Post by wingsj0 on Apr 2, 2006 15:21:10 GMT
It’s was a real honour for me to interview one of rock ‘n’ roll’s living treasures, the legendary Roy Young. Young, shot to fame by performing regularly on a TV music show in the UK during the late fifties called Oh Boy. In the year 1962, he signed a three year contact at The Star Club in Hamburg. As well as being contracted to perform in the resident house band Young was responsible for bringing International music artist to perform at the Star Club. Young went to the USA, England, and came back with a pocket full of contracts designed to make the Star Club one of the most exciting clubs in Europe if not the world these acts included The Beatles, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis to name a few.
Roy Young has lived every musicians dream and I’m honoured that he’s taken the time out to share with us some of his fond memories of working and performing at The Star Club Hamburg the nerve centre of rock ‘n’ roll.
Roy where did you grow up?
Roy Young: My family decided to move from London to Oxford when I was about five years old. I’ll always remember how much different the countryside felt after living in London. One thing I remember more than anything was the smell of the cows, sheep and pigs. You never saw these in London. I was so intrigued by the animals, that about the age of 12, I started helping out at the local cattle market moving the animals from pen to pen. Whenever I would return home my Mom would throw me into the bath, I smelt so bad.
At what age did you start to show an interest in music, how old were you when you discovered you had the ability to play a musical instrument? And what age did you decide you wanted to learn the piano? And what was it about the piano that made you want to learn it?
Roy Young: I got intrigued with Boogie Woogie at the age of seven after hearing Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, Sugar Chile Robinson, Charlie Koones and my Mom. Moms’ playing was very unusual because she only played the black notes but I found it easier to play Boogie Woogie on the white notes. In my early years growing up, there was always a piano in the house. I would invite all my schoolmates to my house and they would stand outside and watch me through the window while I played, I guess you would call that my first gig. I would often stand outside the local pubs listening to my Mom play because I was too young to be allowed in. I was so intrigued by the audiences reaction that it made me want to play too.
Did you ever have lessons or did you teach your self?
Roy Young: I guess you could say I was self taught because I really never received a lesson from my Mom. My brother Pat and I would often go into the YMCA where they had a beautiful piano. We would both take turns playing Boogie Woogie, then finish up playing together. In the adjacent room was table tennis, and when my brother and I were playing, the music could be heard in that room. The door opened and in walked a chap who introduced himself as Stan Hall. He congratulated us and said that he also played piano. We invited him to play a couple of Boogie Woogie songs, that’s when I realized that he was a great piano player. We became close friends and still are today. I would watch him play for hours and learn so much from him. I really owe Stan for a lot of my success.
Describe the music scene while you where learning the piano and which musicians where your idol’s? And did you ever dream you’d get to play along side them one day?
Roy Young: The music scene while learning to play the piano was totally different from today. My idols at this time were Billy Eckstein, Billy Daniels, Johnny Ray, Al Jolson and many of the big Orchestras. They were much older than I, and by the time rock n roll took-off, they were either retired or long gone. As I got into rock’ n roll professionally, I started to become a big fan to Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis etc. I was very honoured that later on in my career I was able to record and appear with them in different shows.
Can you remember the first tune you ever learn to play?
Roy Young: The first tune I learned to play was a song that I would play with three fingers on my left hand, and my forefinger on the right. Some of the songs I can remember playing that weren’t Boogie Woogie were jazz songs like “Twelve Street Rag” and “Swanee River”. I also played songs like “Flight of the Bumblebee” and “Greeks Concerto” in my Boogie Woogie style.
Who was it that discovered you had that something special and did you know at an early age you wanted to become a professional vocalist/pianist? What age did you turn professional?
