BILLY JOE ROYAL, "DARK GLASSES" C/W "PERHAPS," FAIRLANE 21023 (REL. 11/1962)
Billy
Joe Royal was part of the musical community of Atlanta, Georgia—a regional
hotbed when Black and white music forms mingled and cross-influenced. Born in
1942, he was of the ideal age to be affected by the onset of rock ‘n’ roll.
With Sam Cooke among his musical idols, Royal formed a band and had a house
residency at a Savannah, GA nightspot.
In
Atlanta, Royal became friends with Joe South, a songwriter-producer-performer
who had achieved some national chart hits by 1961, when he got Royal signed to
Fairlane, a label distributed and manufactured by King Records, and thus rewarded
with that label’s superior heavy vinyl pressings. He made two singles for
Fairlane; neither troubled the musical world and Royal continued to perform and
record. In 1965, he achieved mainstream success with the Joe South-penned “Down
in the Boondocks,” which Columbia Records got into the national Top 10—the first
of 16 chart hits that went into 1989. The resultant album got into the Top 100
LPs of 1965 and is a fine example of the cross-pollenated musical vibe of 1965.
A
far cry from that big hit was today’s 45—Royal’s second Fairline offering and
very much of its late 1962 time and feel. It contains two Joe South songs
(always a plus) and captures pop music in an in-between phase.
“Dark
Glasses” is a school-of-Gene Pitney mid-tempo mover about a heartbroken fellow
who’s so ashamed of his constant tears he disguises them with the titular
fashion accessory. They don’t seem to have solved his emotional problems, but a
person’s gotta do what they’ve gotta do.
While
this sounds like a mash-up of a dozen other recent songs, it’s well-produced
and has an atmosphere that might have gotten lost on a major-label production.
Royal’s voice shows his admiration of Black vocalists—an unavoidable influence
in the Deep South of the early 1960s.
>>> Hear it HERE! <<<
On
the flip, it’s quasi-Elvis time with “Perhaps,” a Swamp Pop-tinged ballad that
one can imagine Th’ King emoting on an LP track or single B-side. Royal’s
tremulous voice is nothing like Presley’s; he sounds more like Gene Pitney
attempting to sing like Tommy Hunt, the lead voice on The Flamingos’ classic “I
Only Have Eyes for You.”
This
is what I call a coloring-book song. Every element is set and easy to
comprehend; the musicians’ task is to fill in the musical blanks with enough
tone to make a familiar song appealing. They colored inside the lines and did a
neat job; as with many Atlanta-made records of the day, it sounds as smooth as
a Chet Atkins production from Nashville. Nothing here to remove footwear;
neither is it a rote throwaway.
>>> Hear it HERE! <<<
All
parties involved went on to bigger and better things as the ‘60s rolled on. This
wasn’t a bad start!
Tomorrow: The Edsels deliver two solid senders on a 1962 Capitol single: a dark-humored novelty about gambling and a moody Elvis-ish rockabilly/soul ballad.
Than you, Frank! Man, he really DOES sound like Pitney on these tracks. I bought a 45 of his "Down In the Boondocks" when it cam out and still have it. I still enjoy that track, too.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of him. Worth a listen; thanks!
ReplyDeleteRoyal seems to be singing slightly out of his range but still two good songs nicely recorded.
ReplyDelete