Roy Head

Roy Head (born September 1, 1941, Three Rivers, Texas) is an American singer, best known for his hit "Treat Her Right."

After moving to San Marcos, Texas, in 1955, he and Tommy Bolton formed his first group, The Traits, in 1957. The original group consisted of Roy Head (vocals), Tommy Bolton (rhythm guitar) (1941-2003), Gerry Gibson (drums), Dan Buie (piano), Clyde Causey (lead guitar), and Bill Pennington (bass). When Causey joined the military he was replaced by George Frazier (1941-1996) just before the band started their recording career at Tanner N Texas (TNT) Recording Company, located in San Antonio, Texas. [cite web |author=RattlerPride.com | url=http://www.rattlerpride.com/?p=68 |title= Roy Head and The Traits | accessdate=2008-05-26] The Traits (Roy Head vcls) had several regional hits at TNT with songs such as "One More Time", "Live It Up", both released in 1959, and "Summertime Love" (1960), [cite web | author=Terry E. Gordon |url=http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/t/trai7000.htm |title= Traits| accessdate=2008-05-26] and established themselves in the late 1950s and the early 1960s as one of the premier teenage Texas-based rock n roll bands while playing the concert, sock hop, college and university and dance hall circuits throughout Texas. In 1962 additional Texas/regional hits were released by The Traits (Roy Head vcls) from Renner Records #221 and Ascot #2108, a subsiderary of United Artist, with their version of "Linda Lou” with "Little Mama" by Buie and Head on the B side, and Renner Records #229 "Got My Mojo Working".

In 1964 Roy Head and the Traits signed with Scepter, who had developed a nationwide independent network of distributors while working with The Shirelles, but then moved on in 1965 to sign with Huey Meaux of Back Beat Records, Houston, TX. "Treat Her Right" reached #2 on both the US Pop and R&B charts in 1965, behind the Beatles' "Yesterday." "Treat Her Right", with its blazing horns and punchy rhythm, credited to Roy Head and bass man Gene Kurtz, established Roy Head as a prime exponent of "blue-eyed soul." By 1995 "Treat Her Right" had been covered by as many as 20 nationally known recording artist including Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan. "Just A Little Bit" and the rockabilly styled "Apple Of My Eye" also cracked the Top 40 in 1965. In that same year TNT released the group's first album consisting of their music recorded for TNT and Renner Records, TLP #101 entitled "Roy Head and the Traits," which was also distributed by the New York based Scepter Records. "Treat Her Right" would later be the featured song in the movie, THE COMMITTMENTS.

Video clips from this time period show Head to have been a dynamic and versatile eccentric dancer; there are at least three extant clips of him performing "Treat Her Right" and each one is different than the others in terms of choreography. Modern viewers have compared his jumps and slides to those of James Brown or even the Nicholas Brothers; because he was white but his footwork included moves popular among African American gymnastic dancers, he was sometimes said to be a practioner of "blue-eyed soul."

Unfortunately, the chart-makers recorded and released on the Back Beat and Scepter labels spelled the end of Head's association with what has come to be thought of as the “second group” of Traits. See "Doubled Edged Sword" in [http://myspace.com/royheadandthetraits The Story of Roy Head and The Traits]

Later releases on Dunhill and Elektra contained elements of rockabilly and psychedelic rock, but by the mid 1970s his solo career had led him to country. He signed first with Mega Records and then with Shannon Records and later on with ABC Records and Elektra Records. Between the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s, Roy Head's music reached the US C&W Top 100 24 times. In 1975 he had a US C&W Top 20 hit with "The Most Wanted Woman In Town" and again in 1981 with "Come To Me," which reached the C&W Top 40.

