Roy Dea was a record producer He produced mainly

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artists which resulted in a good amount of hits. In his early period, he did produce some r&b recordings.

Background

Roy Dea (second name pronounced Day) was born in Texas on April 18, 1940. Artists he worked with include,

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (December 10, 1951 – May 9, 2025) was an American country music singer from Texas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rodriguez was one of country music's most successful male artists, recording a string of hit songs, ...

on his release,

Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through) "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)" is a song written by H.B. Hall that has been recorded multiple times. It was originally recorded and released as a single by American country and Latin singer Johnny Rodriguez. His version of the song ...

Dickey Lee Royden Dickey Lipscomb (born September 21, 1936), known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie or Dicky), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs " Patches" and "Laurie ( ...

on his release, "

9,999,999 Tears "9,999,999 Tears" is a 1976 hit single by Dickey Lee. The song was written and originally recorded by American country music artist Razzy Bailey. Originally entitled "9,999,999 Years", it was released as a non-album single in 1966 but did not ...

", Gary Stewart on his release, " She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)", and

Randy Gurley Randy Gurley is an American country singer who performed in the US and the UK. She had several hits on the US country charts from 1977 to 1979. She recorded for the ABC and RCA labels. She is most likely remembered for her version of "True Love Wa ...

on her releases "

Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger "Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger" is a song written by, and recorded by Dave Loggins. It has been recorded by several artists and was a hit for country singer Randy Gurley in 1979. Background The song was written by Dave Loggins and copyrighted on 1 ...

" and " If I Ever". It was Roy Dea who was responsible for Gary Stewart to sign up with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in 1973. Stewart had recorded a demo tape of

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

songs in a country style. Dea found the tape and encouraged Stewart to sign with RCA. With Stewart working with Dea, a series of good albums followed. Prior to coming on board with RCA, Dea was working for the Mercury label.

Career

Roy Dea produced the single, "The Hurt Won't Go Away" for

Margie Hendrix Marjorie Hendrix (sometimes Hendricks) (March 13, 1935 – July 14, 1973) was an American rhythm and blues singer and founding member of the Raelettes, who were the backing singers for Ray Charles, the father of her child, Charles Wayne Hendr ...

which was released on Mercury in 1967. At some stage, Dea became unsatisfied with working for the Mercury label. He moved to Shreveport. In 1970, he returned to Music City and worked with

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

. It was his friend and fellow record producer

Jerry Kennedy Jerry Glenn Kennedy (born 10 August 1940)Cusic, Don. (1998) "Jerry Kennedy". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–278. is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar pla ...

who convinced him to come back to Mercury. This was reported in the March 14 issues of both ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' and ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' that Dea had joined the Mercury Record Corporation's A&R staff in Nashville. According to Kennedy, Dea was one of the few people he felt he could trust to handle the artists in his name and would be involved in both signing and producing country and r&b acts for the label. It was mentioned in the ''Record World'' article that Dea would be expanding the Mercury roster himself as well as taking on some of the production of the prformers that Kennedy was handling.

was a guitarist in Tom T. Hall's band. It was around 1972 that Hall took Rodriguez to the office of Roy Dea and Jerry Kennedy to audition for the producers at Mercury's Nashville division. Rodriguez performed songs, "

I Can't Stop Loving You "I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by the country musician Don Gibson from his 1958 album ''Oh Lonesome Me'', who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side ...

" and "If I’d Left It Up to You". After hearing his renditions, Dea signed him up immediately. According to the alancackett.com website, when Rodriguez was singing "I Can’t Stop Loving You", he broke into a Spanish verse which resulted in Dea being overcome by it. It was in the early to mid-1970s that Roy Dea was hired by Jerry Bradley as a producer. This happened when Bradley joined RCA. It was noted in the June 10, 1994 issue of ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' that Roy Dea and

Paul Randall Paul Randall (born 16 February 1958) is an English footballer who played in the English Football League for Bristol Rovers and Stoke City. Career Early career Randall was born in Sefton, Liverpool. His mother, June was born in Dar es Salaam ...

of WSIX in Nashville had formed joint publishing companies, Blue Day Music (BMI) and Gray Music (ASCAP). The offices were located at 30 Music Square West, Ste, 155, Nashville, TN 37203. Dea produced Johnny Rodriguez' album ''You Can Say That Again'' that was released on HighTone Records HCD 8073 in 1996.

Hit productions (selective)

* 1974 - " Drinkin' Thing" by Gary Stewart * 1974 - " Out of Hand" by Gary Stewart * 1975 - " She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" by Gary Stewart * 1975 - "

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

" by

* 1977 - " May the Force Be with You Always" by

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "The Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 number-one hit songs, with 26 more ...

* 1978 - " What Have You Got to Lose" by Tom T. Hall * 1979 - "

" by

* 1979 - " If I Ever" by Randy Gurley * 1979 - " The Old Side of Town" by Tom T. Hall

Death

Roy Dea suffered a heart attack in Nashville on August 18, 1997. He died two days later on August 20 at age 57.''The Tennessean'', Fri Aug 22, 1997
Page 6 Obituary for Roy Dea
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References

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External links