Play billy joe royal movie#

New YearвЂ™s Eve With Billy Joe Royal, 8 p.m. It was the greatest place to grow up in the world. Everybody knew everybody and everybody liked everybody.

Play billy joe royal movie#

вЂњWe had VarnerвЂ™s Drive-In and the movie theatre. вЂњYou know what it was the like? It was вЂHappy Days,вЂ™ вЂќ Royal said. Reflecting on decades of touring and performing, Royal comes back to the place he started, and the friendships that began at Marietta High - including brothers Carroll Raines, who helped get him that first gig at the Strand, and Rupert Raines, who arranged the recent New YearвЂ™s Eve shows. Mostly, though, he considers himself retired. Last year, Royal released his first gospel album, вЂњHard Rock to Roll.вЂќ It went to number three on the country Christian charts, and recently heвЂ™s been in Nashville working on a follow-up. He signed a deal with Atlantic Records, had his first a big country hit in 1985 with вЂњBurned Like A Rocket,вЂќ and his next three records hit the Top 10 on the country charts.

Royal decided to move back to Georgia, and eventually wound up in Nashville. Those guys were my age, so I thought, вЂmaybe thereвЂ™s a shot for me.вЂ™ вЂќ And Kenny was tearing the world up singing country music. But Kenny Rogers lived down the street from me. But by 1980, вЂњThings werenвЂ™t going well,вЂќ Royal said. Throughout the вЂ™70s, Royal lived in Los Angeles. I saw him every night for about a month.вЂќ Elvis played the main showroom and I headlined the lounge. And later on I worked with him in Lake Tahoe. вЂњI went down to see his show and he introduced me in the crowd and I spent some time with him in his dressing room,вЂќ Royal remembered. In 1970, Royal was working long stretch at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, when he finally met Presley. I was touring with all these people that IвЂ™d heard on the radio and we were becoming friends. вЂњWe did a show every night for three months with stars like Tom Jones, HermanвЂ™s Hermits, Jackie DeShannon and Neil Diamond. вЂњAfter Boondocks hit, I got a call to tour with Dick ClarkвЂ™s Cavalcade of Stars,вЂќ Royal said. IвЂ™ll hold my head up like a king and I never, never will look back.вЂќ And вЂњDown in the BoondocksвЂќ suddenly gave Royal a measure of fame and fortune. RoyalвЂ™s lilting tenor gave the song a determined sort of innocence, as he sang, вЂњOne fine day IвЂ™ll find a way to move from this old shack. Written and produced by South, it was the star-crossed love story of a poor boy and a rich girl. RoyalвЂ™s working class Valdosta roots show up in his first and biggest hit, вЂњDown in the Boondocks,вЂќ which peaked at number nine on the Top 40 chart in 1965. So if he could do it, maybe we could do it.вЂќ вЂњHe was our inspiration - a Southern boy from humble beginnings. Like so many other young singers from the South, RoyalвЂ™s first hero was Elvis Presley. The second time he was there he put his arm around me and said, вЂYou just keep getting better and better.вЂ™ For a kid, I canвЂ™t tell you how that felt.вЂќ вЂњI got to meet these people and learn from them,вЂќ Royal said. ThatвЂ™s also when Royal and South began cutting demos and low-budget singles and honing their hybrid rock-country-soul sound. King, the Drifters, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and George Jones. Royal and South roomed together and performed with rock and roll, rhythm and blues and country stars, including the likes of Fats Domino, B.B. He spent two years there, working six days a week and playing five sets a night, with his friend, songwriter, producer and guitarist, Joe South. In the late вЂ™50s, Royal was making $75 a week singing at the Anchorage Club in the Clermont Hotel in Atlanta, when he was offered a job at the Bamboo Ranch in Savannah. RoyalвЂ™s family moved to Marietta when he was in grade school, and as a teenager he joined the Georgia Jubilee musical revue in East Point, which included Ray Stevens and Jerry Reed. вЂњAnd for some reason, I knew thatвЂ™s what I wanted to do. вЂњThey had a radio show in Valdosta and they let me sing,вЂќ Royal recalled. I can sing and ride a horse, and thatвЂ™s about it.вЂќД«orn in Valdosta in 1942, Royal began singing at a young age, first appearing with his unclesвЂ™ country-western band. вЂњMy agent told me they wanted me because I look good riding a horse,вЂќ Royal said. Royal, who admitted heвЂ™d always been afraid to fly, laughed as he described the unlikely nine-hour journey. Recently, he called on his way to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., where he was driving to a meet a movie director to discuss a part in an upcoming western. After more than 20 years in Nashville, and stints in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Los Angeles before that, Royal now lives in coastal North Carolina, to be near his teenage daughter.