Other hits followed for Royal, including "Hush" in September 1967 and "Cherry Hill Park" in 1969. Thanks to his newfound prominence, Royal joined Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, a three-month tour of one-night stands that featured headliners such as the Shirelles, Neil Diamond, and Tom Jones. In May of the next year he released "Heart's Desire," followed by "Campfire Girls" in September. Royal returned with "I've Got to Be Somebody" in December. A follow-up single in September, called "I Knew You When," broke into the top 20. "Down in the Boondocks" entered the American top 40 chart on July 3, 1965, and thereafter made headway into the top ten, peaking at number nine. In 1965 Royal recorded "Boondocks" once again at the Columbia recording studio, where a converted septic tank was used to create the song's echo-chamber sound effects. Once again, it was South who originally had introduced Royal to Lowery. Lowery then assisted Royal in securing a six-year contract with Columbia Records. The original track by Royal was recorded in Atlanta in 1962, but in a twist of fate the demo attracted the attention not of Pitney, but rather of Bill Lowery, a well-connected music producer and publisher. South, as it happened, had hoped to pitch the song to Gene Pitney (who was already a popular star) and requested that Royal record a demo of the tune. It was South, in fact, who wrote "Down in the Boondocks," the recording that made Royal a star. There he made a number of cover recordings and made contact again with South. When these early demos failed to attract attention, he moved to Cincinnati in an ongoing quest for a recording contract.
Release date for the song i knew you when billy joe royal professional#
Working five-hour stints on stage and maintaining six-day workweeks, Royal likewise established professional associations with leading R&B artists -the Isley Brothers and Sam Cooke among others.īeginning in 1962 Royal taped an assortment of low-budget demos and singles, and sent them to Motown and other major labels. During this period Royal shared living quarters for a time with songwriter Joe South, and the two developed a personal friendship. Royal also formed his own band, Billy Joe and the Corvettes, during high school, and by age 16 he was performing locally on a regular basis.Īfter graduation Royal moved to Savannah, where for two years he made regular appearances at the city's popular soul and rhythm-and-blues clubs. The program featured prominent guest artists and brought Royal into professional contact with classic country music artists such as Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed, and various members of the Grand Ole Opry radio barn dance cast. At age 14 Royal joined a musical revue called Georgia Jubilee. He then learned to play the steel guitar. He delivered newspapers as a schoolboy, but by age 11 he was in pursuit of a show-business career, beginning with regular singing appearances on his uncle's radio show. The family moved to Marietta when Royal was seven years of age, and to Atlanta three years later. He was the son of a self-employed truck driver. Royal was born on Ap(or 1945, according to some sources) in Valdosta, Georgia. Clear and direct in his vocal delivery, Royal performed on guitar, piano, and drums, and also made his mark as a published composer. He earned stardom in his own right in the 1960s after the release of a top ten hit single, "Down in the Boondocks." Despite periods of low visibility, Royal's popularity endured through the next three decades and into the new millennium. Rising from the unpretentious background of a Georgia schoolboy, Billy Joe Royal was rubbing elbows with the most popular country and rhythm-and-blues performers of the 1950s by the time he had graduated from high school.
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