Roy Hamilton

[MikeHinNewJersey]

I came across this in last weekend's NY Times.

Elvis Loved Him. What's With the Hall of Fame?

Collection of John Esposito

By KEVIN COYNEPublished: March 11, 2007

Mays Landing

ON Monday night, Roy Hamilton Jr. will come up from the basement recording studio where he's been working on an album to sit with his wife, Maria, in front of the wide-screen TV in their living room and be disappointed again.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be inducting its latest class, adding Deptford's own Patti Smith to the New Jerseyans already enshrined there. They are a diverse contingent that includes Bruce Springsteen, Parliament-Funkadelic, Les Paul, the Shirelles and the Four Seasons, but not Mr. Hamilton's father, a onetime boxer from Jersey City with a huge, operatic voice that Elvis Presley himself marveled at.

"We just really feel that his day will come," Maria Hamilton said of her late father-in-law, Roy Hamilton, whose case for induction she and her husband have been quietly pleading for the last few years. "Yes, we do. Sooner or later they'll get around to him."

For now, though, there's the kitchen wall in their pale-blue split-level just off the Black Horse Pike, a museum-ready array of photographs and memorabilia. Roy Hamilton with Elvis, with Jackie Wilson, with Sam Cooke, with Liberace, with Harry Belafonte. Roy Hamilton on TV shows. Roy Hamilton in the movies. Roy Hamilton " discovered at the Caravan nightclub in Newark in 1953, dead of a stroke at 40 in 1969 " eternally young and handsome and at the top of the charts.

"This is my favorite," Roy Jr. said, flipping through some of the dozens of albums his father made and stopping at the first of them, "You'll Never Walk Alone." Roy Sr.'s soaring rendition of the title song shivered the backs of millions of necks in 1954, a crossover hit on both the black rhythm-and-blues charts and the white pop charts. So many of his white fans showed up once at a Tennessee concert that had been advertised for a black audience that a brawl erupted over the segregated seating arrangement.

"I used to sit down in front of the record player and just listen to his music, and I'd try to mimic him," said Roy Jr., 45, who was 7 when his father died. "When I listen to him, it's like he's right there with me."

You may never have heard a Roy Hamilton song " he is not played much on the radio anymore, and is prized mainly by rhythm-and-blues aficionados, especially in England " but you've heard the reach of his gospel-tinged voice. Hamilton was "one of Elvis's chief vocal inspirations," according to Presley's biographer Peter Guralnick, who also noted that Elvis was "one of Roy Hamilton's most devoted admirers."

And if that's what Elvis thought, well, it just didn't seem right to Roy Jr. that he should have to keep explaining to people who his father was. "Every year I'd think, 'Maybe they'll mention my Dad,' and then I'd get all mad when they didn't say anything," he said about the annual Hall of Fame broadcast. "And then Maria was like, 'Well, I guess we're going to have to do it ourselves.' "

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland doesn't keep track of how many petition campaigns are under way, but fans have lobbied in one way or another on behalf of everybody from Bob Seger (successfully) to the Cowsills (not). "What we do know is that we exist for this kind of debate, and it is our belief that one day every deserving band or individual will be inducted," said Margaret Thresher, the director of communications.

After his father died, Roy Jr. moved back and forth between New York and Florida with his mother and his younger brother. They had to sell the New Rochelle, N.Y., house where he grew up, he said, to pay $178,000 in back taxes. The three of them released an album together as the Hamilton Affair in 1977. He and Maria married soon after and moved here near Atlantic City in 1990, where he has sung in clubs, at weddings and in the choir at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.

And when their three boys were young, the family had a predictable soundtrack on car trips. "They'd say, 'Mom, can't we listen to something else?' " Maria Hamilton said, "and I'd say, 'No, you have to know who you are and who your grandfather was, because if we don't respect and keep his memory alive, no one else will.' "

Their oldest son, Roy III, was just 17 when he produced a demo track of his father singing "Golden Boy," a song his grandfather wrote, and dropped it off at the casino where the R&B star R. Kelly was performing. Now 26, he is a producer with Capitol Records who has worked with Britney Spears, Profile and 'N Sync. Their youngest son, Raphael, 23, is working with his father in the basement studio, recording what they hope will be the debut album by Roy Hamilton Jr.

And on a computer upstairs, Maria Hamilton marshals the fans of Roy Sr., collects petitions and hopes the Hall of Fame will finally come to share Elvis Presley's regard for the father-in-law she never met. "Maybe next year," she said. "That's what we say every year, 'Maybe next year.' "

[Barry]

Nice one Michael.

[Guest]

I came across this in last weekend's NY Times.

Elvis Loved Him. What's With the Hall of Fame?

Collection of John Esposito

By KEVIN COYNEPublished: March 11, 2007

Mays Landing

ON Monday night, Roy Hamilton Jr. will come up from the basement recording studio where he's been working on an album to sit with his wife, Maria, in front of the wide-screen TV in their living room and be disappointed again.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be inducting its latest class, adding Deptford's own Patti Smith to the New Jerseyans already enshrined there. They are a diverse contingent that includes Bruce Springsteen, Parliament-Funkadelic, Les Paul, the Shirelles and the Four Seasons, but not Mr. Hamilton's father, a onetime boxer from Jersey City with a huge, operatic voice that Elvis Presley himself marveled at.

