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Roy Head
Roy Head
Roy Head
Roy Head and The Traits, 1958 and 2001
Background information Born Origin Genre(s) Occupation(s) Instrument(s) Years active September 1, 1941 (1941-09-01) Three Rivers, Texas Country Singer-songwriter Guitar 1965-1985
Roy Head (born September 1, 1941, Three Rivers, Texas) is an American singer, best known for his hit "Treat Her Right."
Career
After moving to San Marcos, Texas, in 1955, Roy Head, along with San Marcos native Tommy Bolton, would form a musical group in 1957 known as The Traits/aka Roy Head and The Traits, who would record and perform for the next 8 years. The original group consisted of fellow high school students Roy Head (vocals), Tommy Bolton (rhythm guitar) (1941-2003), Gerry Gibson (drums), Dan Buie (piano), Clyde Causey (lead guitar), and Bill Pennington (bass). When Causey joined the military he was replaced by George Frazier (1941-1996) just before the band started their recording career at Tanner N Texas (TNT) Recording Company, located in San Antonio, Texas.[1] The Traits (Roy Head vcls) had several regional hits at TNT with songs such as "One More Time", "Live It Up", both
released in 1959, and "Summertime Love" (1960),[2] and established themselves in the late 1950s and the early 1960s as one of the premier teenage Texas-based rock and roll bands while playing the concert, sock hop, college and university and dance hall circuits throughout Texas. After adding saxophonists David McCumber and Danny Gomez to the lineup additional Texas/regional hits were released in 1962 by The Traits (Roy Head vcls) from Renner Records #221 and Ascot #2108, a subsiderary of United Artists Records, with their version of "Linda Lou” with "Little Mama" by Dan Buie and Roy Head on the Bside, and Renner Records #229 "Got My Mojo Working".[3] After the Traits, Buie, who played guitar and harmonica as well as keyboards, taught for several years before settling into public health administration after receiving his baccalaureate degree and doing post graduate studies at The University of Texas. Tommy Bolton organized and played with other Central Texas musical groups while both he and Clyde Causey launched careers with the Department Of The Treasury. Danny Gomez would earn his doctorate at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. Little is known of the career path of David McCumber, but George Frazier would pursue real estate investment interests, and Bill Pennington would become a successful owner of Pennington Funeral Home in San Marcos, TX. Only Head and Gibson would continue with careers in music. The songwriting talents and subsequent recording successes of The (original) Traits during their first 5 years under the watchful eyes of Ms. Edra Pennington (1913-2005)[4] and Dr. T.R. [5] would lay the groundBuie(1909-2000), work for what would happen in the group’s last 4 years.[6][7] In 1963 the group added Ronnie Barton and his trumpet to the mix, and in 1964 Roy Head and the Traits signed with Scepter Records, who had developed a nationwide independent network of distributors while working with The Shirelles,[8] but then moved on in 1965 to sign with Huey Meaux[9] of Houston, Texas, who maintained a stable of record
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labels. "Treat Her Right," recorded at Gold Star Studios (later known as SugarHill Recording Studios) in Houston and issued on Meaux’s Back Beat label, reached #2 on both the U.S. Pop and R&B charts in 1965,[10] behind The Beatles’ "Yesterday." "Treat Her Right", with its blazing horns and punchy rhythm,[11] credited to Roy Head and bass man Gene Kurtz, established Roy Head as a prime exponent of blue-eyed soul.[12] The fact that this was accomplished during the high point of the British Invasion makes it all the more impressive. By 1995 "Treat Her Right" had been covered by as many as 20 nationally known recording artists including Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan. "Just A Little Bit" and the rockabilly styled "Apple Of My Eye" also cracked the Top 40 in 1965. It is estimated that "Treat Her Right" ultimately sold 4 million copies and was the featured song, alone with Wilson Pickett’s "Mustang Salley," in the successful 1991 motion picture, The Commitments.[13] In that same year TNT released the group’s first album consisting of their music recorded for TNT and Renner Records, TLP #101 entitled "Roy Head and the Traits," which was also distributed by the New York based Scepter Records. Goldmine Album Price Guide offers a counterfeit caution when buying this album. The original from TNT and the legitimate Scepter 2nd pressings do NOT include the song "Treat Her Right." The counterfeit album is also attributed to TNT, but with blue lettering on the label rather than the TNT red.[14] A CD offering 30 tracks today and containing the original red, black and yellow graphics on its cover is considered an off-shoot of the counterfeit vinyl version of the album. Video clips from this time period show Head to have been a dynamic and versatile eccentric dancer; there are at least three extant clips of him performing "Treat Her Right" and each one is different than the others in terms of choreography.[15] Modern viewers have compared his jumps and slides to those of James Brown or even the Nicholas Brothers; because he was white but his footwork included moves popular among African American gymnastic dancers, he was sometimes said to be a practitioner of "blue-eyed soul."[16] The chart-makers recorded and released on the Back Beat and Scepter labels spelled
