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, and 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 African ...

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

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

with

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

. 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 Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, among others.

Biography

Young was born in Poplar, East London, and moved with his family to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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

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

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 Brook ...

'', 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, 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.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

shows including '' Drumbeat'', where he was backed by the John Barry Seven, and '' Boy Meets Girls''. Billed as Roy "Rock 'em" Young, he recorded his first single, " Just Keep It Up"/"Big Fat Mama" in 1959 for Fontana Records. He released several more singles on the Fontana and Ember labels over the next two years, but they were not commercial successes. Young performed at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, and toured the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, among others. In 1961, he began working at the Top Ten Club in

, where he played with Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, who briefly included Ringo Starr, and recorded with Sheridan. He then won a contract to play at the rival

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

, 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", produced by

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

. 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 and original bassist Paul Simmons ( known as Jet ) who went to join Mick Underwood in Sammy. The band backed

on tour. in 1971, under his own name, Young recorded the song "Baby, You're Good For Me," written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, for the Albert Finney film, '' Gumshoe''.Soundtrack Credits
IMDb.com, accessed 17 May 2017 In 1976, Young recorded with

for the album '' Low'', 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the US, and also worked with, and managed, Long John Baldry 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, a ...

, Johnny Gustafson and Jimi Magnole He released an album, ''Still Young'', in 2006, featuring songs written by Dennis Morgan. Young died at the age of 83 in Oxford on 27 April 2018.

Discography

* 1962: '' My Bonnie'', 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") of " Jailhouse Rock", "

Fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

", 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" 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 song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a Single (music), single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre ...

", "

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: m ...

", " My Bonnie", " 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 the London Borough of Tower Hamlets British rock and roll musicians Beat musicians Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers members People from Poplar, London Singers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets