful music career marked by an overwhelming success that lasted until his death on May 25, 1981, from a heart attack, just a month after performing as a great star at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Thanks to Bear Family Records we are now lucky to savor and enjoy an impressive collection of thirty songs coming from this charismatic singer, in an album that invites us to run through all these valuable compositions that will make listeners to remember, not only Roy Brown’s amazing singing but also verify the musical richness of those styles that marked an era that, with records like this one, will never die.

The album includes an extensive and documented booklet signed by Bill Dahl with an interesting and complete Brown’s biography, as well as his extensive discography.

A real musical treasure for most Afro-American music lovers and specially for rhythm and blues and rockabilly followers.