Even the earliest blues-laced, rockabilly styled recordings of The Traits (Roy Head vcl), primarily written in a collaboration between Bolton, Buie, Gibson and Head, have demonstrated lasting power with "One More Time," "Live It Up" and "Summertime Love" making periodic surges into the Top 100 in various parts of Europe. Joe "King" Carrasco had a hit covering The Traits "One More Time" and releasing it on Hannibal Records (US) and Stiff Records (UK) in 1981. Two Tons of Steel covered "One More Time" again on both CD and DVD in 2000, Palo Duro Records entitled "Two Tons Of Steel-Live At Gruene Hall." Discographies reveal that much of the music originally written, composed and recorded by the Traits at TNT and Renner Records between 1958 and 1962 has been re-released over the past four decades numerous times by as many as 20 different record labels both in the US and abroad.

During 1966 and 1967, when Head was working with the Roy Head Trio, the Traits independently recorded using Dean Scott on lead vocals, and later recorded with Johnny Winter featuring Winter's vocals and blistering guitar leads. After the 1967 disbanding of the Roy Head Trio consisting of Head, Gibson, Kurtz and guitarist David "Hawk" Koon, Head started pursueing his solo career, and Gerry Gibson, the drummer for the original Traits, would go on to become a member of several other popular groups including a stay with Sly and The Family Stone where he made notable contributions to a new style of music referred to at the time as "funkadelic."

Roy Head and The Traits are listed among "The 200 Greatest Rock N Roll Artists Of The 1960s". Most lists of the "Top 500 Rock N Roll Songs" ever recorded include "Treat Her Right". Roy Head is a member of the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, the Texas Country and Western Music Hall of Fame and the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame. In October 2007 at their "sold out" Golden Anniversary Concert at Texas State University in San Marcos, Roy Head and The (original) Traits were inducted into the international Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Musicians for the concert were Traits Roy Head, Gerry Gibson, Dan Buie, Clyde Causey, Bill Pennington and Gene Kurtz, with special guests Bill York, Don Hutchko, Don Head and Sundance Head. In 2008, Roy Head performed in Cleveland, OH for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Some music historians have observed that Head's versatility actually worked against him since he did not fit into any specific marketing niche. His use of many small record labels also prevented his recordings from achieving national distribution.

Head continues to be active in recording and performing music. His son, Jason "Sundance" Head, was a contestant on Season 6 of American Idol and signed a recording contract in 2007 with Universal Motown Records.

Discography

Albums

* "Roy Head and the Traits" (1965, TNT)
* "Ahead of His Time" (1968, Dot)
* "Same People" (1970, Dunhill)
* "Dismal Prisoner" (1972, TMT)
* "Head First" (1976, ABC/Dot)
* "Ahead of His Time" (1976, ABC/Dot)
* "Tonight's the Night" (1977, ABC)
* "In Our Room" (1979, Elektra)
* "The Many Sides of Roy Head" (1980, Elektra)
* "White Texas Soul Shouter" (1999, Edsel)
* "Country Crooner" (1999, Edsel)

Compilations

* "Slip Away: His Best Recordings" (1993, Collectables)
* "Treat Her Right: The Best of Roy Head" (1995, Varese)
* "The Texas Soul and Country Man: The Crazy Cajun Recordings" (1999, Edsel)
* "Teeny Weeny Bit" (2000, Aim)
* "Head On!" (2001, Music Club)
* "An Introduction to Roy Head" (2006, Fuel 2000)
* "Golden Anniversary (1957 - 2007) - Rockabilly Hall of Fame Album" (2007, PVI)

References

External links

* [http://myspace.com/royheadandthetraits The Story of Roy Head and The Traits]
* [http://phonecasting.com/Channel/ViewChannel.aspx?id=850 Roy Head Podcast]
* [http://music.aol.com/artist/roy-head/24428/biography AOL Music biography]
* [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269342---Roy-Head Yahoo Music biography]
* [http://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Roy-Head.html Oldies.com biography]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ga4mM01SeE Treat Her Right video on YouTube]
* [http://www.thebulletin.com/archives/2003/april/royhead.htm 2003 magazine article]
* [http://www.thebulletin.com/archives/2005/july/royhead2005.htm 2005 magazine article]
* [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RoyHead.html Rockabilly Hall of Fame] __NOTOC__