Roy Head
the end of Head’s association with what has come to be thought of as the “second group” of Traits. See "Doubled Edged Sword" in The Story of Roy Head and The Traits Later releases by Head on Dunhill and Elektra contained elements of rockabilly and psychedelic rock, but by the mid 1970s his solo career had led him to country. He signed first with Mega Records and then with Shannon Records and later on with ABC Records and Elektra Records. Between the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s, Roy Head’s music reached the U.S. country music Top 100 several times while landing two Top 20 hits: "The Most Wanted Woman In Town" (1975)[17] and "Come To Me" (1977) recorded on the ABC/Dot label reaching its peak at #19 on the country music charts.[18] Even the earliest blues-laced, rockabilly styled recordings of The Traits (Roy Head vcl), primarily written in a collaboration between Bolton, Buie, Gibson and Head, have demonstrated lasting power with "One More Time," "Live It Up" and "Summertime Love" making periodic surges into the Top 100 in various parts of Europe. Joe "King" Carrasco had a hit covering The Traits "One More Time" and releasing it on Hannibal Records (U.S.) and Stiff Records (UK) in 1981.[19] Two Tons of Steel covered "One More Time" again on both CD and DVD in 2000, Palo Duro Records entitled "Two Tons Of SteelLive At Gruene Hall."[20][21] Discographies reveal that much of the music originally written, composed and recorded by the Traits at TNT and Renner Records between 1958 and 1962 has been re-released over the past four decades numerous times by as many as 20 different record labels both in the U.S. and abroad.[22] During 1966 and 1967, when Head was working with the Roy Head Trio, The Traits independently recorded using Dean Scott on lead vocals. Scott had previously been the stand-in vocalist while Head had been away in the military. In 1967 The Traits recruited and recorded with Johnny Winter featuring Winter’s vocals and blistering guitar leads, producing a vinyl 45; "Parchman Farm" and "Tramp" on Universal 30496. Although traveling with The Roy Head Trio, Gerry Gibson would sometimes participate in an occasional recording session with The Traits during this period.[23] Winter would later re-release "Tramp" in the 1988 compilation album, "Birds Can’t Row Boats."[24]
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Year Album Chart Positions
US Country US
Roy Head
Label
1965 1970 1972 1976 1978 1979 1980
Roy Head and the Traits Treat Me Right Same People Dismal Prisoner Head First A Head of His Time Tonight’s the Night In Our Room The Many Sides of Roy Head 42 45 122
TNT Scepter Dunhill TMT ABC/Dot
Elektra
After the 1967 disbanding of the Roy Head Trio consisting of Head, Gibson, Kurtz and guitarist David "Hawk" Koon, Head started pursuing his solo career, and Gerry Gibson, the drummer for the original Traits, would go on to play with several other popular artists and groups including Linda Ronstadt, Moccasin, Bobby Womack, Canned Heat and a stay with Sly and The Family Stone.[25] While working with Sly he developed and recorded the drum part for "You Caught Me Smilin’"[26] and made other notable contributions to the album There’s a Riot Goin’ On. The album debuted at #1 in 1971, helped define the musical term funkadelic, and is ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 100 albums ever recorded.[27][28] Roy Head and The Traits are listed among "The 200 Greatest Rock N Roll Artists Of The 1960s".[29] Most lists of the "Top Rock Songs" recorded include "Treat Her Right".[30][31] Roy Head is a member of the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, the Texas Country and Western Music Hall of Fame and the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame. Roy Head and The Traits held reunions in 2001 and 2007.[32] During their October 2007 sold-out Golden Anniversary Concert appropriately billed as "Roy Head and The Tratis - For The Last Time," at Texas State University in San Marcos, Roy Head and The (original) Traits were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame by the Hall’s Curator, Bob Timmers.[33][34] Tommy Bolton and George Frazier were inducted posthumously.[35] Musicians for the concert were Traits Roy Head, Gerry Gibson, Dan Buie, Clyde Causey, Bill Pennington and Gene
Kurtz, with special guests Bill York, Don Hutchko, Don Head (1933-2009) and Sundance Head. In 2008, Roy Head performed in Cleveland, Ohio for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Billboard has observed that Head’s versatility actually worked against him since he did not fit into any specific marketing niche. His use of many small record labels also prevented his recordings from achieving national distribution.[36] Head continues to be active in recording and performing music. His son, Jason "Sundance" Head, was a contestant on Season 6 of American Idol and signed a recording contract in 2007 with Universal Motown Records.[37]
Discography
Albums Compilation albums
