Roy Moss (born August 1929) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

singer. Moss was born in

Plainview, Arkansas Plainview is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 608 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Plainview is located at (34.989554, -93.297826). According to t ...

, and was the cousin of governor Orville Chaney. Little is known of his childhood. Moss began his career after meeting songwriter

Jimmie Skinner Jimmie Skinner (April 27, 1909 – October 28, 1979) was an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio. Biography Ski ...

, who got him a job at radio station WNOP. There he played regularly with the group ''The Country Partners''. He began playing rockabilly music right as it began cresting in the mid-1950s, and around that time

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

helped him get a slot on the show ''

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of th ...

''. Following this, Skinner managed to land Moss a contract with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, and released a few singles in 1956 and 1958, which saw some regional success in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. He toured with Skinner and also worked with country musicians such as

Pee Wee King Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz". Pee Wee King is credited with ...

Cowboy Copas Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline an ...

, and Ray Price. Moving to Detroit, he appeared on various televeision and radio programs. His 1958 single "Juanita" was later covered by

Dale Hawkins Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Ronnie Hawkins was his cousin. Biography He began ...

. At the end of the 1950s he withdrew from music and became a farmer in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In 1994 he made a comeback, releasing an album on

Eagle Records Eagle Records is a British record label, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the United Kingdom, the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the Un ...

with the previous 8 Mercury Recordings and 11 new cuts. The album was recorded at Silverfalls Records in Longview, Texas with Kelli Grant, the Queen of Swing doing all arrangements. Musicians included Kelli Grant on piano and bass along with guitarist Johnny Patterson and Jeff Ebner on drums. .

Singles

References

* Roy Mossat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Roy 1929 births Living people American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Country musicians from Arkansas