"We just really feel that his day will come," Maria Hamilton said of her late father-in-law, Roy Hamilton, whose case for induction she and her husband have been quietly pleading for the last few years. "Yes, we do. Sooner or later they'll get around to him."

For now, though, there's the kitchen wall in their pale-blue split-level just off the Black Horse Pike, a museum-ready array of photographs and memorabilia. Roy Hamilton with Elvis, with Jackie Wilson, with Sam Cooke, with Liberace, with Harry Belafonte. Roy Hamilton on TV shows. Roy Hamilton in the movies. Roy Hamilton " discovered at the Caravan nightclub in Newark in 1953, dead of a stroke at 40 in 1969 " eternally young and handsome and at the top of the charts.

"This is my favorite," Roy Jr. said, flipping through some of the dozens of albums his father made and stopping at the first of them, "You'll Never Walk Alone." Roy Sr.'s soaring rendition of the title song shivered the backs of millions of necks in 1954, a crossover hit on both the black rhythm-and-blues charts and the white pop charts. So many of his white fans showed up once at a Tennessee concert that had been advertised for a black audience that a brawl erupted over the segregated seating arrangement.

"I used to sit down in front of the record player and just listen to his music, and I'd try to mimic him," said Roy Jr., 45, who was 7 when his father died. "When I listen to him, it's like he's right there with me."

You may never have heard a Roy Hamilton song " he is not played much on the radio anymore, and is prized mainly by rhythm-and-blues aficionados, especially in England " but you've heard the reach of his gospel-tinged voice. Hamilton was "one of Elvis's chief vocal inspirations," according to Presley's biographer Peter Guralnick, who also noted that Elvis was "one of Roy Hamilton's most devoted admirers."

And if that's what Elvis thought, well, it just didn't seem right to Roy Jr. that he should have to keep explaining to people who his father was. "Every year I'd think, 'Maybe they'll mention my Dad,' and then I'd get all mad when they didn't say anything," he said about the annual Hall of Fame broadcast. "And then Maria was like, 'Well, I guess we're going to have to do it ourselves.' "

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland doesn't keep track of how many petition campaigns are under way, but fans have lobbied in one way or another on behalf of everybody from Bob Seger (successfully) to the Cowsills (not). "What we do know is that we exist for this kind of debate, and it is our belief that one day every deserving band or individual will be inducted," said Margaret Thresher, the director of communications.

After his father died, Roy Jr. moved back and forth between New York and Florida with his mother and his younger brother. They had to sell the New Rochelle, N.Y., house where he grew up, he said, to pay $178,000 in back taxes. The three of them released an album together as the Hamilton Affair in 1977. He and Maria married soon after and moved here near Atlantic City in 1990, where he has sung in clubs, at weddings and in the choir at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.

And when their three boys were young, the family had a predictable soundtrack on car trips. "They'd say, 'Mom, can't we listen to something else?' " Maria Hamilton said, "and I'd say, 'No, you have to know who you are and who your grandfather was, because if we don't respect and keep his memory alive, no one else will.' "

Their oldest son, Roy III, was just 17 when he produced a demo track of his father singing "Golden Boy," a song his grandfather wrote, and dropped it off at the casino where the R&B star R. Kelly was performing. Now 26, he is a producer with Capitol Records who has worked with Britney Spears, Profile and 'N Sync. Their youngest son, Raphael, 23, is working with his father in the basement studio, recording what they hope will be the debut album by Roy Hamilton Jr.

And on a computer upstairs, Maria Hamilton marshals the fans of Roy Sr., collects petitions and hopes the Hall of Fame will finally come to share Elvis Presley's regard for the father-in-law she never met. "Maybe next year," she said. "That's what we say every year, 'Maybe next year.' "

WOW! I Can Relate.

[Sean Hampsey]

Superb piece of Journalism.

Incredible artist, so revered over here, whereas US recognition for his contribution is clearly well overdue.

I am the very proud owner of the original RCA Acetate of "Cracking Up Over You". The ULTIMATE 'Northern' Soul record.

What a Voice!

Respect due.

Sean

[Guest]

I'm a very big fan of Hamilton... interestingly this led me to take a gander over to https://www.royhamilton.net.

The association with Elvis hit me hard when I played the video at the bottom of the page. Secret Path Of Love.

Good looking fella too

[Guest 45s and 33s]

Great post.

Ali

[Stillsoulin]

A great voice, love this guys material, my favorite Roy Hamilton record has to be Angelica on AGP, not a dancer but one hell of a vocal performance.

rob h.

[Codfromderby]

fantastic article, ive been a big fan for years both northern and other stuff, a good reccomendation from me "please louise" usually available with a nifty picture cover for about £20 (sorry cant do sound thing at the mo)

[Guest]

A great voice, love this guys material, my favorite Roy Hamilton record has to be Angelica on AGP, not a dancer but one hell of a vocal performance.

rob h.

Do you have a soundfile you can upload?

[Guest nubes]

Just reading the post gives one goose pimples....Thank you for sharing this......Delx

[Simsy]

What was that Youtube clip the other week, think it could have been of Jackie Wilson, with Roy Hamilton standing in the background smoking illicit substances. Maybe Pete-S could help me out on that one?

Fantastic artist with an awesome voice tailormade for northern soul.