Roy Young: At the age of 22 I felt confident enough to become professional. I thought I had found my niche and decided to approach the agencies in London. It was harder to get into rock ’n’ roll than I anticipated. I spent at least 2-3 months walking around London visiting different agencies with no luck. The money that I had saved for this was starting to run out. I’ll always remember walking around the streets with a loaf of bread under my arm, that’s all I could afford, but I was so determined to become a pro that I kept on going. I knew deep down that if I didn’t find one soon I was going to quit. On the day that I was planning to go back to my home town in Oxford to start a new life, I was walking by a hairdressing salon on Gerrard St. in London, and noticed a sign saying, “Carna Variety Agency”, 4th floor. Because I was so down and out and tired, I didn’t feel like walking up the stairs to the 4th floor. I decided that was it, and started walking away to go home. As I got 1/2 mile down the road I thought to myself, “What if something could have happened?”. I decided to go back for one more try. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done in my musical career. When I got to the top of the stairs. I was tired. I walked into the office and the secretary asked who I was and what I wanted. I said, my name is Roy Young, I’m a rock ’n roll singer and piano player and I want to be a pro. I then immediately turned to walk back down the stairs when she called me back. She asked me to wait, and within a few minutes out came one of the greatest guys in my life, Jack Falon. He took me into his office and asked me what I did. When I told him, he said “Here you go son, here’s 5 pound, go get washed up and something to eat. Be back by 7 and I’ll have a contract ready for you to sign. Your name is now, “Roy Rock’em Young”. I couldn’t believe my luck and why he did this for me. I found out later that a similar event happened to him a couple of months before when another rock ’n roller with a guitar walked into his office and said almost exactly what I said. Jack asked him to play, then told him to go away and learn the guitar and come back next year. Two-three months following, he had a No.1 hit record with, “Rock with the Caveman”. His name was the Tommy Steele.
What song was it that made you think right – I want to be apart of this rock ’n’ roll revolution and what steps did you take to ensure you where in the right place at the right time ?
Roy Young: While visiting Australia, I was walking around Sydney wondering what to do. I walked by a cinema that was featuring a movie called, “Blackboard Jungle”. I decided to spend a couple of hours and watch the movie. I wasn’t aware that this movie was about to turn my life around. The opening song was “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley and The Comets. This was when rock ’n’ roll hadn’t even arrived yet, the song just inspired me so much that I went through the whole movie waiting for the second show just to hear the song again. The manager of the cinema told me I had to leave. On returning to England, I couldn’t wait to play it and sing it to all my mates. When they heard me they were all curious to what it was. I told them it was called rock ’n’ roll. When rock ’n’ roll finally arrived, I felt reborn.
Click on part 2 for next part of interview.
Please note all articles on this site are (C) to The Beat Goes On And On Fanzine and may not be used without permission.
Roy Young has lived every musicians dream and I’m honoured that he’s taken the time out to share with us some of his fond memories of working and performing at The Star Club Hamburg the nerve centre of rock ‘n’ roll.
Roy where did you grow up?
Roy Young: My family decided to move from London to Oxford when I was about five years old. I’ll always remember how much different the countryside felt after living in London. One thing I remember more than anything was the smell of the cows, sheep and pigs. You never saw these in London. I was so intrigued by the animals, that about the age of 12, I started helping out at the local cattle market moving the animals from pen to pen. Whenever I would return home my Mom would throw me into the bath, I smelt so bad.
At what age did you start to show an interest in music, how old were you when you discovered you had the ability to play a musical instrument? And what age did you decide you wanted to learn the piano? And what was it about the piano that made you want to learn it?
Roy Young: I got intrigued with Boogie Woogie at the age of seven after hearing Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, Sugar Chile Robinson, Charlie Koones and my Mom. Moms’ playing was very unusual because she only played the black notes but I found it easier to play Boogie Woogie on the white notes. In my early years growing up, there was always a piano in the house. I would invite all my schoolmates to my house and they would stand outside and watch me through the window while I played, I guess you would call that my first gig. I would often stand outside the local pubs listening to my Mom play because I was too young to be allowed in. I was so intrigued by the audiences reaction that it made me want to play too.
Did you ever have lessons or did you teach your self?
Roy Young: I guess you could say I was self taught because I really never received a lesson from my Mom. My brother Pat and I would often go into the YMCA where they had a beautiful piano. We would both take turns playing Boogie Woogie, then finish up playing together. In the adjacent room was table tennis, and when my brother and I were playing, the music could be heard in that room. The door opened and in walked a chap who introduced himself as Stan Hall. He congratulated us and said that he also played piano. We invited him to play a couple of Boogie Woogie songs, that’s when I realized that he was a great piano player. We became close friends and still are today. I would watch him play for hours and learn so much from him. I really owe Stan for a lot of my success.
