 For Shout Records this month we have dug into the Epic sound vaults. A label perhaps more associated with Rock & Pop acts in the last twenty years than Classic Soul, but during the early 60's it released its fair share.From it we've gathered the essential R&B beat and ballads by Roy Hamilton, who rose to fame in the mid-1950’s with big ballad hits like ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, ‘Hurt’, and the seminal version of ‘Unchained Melody’. All sung with his warm, powerful, vibrant baritone voice. Hamilton then moved into the R&B era with the rocking ‘Don’t Let Go’ the gospel-inspired ‘You Can Have Her’ , and ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry’, covered by Elvis Presley. As a super bonus, we are proud to finally issue the previously unreleased After He Breaks Your Heart, recorded in 1964 during the legendary The Panic Is On / There She Is session, conducted by the renowned Bert Keyes. The legendary producer Bert Berns was even at the helm of production duties on certain sessions and yet many of these recordings failed to make a big impression at the time. However, they do say that “truth will out” so it was no surprise when the Northern Soul cognoscente became hip to some of this esteemed repertoire and turned several of the MGM 45s into club and dance-floor classics; especially ‘The Panic Is On’, ‘She Make Me Wanna Dance’ and ‘You Can Count On Me’. As with the album, many of these MGM 45 sides are making their CD debut. Roy would of course later go on to record some more classic and legendary soul sides for RCA… but that’s another story! It’s a sad one too, as Roy would die of a stroke not that long afterwards in 1969. But thankfully, he left a fabulous portfolio of recorded work behind; not least these outstanding MGM sides… The Same One / It’s Too Soon To Know / Baby Don’t You Cry / Looking Back / Sunday Kind Of Love / The Masquerade Is Over / Guess Who / It’s Just A Matter Of Time / For Your Precious Love / Crying In The Chapel / On My Word Of Honor / The Glory Of Love / Bonus Tracks / You Still Love Him / Let Go / Midnight Town, Daybreak City / Intermezzo / The Sinner / Theme From The Vip’s (The Willow) / The Panic Is On / There She Is / After He Breaks Your Heart (Previously Unreleased) / Answer Me My Love / Unchained Melody / She Make Me Wanna Dance / You Can Count On Me / Sweet Violet / A Thousand Tears Ago
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From Northern Soul to Southern Soul, Roy Hamilton’s recording career over two decades encompassed various styles, and with the birth and growth of soul music during the 1960s his two-year tenure at RCA included Crackin Up Over You, which has been an anthem on the Northern scene for several years now, along with other favourites Ain’t It the Truth and Tore Up Over You. 