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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHAMILTON, Roy(b 16 April 1929, Leesburg GA; d 20 July 1969) Singer. Big, beautiful baritone in the mould of Billy Eckstine and Al Hibbler had ballad success in pop market, big influence on the next decade's soul music. With Searchlight Gospel Singers in Jersey City '48; local disc jockey Bill Cook became his manager and obtained contract with Epic; 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was no. 1 R&B hit '54; 'If I Loved You' and 'Ebb Tide' were top five same year. There were four hit versions of 'Unchained Melody' in '55 alone, written by film composer Alex North (b 4 December 1910, Chester PA; d 8 September 1991. Los Angeles; film work included Viva Zapata! '52, The Rose Tattoo '55, The Long Hot Summer '58, many more as well as the prison drama Unchained '55; his Revue For Clarinet and Orchestra was commissioned by Benny Goodman). The Les Baxter instrumental was no. 1 on the pop chart but Roy's (lyrics by Hy Zaret, b 21 August 1907, NYC; d 2 July 2007, Westport CT) was no. 4 pop and the biggest R&B record of the year. He had nine more Hot 100 entries '55-61, faded from the charts; recorded for MGM, RCA, etc. Died of heart attack. ('Unchained' was revived by the Righteous Bros a decade later and by UK TV actors two decades after that; see Stock, Aitken and Waterman.) |