Roy Frederick Young (20 October 1934 – 27 April 2018) was a British

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

singer, pianist and keyboard player. He first recorded in the late 1950s before performing in

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with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. After a stint with Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, he released several albums with his own band as well as recording with Chuck Berry and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, among others.

Biography

Young was born in Poplar,

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, and moved with his family to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

at the age of seven. He learned to play boogie-woogie piano at home and in

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

clubs, left school at age 14, and joined the Merchant Navy. While in Australia, he saw the film ''

Blackboard Jungle ''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. I ...

'', and, after returning to England, began a career as a professional singer and musician. In 1958 he auditioned successfully for Jack Good's TV show '' Oh Boy!'', singing and playing piano in the style of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, and performed regularly on other British TV

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

shows including ''

Drumbeat A drum beat or drum pattern is a rhythmic pattern, or repeated rhythm establishing the meter and groove through the pulse and subdivision, played on drum kits and other percussion instruments. As such a "beat" consists of multiple drum strokes ...

'', where he was backed by the

John Barry Seven The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. Origins Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...

, and ''

Boy Meets Girls ''Boy Meets Girls'' was a UK popular music TV show which was launched in September 1959 replacing the earlier show '' Oh Boy!''. The show was presented and produced by Jack Good. Marty Wilde was the principal resident male artist and The Verno ...

''. Billed as Roy "Rock 'em" Young, he recorded his first single, "Just Keep It Up" / "Big Fat Mama" in 1959 for

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

. He released several more singles on the Fontana and

Ember An ember, also called a hot coal, is a hot lump of smouldering solid fuel, typically glowing, composed of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material. Embers (hot coals) can exist within, remain after, or sometimes precede, a ...

labels over the next two years, but they were not commercial successes. Young performed at the 2i's Coffee Bar in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, and toured the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, among others. In 1961, he began working at the Top Ten Club in

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, where he played with Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, who briefly included

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

, and recorded with Sheridan. He then won a contract to play at the rival Star-Club, where he met

, and began performing with them in spring 1962. According to Young, Brian Epstein offered him a place in the group once they had returned to England and signed a record contract, but Young turned down the offer because he had a contract with the Star-Club. Young returned to England in 1964 and joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers – also managed by Epstein – as their keyboard player and second vocalist, regularly duetting with Bennett on covers of Sam and Dave songs, including "I Take What I Want" and " Hold On, I'm Comin'". The group toured with the Beatles in 1966, and Young featured on their hit version of the Beatles' "

Got To Get You Into My Life "Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, first released in 1966 on their album ''Revolver''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is a homage to the Motown Sound, wit ...

", produced by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. He continued with the Rebel Rousers until they split up in 1969, and then formed the Roy Young Band, who released two albums, ''The Roy Young Band'' (1971) and ''Mr. Funky'' (1972); band members included Dennis Elliott, later of Foreigner and Onnie McIntyre, later of the Average White Band. The band backed Chuck Berry on tour. in 1971, under his own name, Young recorded the song "Baby, You're Good For Me," written by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

, for the

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960) ...

film, '' Gumshoe''.Soundtrack Credits
IMDb.com, accessed 17 May 2017 In 1976, Young recorded with

for the album ''

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'', which was released the following year. He continued to perform with the Roy Young Band in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the US, and also worked with, and managed,

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

in the 1970s. He toured the US in the 1980s with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, and also performed at Star-Club reunion concerts with Tony Sheridan,

Howie Casey Howard William Casey (born 12 July 1937) is a British rhythm and blues and rock saxophonist. He came to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of Derry and the Seniors, the first rock and roll band from Liverpool to play clubs in Germany, ...

, Johnny Gustafson and Jimi Magnole He released an album, ''Still Young'', in 2006, featuring songs written by

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obi ...

. Young died at the age of 83 in Oxford on 27 April 2018.

Discography

* 1962: ''

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'', LP by Tony Sheridan with The Beat Brothers. Young plays prominently throughout this album but does not play on the two Beatle tracks. * 1963: ''Twist at the Star Club Hamburg'', a live album of "The Star Combo", Young sings and plays on three songs ("Rip It Up", "Keep A-Knocking", and "Margie" and plays on the instrumental "C-Jam Twist"). He also plays on Tony Sheridan's two tracks, "Skinny Minny" and " What'd I Say" (Sheridan is listed under the pseudonym "Dan Sherry"). The Star Combo consisted of Tony Sheridan, Roy Young, Colin "Melander" Crawley, Ricky Barnes and Johnny Watson. There are songs by four other groups on this LP. * 1964: '' Ain't She Sweet'', LP (side 1) " Sweet Georgia Brown" recorded with the Beatles in 1962. This song appears also, that same year, on the German album '' The Beatles' First'' and reissued worldwide in the following years. * 1966: ''Meet the Beat'' (two versions, on 10" and 12" & CD, but with different tracks, sharing only two songs. The 12" features 1966 recordings (with "

The Big Six ''The Big Six'' is the ninth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1940. The book returns Dick and Dorothea Callum, known as the Ds, to the Norfolk Broads where they renew their friendship with ...

") of " Jailhouse Rock", "

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", and " Shake, Rattle and Roll") * 1971: '' The Roy Young Band'', includes

. * 1972: ''Mr. Funky'' * 1996: ''Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers Live and Dangerous'' (also released as ''Rock Masters: Feel It''). Recordings of "

Good Golly Miss Molly In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

" and others. On some of these 1995 live recordings the lead vocal was by Roy Young * 1996 & 2001: ''Sheridan in Control'' (also released as ''Fab Four Collection'') "with The Beat Brothers- Roy Young, Howie Casey" – 1995 recordings of "

Johnny B. Goode "Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry. Released as a single, it peaked at number two on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart. "Johnny B. Goode" is con ...

", "

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

", "

", " Skinny Minnie" * 2006: ''Still Young'' * 2012: ''Roy Rock'Em Young''

References

External links

Roy Young at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Roy 1934 births 2018 deaths English rock singers English pop pianists English rock keyboardists Musicians from London British rock and roll musicians Beat musicians Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers members