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Roy Young rocks at the Half Moon

There's nothing sophisticated or subtle about the music of Roy Young, who played a birthday gig at the Half Moon, Putney, last night. It was straight-ahead rocking boogie woogie from beginning to end as he belted through the Little Richard songbook, with occasional diversions through Larry Williams, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles territory. Roy got his start on Oh Boy in the late 50s when he impressed Jack Good, who was a Little Richard fan. He's played with a who's who of rock and roll, including Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Little Richard himself, and later played with Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.

He's no originator (apart from his own composition Big Fat Mama - dedicated to his mum) but as an interpreter of early rock and roll he's 'incredible' - as his billing puts it. His band gave him great support, especially saxman Howie Casey, whose early Liverpool band the Seniors once featured a young Freddie Starr (then known as Freddie Fowell) on vocals, and drummer Paul Gill.

Roy started with Slow Down, the Larry Williams number, but that was one thing he didn't do throughout his set. He showed off his strong boogie woogie playing on a string of Little Richard numbers (Can't Believe You Want To Leave, Bama Lama Bama Lu, Keep a Knockin', Ready Teddy, Hey Hey Hey Hey, She's Got It, Ooh My Soul and, as an encore, Lucille). He interspersed these with a few numbers from Fats Domino (Jambalaya, I'm Ready, Blue Monday and Ain't That A Shame), plus Ray Charles' Mess Around, Chuck Willis' Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes and Jerry Lee's Great Balls of Fire - with audience participation. His voice was getting stretched by the end as he blasted his way through this high octane set, but his piano bashing didn't let up for a moment.

Having seen Roy, Howie and the band at a couple of 2Is shows, I knew what to expect. He didn't disappoint and it was good to see him doing a full length set.

The Vinyl Word - October 2011

 

ROY YOUNG INTERVIEW WITH JOHN HANNAM ON ISLE OF WIGHT RADIO - JULY 2009

 
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REVIEWS OF 'ROY YOUNG - THE BEST OF 50 YEARS'

This month it is exactly 50 years ago that Roy Young's first single was released. With his dynamic vocals (a mix of Little Richard and Joe Cocker) and his pounding boogie woogie piano playing, Roy has made a living as a professional musician since 1959, even though he never scored a hit, not in his native England, nor anywhere else. The most likely description you will hear of Roy is "England's Little Richard" and he's happy with that. "I have a powerrful voice, it is not wimpy, it is a rock 'n' roll voice."

Roy Young (his real name) was probably born in 1937, in London. He left school at 14 and at 18 he joined the Merchant Navy to travel the world. While on leave in Australia, he got his first taste of rock'n' roll when he saw the film "Blackboard Jungle". Thinking he was going to see a film along the lines of Tarzan, what he saw and heard on screen blew him away. Roy was so excited that he couldn't wait to return to England to share his new found love of rock 'n' roll with British audiences. But getting into rock 'n' roll proved harder than he had anticipated. His real break came when he auditioned for "Oh Boy!" in 1958, singing "Long Tall Sally" while attacking the piano in Little Richard style. Jack Good, himself a Little Richard fan, hired him on the spot. After "Oh Boy!" ended, he kept appearing on TV regularly, in the shows "Boy Meets Girl", "Wham" (both also produced by Jack Good) and "Drumbeat" (where he was backed by the John Barry Seven).

In 1959 he was signed to Fontana, a subsidiary of Philips. However, his first A-side, a cover of Dee Clark's "Just Keep It Up" was an ill-advised choice (Fontana H 200). The B-side, the exuberant "Big Fat Mama" suited his style much better, but received no airplay. It was a tribute to his mother, believe it or not. "She was a fat lady and she loved it" says Roy. More Fontana singles followed and Roy did extensive tours of the UK and Ireland, with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, among others

By 1961, Roy was working in Hamburg, Germany, first at the Top Ten Club, then at the famous Star Club, where he met the Beatles. For several weeks in the spring of 1962, he played keyboard with the group and sang background vocals. Brian Epstein was so impressed that he approached Young with an offer to return to England to procure an international record contract with the Beatles. But Young was tied to an exclusive three-year contract with the Star Club and had to turn down the offer. He remained good friends with the Beatles and was instrumental in bringing Ringo Starr to the group. Both Young and Starr had played in the Beat Brothers with Tony Sheridan in Hamburg.