• Slip Away: His Best Recordings (1993, Collectables) • Treat Her Right: The Best of Roy Head (1995, Varese) • Don’t Be Blue: The Traits (1995 Collectables, Roy C. Ames Homecooking) • The Texas Soul and Country Man: The Crazy Cajun Recordings (1999, Edsel) • The Best of Roy Head and The Traits: Teeny Weeny Bit (2000, Aim) • Head On! (2001, Music Club) • An Introduction to Roy Head (2006, Fuel 2000)
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• Roy Head and The Traits: Golden Anniversary (1957 - 2007) - Rockabilly Hall of Fame Album (2007 Re-Master, Dan Buie or PVI)
Roy Head
[26] http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=RAo8cucRB9U [27] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/ amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0cfpxqy0ldde~T1 [28] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sly_%26_the_Family_Stone Singles [29] http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/ best_artists60s.html [30] http://shopping.msn.com/specs/billboard[1] RattlerPride.com. "Roy Head and The top-rock-roll-hits-1962-1966/ Traits". http://www.rattlerpride.com/ itemid1246797/ ?p=68. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. ?itemtext=itemname:billboard-top-rock[2] Terry E. Gordon. "Traits". roll-hits-1962-1966 http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/t/ [31] http://www.laventure.net/tourist/ trai7000.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. sdq_meaux.htm [3] http://www.ponderosastomp.com/ [32] http://www.talentondisplay.com/ music_more.php/117/Roy+Head TakeNote/266.html [4] http://www.penningtonfuneralhome.com/ [33] http://www.google.com/ history.html search?client=firefox[5] http://chuggett.homestead.com/buie.html a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen[6] http://www.tsimon.com/head.htm US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=Bob+Timmers [7] http://www.rattlerpride.com/?p=68 [34] http://www.genekurtz.com/news.html [8] http://www.bsnpubs.com/scepter/ [35] http://www.rockabillyhall.com/ scepterstory.html HRAB.html [9] http://www.laventure.net/tourist/ [36] http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/ sdq_meaux.htm index.jsp?JSESSIONID=10mZHHDcGfThy2JYjFwlTRt [10] http://books.google.com/books?id=[37] http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/ LgXlQnsDK4C&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=roy+head+and+the+traits&source=bl&ots=MGszVjjh8J& news/2007-02-26-sundance-roy[11] http://www.youtube.com/ head_x.htm watch?v=l6DMJvvO51k [12] http://www.tsimon.com/head.htm [13] http://www.tsimon.com/head.htm • The Story of Roy Head and The Traits [14] Neely, Tim (2007), 5th Edition Goldmine • Roy Head Podcast Record Album Price Guide, Krause • AOL Music biography Publications • Yahoo Music biography [15] http://www.youtube.com/ • Oldies.com biography watch?v=1FYAB74OIeI&feature=related • Treat Her Right video on YouTube [16] http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/head_roy/ • Rockabilly Hall of Fame bio.jhtml [17] http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/ Roy-Head.html [18] http://www.houstonpress.com/ 2000-12-28/music/street-fighting-man/ [19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Carrasco [20] http://www.palodurorecords.com/ catalog/ releaseDetail.php?releaseID=4005 [21] http://www.musicstack.com/records-cds/ two+tons+of+steel [22] http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/ rhead.htm [23] http://www.vinylrecords.ch/winter/ Singles/winter_disco_universal.htm [24] http://www.answers.com/topic/birds-cant-row-boats [25] http://www.rattlerpride.com/?p=68
References
External links
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Year Single Chart Positions
US Country US
Roy Head
Album
1965 "Treat Her Right" "Just a Little Bit" "Apple of My Eye" 1966 "Get Back" "My Babe" "To Make a Big Man Cry" 1967 "Nobody But Me" "Got Down on Saturday (Sunday in the Rain)" "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" 1968 "Broadway Walk" "Ain’t Goin’ Down Right" 1971 "Puff of Smoke" 1974 "Baby’s Not Home" 1975 "The Most Wanted Woman in Town" "Help Yourself to Me" "I’ll Take It" 1976 "The Door I Used to Close" "Bridge for Crawling Back" "One Night" 1977 "Angel with a Broken Wing" "Julianne" "Come to Me" 1978 "Now You See ’Em, Now You Don’t" "Love Survived" 1979 "Kiss You and Make It Better" "In Our Room" 1980 "The Fire of Two Old Flames" "Long Drop" "Drinkin’ Them Long Necks" "I’ve Never Gone to Bed with an Ugly Woman" 66 19 47 55 28 50 51 57 79 16 19 45 74 79 65 59 70
2 39 32 88 99 95
Roy Head and the Traits
singles only
96 Head First single only Head First
A Head of His Time single only Tonight’s the Night
"Tonight’s the Night (It’s Gonna Be Alright)" 28 single only In Our Room single only The Many Sides of Roy Head
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1981 "After Texas" 1982 "Play Another Gettin’ Drunk and Take Somebody Home Song" "The Trouble with Hearts" 1983 "Your Mama Don’t Dance" "Where Did He Go Right" 1985 "Break Out the Good Stuff" 75 89 64 85 79 93 singles only
Roy Head
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Head" Categories: 1941 births, American country singers, Living people, People from Texas, Musicians from Texas, Blue-eyed soul singers, Mercury Records artists, Dot Records artists, Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees This page was last modified on 21 May 2009, at 16:20 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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