Billy Joe Royal was on the charts twice. I had forgotten that. If you grew up without an oldies station, you may not even know he is. Dude just can't get a break. So, if you're just getting started here, meet Billy Joe Royal. I just ran into his first hit, "Down In the Boondocks" from 1965. It was originally recorded as a demo for Joe South, who wrote the song, but once the record company heard it they snagged Royal. It became a hit, and the AM charts had another wobbly freshman. It's tidy socially conscious pop, almost reggae. In the right hands, it'd make for a great reggae cover. (Delroy Williams did it, but it's not all that inspired.) Four years later, Royal hit again with "Cherry Hill Park" another AM classic. I'd forgotten all about that one. Good as they are, neither of these songs would have existed if it wasn't for AM radio. Where else would they be played? As it was, the latter was released after the hippie outbreak, and the line, but for a few straddlers, had already been drawn. It's no wonder he drifted off into country music.
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Listen:Billy Joe Royal - Down In the Boondocks mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
1 comment:
For whatever reason I feel I should point out that when I posted this, I had no idea that Billy Joe Royal had died the previous day.
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