Returning to England in 1964, Roy joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers as their pianist and second vocalist. He can be heard on their two Top 10 hits, "One Way Love" (1964) and "Got To Get You Into My Life" (1966). Cliff Bennett developed a powerful, brassy sound and this permeated into Roy's work with the Roy Young Band in the early 1970s. From this period comes my own personal Roy Young favourite, "Space Racer", written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, no less. Perhaps not really rock 'n' roll, but quite frantic just the same. It was featured in the movie "Gumshoe" (1971), starring Albert Finney in the leading role and one of the first films of director Stephen Frears. The Roy Young Band made many albums during the 1970s, for a variety of labels. In 1977 Roy moved to Canada (just outside Toronto) and stayed there until 1992, when he relocated to South Florida. He has toured all over Canada and the USA with his band, but now he's back in the UK and still going strong. His current band includes saxophonist Howie Casey, who has testified : "Roy Young was a grerat singer, still is. He can still sing Little Richard songs in F and G, and even Little Richard can't do that."

To celebrate his 50-year anniversary in the music business, a double CD has been released with an overview of his career. It's a mixed bag and less than half of the tracks qualify as rock 'n' roll or boogie woogie, but you can't fail to be impressed by the power of Roy's singing and piano playing. The man deserved much greater commercial success than he has enjoyed.

Dik de Heer July 2009 Shakin_All_Over@yahoogroups.com

As raw as it gets and as young as rock 'n' roll demands, the original English wild man takes stock of his first half a century.

"The leading exponent of early, middle and contemporary piano virtuosity" is how David Bowie depicts his "Low" sidekick Young who may not be as famous as another raw roller, Vince Taylor, yet as biting. But then, Roy's been much wiser as to not die young and continues to hammer the keys and holler to everyone's delight - not less his own, judging by 2000's "I Wanna Do My Boogie Woogie" which retains all the atomic energy of another of his originals, 1959's crackling "Big Fat Mama". Of course, comparisons with Little Richard are inescapable, and the two can be mixed up in the live take on "Keep A Knockin'", yet the veteran does Ray Charles' "Mess Around" just as nicely, and there's top-notch Buddy Holly-isms in "Just Keep It Up".

Capable of camping up such hurricane smashes as Larry Williams' "Slow Down" and "Bony Moronie" with brass, Young throws the Wurlizter glam over the hoodoo grit of his own "Devil's Daughter" and goes disco in 1977's "Shufflin'"; even THE BEATLES' "She's A Woman" and "Lovely Rita" come re-imagined as lushly orchestrated, booming hymns. Solemn and rough in "Beautiful Man" and the equally soulful, yet mellifluous, "Boogie Man", the man is full-on throughout this 27-tracks, double CD collection which is so life-affirming that one can only surmise what Roy Young will come up with in the next 50 years.

4 stars

www.dmme.net

For fifty years Roy Young has been known as one rock ‘n roll’s greatest boogie- woogie piano players. Initially referred to as England’s answer to Little Richard when he started out in the 50’s, Young’s hyperactive playing and vocal style certainly captured people’s attention. He toured with Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Tony Sheridan and even shared the stage with an up and coming, soon to be famous band out of Liverpool you may have heard of called The Beatles, in Hamburg in the early 60’s. In the 70’s Roy performed with his own Roy Young Band, toured with Chick Berry and performed on David Bowie’s Low album, while the 80’s found him working alongside both Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson.

This two disc compilation from the folks over at Angel Air celebrates Young’s remarkable five decade contribution to music, which continues to this day.  The first disc features his earliest recordings, which are absolutely electric performances cut between1959 -1961, and ironically enough includes an explosive cover of Little Richard’s “Keep A Knockin’.  Towards the end of the first disc and over into disc two, which covers a good period of his 70’s work, Young’s sound begins to move more towards straight ahead funky R&B. Often augmented by a blistering horn section Roy’s powerful, soulful vocals and flying fingers quickly kick things into orbit. To prove he’s still capable of delivering the goods well into the new millennium a good portion of the second disc is highlighted by spirited run-throughs of Larry Williams’ “Slow Down”, a “Honky Tonk Women”  style version of The Beatles’ “She’s a Woman” and a stirring rendition of “White Cliffs of Dover”.

If Roy Young hasn’t been on your musical radar previously then picking up Angel Air’s The Best of 50 Years is a great primer to get acquainted with one of rock ‘n roll’s most enduring performers.      

Ryan Sparks www.classicrockrevisited.com
Rating B