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Roy Brown profile - King Records Celebration!

Roy Brown
Roy Brown
Roy Brown
Roy Brown

In this third installment of a celebration of King Records, Saturday, July 21st at 11pm, the spotlight's on R&B singer Roy Brown who had a significant influence on the early development of rock 'n roll and wrote the classic jump blues song "Good Rockin Tonight.”

With 12 hits from 1948 to 1951, Brown was the first singer in recording history to sing R&B songs with a gospel-steeped delivery, which was then considered taboo by many churches.

Music historian and author John Broven discusses this important musician with local music historian Brian Powers who also spoke with author Tony Collins.  

There's an audio clip included of an interview by John Broven with Roy Brown on June 22, 1975 in L.A.   The audio was shared with us from the John Broven Collection at the Library of Congress.  And, you'll also hear many of Roy Brown's hit songs.

Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit 91.7 WVXU.

Lee Hay has worked at all three Cincinnati Public Radio stations: WGUC in the mid-70's, WMUB in the late 70's, and WVXU since 1984. She is currently the host of The Blues on Saturday evenings and various special programs.