Roscoe Shelton (August 22, 1931 – July 27, 2002) was an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

and R&B

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. He is best remembered for his 1965 hit single "Strain on My Heart" and for his working relationships with the Fairfield Four and with

Bobby Hebb Robert Von Hebb (July 26, 1938 – August 3, 2010) was an American R&B and soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer known for his 1966 hit entitled " Sunny". Biography Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His par ...

. Other notable recordings include "Think It Over" and "Baby Look What You're Doin' to Me". Fred James, who produced much of Shelton's later work, noted that Shelton moved effortlessly into

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

, unlike many of his 1950s blues and R&B recording contemporaries.

Biography

Shelton was born in

Lynchburg, Tennessee Lynchburg is a city in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is governed by a consolidated city-county government unit whose boundaries coincide with those of Moore County. Lynchburg is best known as the location of Jack D ...

, and raised in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. In 1949 he joined the Fairfield Four, singing lead vocals on their gospel music recordings. He then spent four years as a draftee in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. Upon discharge he joined the Skylarks in 1956 and recorded for Excello's subsidiary

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

Nashboro Records. After the group disbanded, Shelton sang alongside and toured with both

and DeFord Bailey, Jr. In 1961 Shelton's debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''Roscoe Shelton Sings'', was released by Excello, and various

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

followed, including "Strain on My Heart" (1965). The track was a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

success on the '' Billboard'' R&B chart. By this time Shelton's recordings were released by Sound Stage 7, including another Top 40 hit, "Easy Going Fellow." His next album, ''Soul in His Music, Music in His Soul'', was released in 1966, but the long gap between albums stalled his career. However, Shelton performed on the same bill as

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

at the Apollo Theater. The deaths of Redding and Sam Cooke, who had been friends of Shelton's, took their toll on him. Shelton left the music industry in 1969 and went to work for the

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Medical school in the United States, medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Te ...

, in Nashville. In 1994 Shelton,

Earl Gaines Earl Gaines, Jr. (August 19, 1935 – December 31, 2009) was an American soul blues and electric blues singer. Born in Decatur, Alabama, he sang lead vocals on the hit single " It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", credited to Louis Brooks an ...

, and

Clifford Curry Clifford Curry Jr. (November 3, 1936 – September 7, 2016) was an American beach music, soul music, and R&B singer. Early life and career Curry was born on November 3, 1936 in the Bearden neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee. Curry's career ...

found work billed as the Excello Legends. In 1995, Shelton's song "You Were the Dream" was used in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the film ''

Blue Juice ''Blue Juice'' is a 1995 British drama film directed by Carl Prechezer and starring Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ewan McGregor, and Steven Mackintosh. It follows JC (Pertwee) as he attempts to reconcile his surfer lifestyle and loser f ...

''. Shelton resumed recording with the producer Fred James, releasing, amongst others, the album ''Let It Shine'' in 1998, and Shelton's and Gaines's joint effort ''Let's Work Together''. Shelton died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Nashville, in July 2002, at the age of 70. Two years after his death, Shelton's "Say You Really Care" was included on the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

–winning compilation album ''

Night Train to Nashville A two disc compilation of R&B songs from 1945 to 1970 recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. The compilation was spawned by an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It won a Grammy Award for producers Michael Gray and Daniel Cooper a ...

''.

Discography

Albums

*''Roscoe Shelton Sings'' ( Excello, 1961) *''Soul in His Music, Music in His Soul'' ( Sound Stage 7, 1966) *''Strain on Your Heart'' (

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

, 1987) *''Roscoe Shelton Sings'' (

P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

, 1995) *''She's the One'' (Appaloosa, 1996) *''Tennessee R&B Live'' (Appaloosa, 1997) *''Let It Shine'' ( Black Top, 1998) *''Let's Work Together'' (Cannonball, 2000)

Singles

*"I've Been Faithful" / "We've Been Wrong" (1960) (Excello 2146) *"Strain on My Heart" (1965), US

R&B singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, number 25 *"Easy Going Fellow" (1966), US R&B singles, number 32

References

External links