Billy Joe Royal

Valdosta, Georgia, was where Billy Joe Royal was born, in March, 1942 and his home town, that is, until he moved to the outskirts of Atlanta, by the age of eight. It was his good fortune to met singer, songwriter and guitarist, Joe South, at a relatively young age, for it was to be South who would pen Billy Joe’s biggest hit, “Down In The Boondocks”, in 1965.

Nevertheless, “Down In The Boondocks” was far from being Billy Joe Royal’s first recording, for he had been painstakingly struggling to achieve such success since 1961. Joe South’s band The Believers backed Billy Joe on most of his recordings and “I Knew You When”, released in the wake of his initial hit, was no exception. Although it performed almost as well, it was to be another long four years before Billy Joe would experience having another hit in the Top Twenty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPJvk4t6SQ

“Cherry Hill Park” was to be this hit and it revived Billy Joe’s flagging status as a recording artist in the process. However, this time it was to be sixteen years and many recording companies later before he was to once again to make a meaningful impact upon the charts — the country charts.

Having virtually exhausted every other available opportunity at his disposal Billy Joe had begun recording in Nashville and, in 1985, his first hit in country music, “Burned Like A Rocket”, entered the charts. His biggest hit came, in 1989, when “Tell It Like It Is” peaked at No.2. Ironically, this song had been a hit — which had also reached its zenith at No.2 — on the pop charts, for Aaron Neville, in 1967. The very charts Billy Joe had tried so hard to conquer, all those years ago.

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