Billy Joe Royal
| Billy Joe Royal | |
|---|---|
Royal in 1966
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| Background information | |
| Born |
April 3, 1942 Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | October 6, 2015 (aged 73) Morehead City, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock and roll, country, gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1950s–2015 |
| Labels | Sussex, Columbia, Atlantic, Tower |
| Website | Official website |
Billy Joe Royal (April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015) was an American pop and country singer. His most successful record was "Down in the Boondocks" in 1965.
Born in Valdosta, Georgia to Clarence Royal and Mary Sue Smith, and raised in Marietta, Georgia, Royal performed at the Georgia Jubilee in Atlanta during his teens. He formed his own rock and roll band, and became a local star at the Bamboo Ranch in Savannah in the late 1950s and early 1960s, where his singing style was influenced by African-American performers including Sam Cooke.
He was a friend of performer and songwriter Joe South, and recorded what was intended as a demo of South's song "Down in the Boondocks". The recording was heard at Columbia Records, who offered Royal a singing contract in 1965 and released his version of the song, produced by South. "Down in the Boondocks" remained his best-known song, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 38 in the UK.
He followed up his initial success with the singles "I Knew You When" (Top 20, 1965) and "Hush" (1967), also written and produced by Joe South. Another South composition, "Yo-Yo," just missed the top 40 in Canada and charted poorly in the U.S. when Royal released it in 1967, but a later remake by The Osmonds was a much greater success. His 1969 single, "Cherry Hill Park", peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the 1970s his recording of "Heart's Desire" gained popularity among Northern soul enthusiasts and was regularly played in Northern soul nightclubs.
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