Describe the music scene while you where learning the piano and which musicians where your idol’s? And did you ever dream you’d get to play along side them one day?
Roy Young: The music scene while learning to play the piano was totally different from today. My idols at this time were Billy Eckstein, Billy Daniels, Johnny Ray, Al Jolson and many of the big Orchestras. They were much older than I, and by the time rock n roll took-off, they were either retired or long gone. As I got into rock’ n roll professionally, I started to become a big fan to Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis etc. I was very honoured that later on in my career I was able to record and appear with them in different shows.
Can you remember the first tune you ever learn to play?
Roy Young: The first tune I learned to play was a song that I would play with three fingers on my left hand, and my forefinger on the right. Some of the songs I can remember playing that weren’t Boogie Woogie were jazz songs like “Twelve Street Rag” and “Swanee River”. I also played songs like “Flight of the Bumblebee” and “Greeks Concerto” in my Boogie Woogie style.
Who was it that discovered you had that something special and did you know at an early age you wanted to become a professional vocalist/pianist? What age did you turn professional?
Roy Young: At the age of 22 I felt confident enough to become professional. I thought I had found my niche and decided to approach the agencies in London. It was harder to get into rock ’n’ roll than I anticipated. I spent at least 2-3 months walking around London visiting different agencies with no luck. The money that I had saved for this was starting to run out. I’ll always remember walking around the streets with a loaf of bread under my arm, that’s all I could afford, but I was so determined to become a pro that I kept on going. I knew deep down that if I didn’t find one soon I was going to quit. On the day that I was planning to go back to my home town in Oxford to start a new life, I was walking by a hairdressing salon on Gerrard St. in London, and noticed a sign saying, “Carna Variety Agency”, 4th floor. Because I was so down and out and tired, I didn’t feel like walking up the stairs to the 4th floor. I decided that was it, and started walking away to go home. As I got 1/2 mile down the road I thought to myself, “What if something could have happened?”. I decided to go back for one more try. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done in my musical career. When I got to the top of the stairs. I was tired. I walked into the office and the secretary asked who I was and what I wanted. I said, my name is Roy Young, I’m a rock ’n roll singer and piano player and I want to be a pro. I then immediately turned to walk back down the stairs when she called me back. She asked me to wait, and within a few minutes out came one of the greatest guys in my life, Jack Falon. He took me into his office and asked me what I did. When I told him, he said “Here you go son, here’s 5 pound, go get washed up and something to eat. Be back by 7 and I’ll have a contract ready for you to sign. Your name is now, “Roy Rock’em Young”. I couldn’t believe my luck and why he did this for me. I found out later that a similar event happened to him a couple of months before when another rock ’n roller with a guitar walked into his office and said almost exactly what I said. Jack asked him to play, then told him to go away and learn the guitar and come back next year. Two-three months following, he had a No.1 hit record with, “Rock with the Caveman”. His name was the Tommy Steele.
What song was it that made you think right – I want to be apart of this rock ’n’ roll revolution and what steps did you take to ensure you where in the right place at the right time ?
Roy Young: While visiting Australia, I was walking around Sydney wondering what to do. I walked by a cinema that was featuring a movie called, “Blackboard Jungle”. I decided to spend a couple of hours and watch the movie. I wasn’t aware that this movie was about to turn my life around. The opening song was “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley and The Comets. This was when rock ’n’ roll hadn’t even arrived yet, the song just inspired me so much that I went through the whole movie waiting for the second show just to hear the song again. The manager of the cinema told me I had to leave. On returning to England, I couldn’t wait to play it and sing it to all my mates. When they heard me they were all curious to what it was. I told them it was called rock ’n’ roll. When rock ’n’ roll finally arrived, I felt reborn.
Click on part 2 for next part of interview.
Please note all articles on this site are (C) to The Beat Goes On And On Fanzine and may not be used without permission.