Roy Hamilton

Roy Hamilton (April 16, 1929 – July 20, 1969) was an American singer. By combining semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling, he brought soul to Great American Songbook singing.

Hamilton's greatest commercial success came from 1954 through 1961, when he was Epic Records' most prolific artist. His two most influential recordings, "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Unchained Melody", became Epic's first two number-one hits when they topped the Billboard R&B chart in March 1954 and May 1955, respectively.

Early life Roy Hamilton was born in Leesburg,

In February 1947, seventeen-year-old Hamilton took his first big step into secular music, winning a talent contest at the Apollo Theater. Hamilton worked as an electronics technician during the day, and an amateur heavyweight boxer at night, with a record of six wins and one defeat. Hamilton later married Myrna Hamilton, with whom he had 2 sons, Roy Hamilton Jr. and Ray Hamilton. Both sons are actively involved in the music and entertainment industry.

Music career Epic beginning and career rise (1953–1956) In mid-1953, Hamilton was discovered singing in a Newark, New Jersey night club, The Caravan, by Bill Cook, who became his manager. Cook was the first Black American radio disc jockey and television personality on the East Coast. Cook made a demo tape of Hamilton's singing and brought it to the attention of Columbia Records. Columbia was impressed enough to sign Hamilton to their rhythm and blues subsidiary, Okeh Records. The tune, one of the few secular numbers that Hamilton knew at the time, had been his live-performance specialty since 1947. Epic saw that same kind of "crossover" star potential in Hamilton, In spite of poor musical backing, Hamilton's performance on "Walk Alone" is sensational and is the primary reason why it topped the Billboard R&B chart for eight weeks and became a national US Top-30 hit. His follow-up single, "If I Loved You", was another Rodgers and Hammerstein tune from Carousel. Although not as big a hit for Hamilton as "Walk Alone", it still reached number four on the US R&B chart. Since he was the newcomer on the bill, Hamilton was given the least amount of time to perform: six minutes, to perform two songs. Hamilton's plan was to perform "You'll Never Walk Alone", the only song he was known for at the time, and its bouncy b-side. But Perry Como squashed that plan when he announced during afternoon rehearsal that "Walk Alone" was going to be his closing number that night. Hamilton, forced into performing a "Walk Alone" replacement on the spot, decided on "Ebb Tide", a song that had been a hit for Vic Damone a few months earlier—a song that Hamilton himself hadn't yet recorded. That evening, for his second and final number, Hamilton unveiled his gospel-tinged version of "Ebb Tide" before a Soldier Field audience of 82,000. By the time he had finished singing and exited the stage, all 82,000 people were on their feet, applauding, stomping and chanting for more. Changing in his dressing room, Hamilton had to be summoned back out on stage to quiet the crowd. He returned to the stage to witness that even some of his fellow performers—Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughan and orchestra leader Ray Anthony—had joined in the ovation. On July 28, four days after his "Star Night" triumph, Epic Records had Hamilton record, "Ebb Tide". But the national television appearance that put Hamilton's career on the fast track to crossover success was the one he made on the night of March 6, 1955, when he sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" on CBS's top-rated Ed Sullivan Show. In reviewing his performance, Variety magazine summed up Hamilton's new way of singing the Great American Songbook by writing: "Hamilton made good with his single, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', which he endowed with the values of a spiritual."

Ten days after the Sullivan Show appearance, Epic, in a rushed attempt to cover singer Al Hibbler's version of "Unchained Melody", set up a recording session for Hamilton. The resulting single was shipped within five days. Two months later, in the May 18, 1955 issue of Down Beat magazine, Hamilton was named "Vocalist of the Year". Meanwhile, in Billboard magazine's May 21, 1955 issue, Hamilton's gospel-tinged "Unchained Melody" had taken over the top spot on the R&B chart while, on the pop chart, it had reached the number six spot. It was the second number-one R&B hit of his career as well as the first, and only, top-ten US pop hit of his career. When he resumed his career over a year later, Hamilton could no longer generate hit singles performing pop standards because, overnight, rock and roll had become the record industry's predominant commercial force. So, in late 1957, Epic coaxed Hamilton into recording "Don't Let Go", an R&B rocker produced by Otis Blackwell, the man who had written two of the biggest number-one hits of Elvis Presley’s career: "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up". By early 1958, "Don't Let Go" had become the second US top-15 pop hit of Hamilton's career and the first top-40 hit ever recorded in stereo. ), 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.

Later years (1963–1969) By the mid-1960s, Hamilton's career declined while recording with MGM and then RCA.

In January 1969, in Memphis, Tennessee, Hamilton made the final recordings of his career. The tracks were laid down at record producer Chips Moman's American Sound Studio, at the same time Elvis Presley was recording there. Songs released from those Hamilton sessions were cover 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.

Death In early July 1969, Hamilton suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage at his home in New Rochelle, New York. He was taken to New Rochelle General Hospital where he lay in a coma for more than a week. On July 20, 1969, he was removed from life support and died.

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

Hamilton was Epic Records' first star,

Hamilton's distinctive sound was a big influence on Elvis Presley's ballad singing. As author Fred L. Worth noted, "Elvis greatly admired Hamilton's singing ability and style and performed a number of his ballads in Hamilton's style." Also, The Righteous Brothers emulated Hamilton's style to create their blue-eyed soul sound. This is particularly evident in the duo's cover versions of his hits "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Ebb Tide" and "Unchained Melody".

Hamilton's "You'll Never Walk Alone" disc was brought in from the US by a sailor friend of Gerry and the Pacemakers leader Gerry Marsden. As a result, the band recorded a UK version of the song which became the anthem for Liverpool Football Club, sung by the crowd before every home game. The sailor friend noted that Marsden "puts very similar inflections into the song, trying to get it very similar to Roy Hamilton's version."

Discography Singles

Compilation albums

Filmography 1958: Let's Rock, appeared as himself 1959: Hawaiian Boy, appeared as himself. Drama, Musical

Television appearances Date Program Host Songs September 11, 1954 Stage Show Tommy Dorsey & Jimmy Dorsey Unknown Songs March 6, 1955 Ed Sullivan "You'll Never Walk Alone" (with Ray Bloch orchestra) May 1, 1958 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs June 15, 1958 The Steve Allen Show Steve Allen "Ebb Tide" (with Skitch Henderson orchestra) June 26, 1958 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs October 17, 1958 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs January 4, 1959 The Steve Allen Show Steve Allen "Somewhere Along the Way" (with Skitch Henderson orchestra) February 18, 1959 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs April 18, 1959 The Dick Clark Show Dick Clark Unknown Songs June 8, 1961 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs June 16, 1961 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs June 22, 1961 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs July 26, 1961 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs December 20, 1961 American Bandstand Dick Clark Unknown Songs March 23, 1964 The Mike Douglas Show Mike Douglas Unknown Songs