Graduation Royal moved to Savannah, where for two years he made regularĪppearances at the city's popular soul and rhythm-and-blues clubs.ĭuring this period Royal shared living quarters for a time with Royal also formed his own band,īilly Joe and the Corvettes, during high school, and by age 16 he was
Youtube billy joe royal down in the boondocks professional#
The program featured prominent guest artists andīrought Royal into professional contact with classic country musicĪrtists such as Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed, and various members of the At age 14 Royal joined a musical revue called Regular singing appearances on his uncle's radio show. He delivered newspapers as a schoolboy, butīy age 11 he was in pursuit of a show-business career, beginning with Theįamily moved to Marietta when Royal was seven years of age, and toĪtlanta three years later. He was the son of a self-employed truck driver. Was born on Ap(or 1945, according to some sources) in Vocal delivery, Royal performed on guitar, piano, and drums, and also Three decades and into the new millennium. Periods of low visibility, Royal's popularity endured through the next The release of a top ten hit single, "Down in the Boondocks." Despite He earned stardom in his own right in the 1960s after Rhythm-and-blues performers of the 1950s by the time he had graduatedįrom high school. Royal was rubbing elbows with the most popular country and The lyrics are also easy to recognize, especially for working folks.Billy Joe Royal, center with members of the Waycross, GA band, Our Gang, circa 1966īorn on April 3, 1942, near Valdosta, GA.įrom the unpretentious background of a Georgia schoolboy, Billy Joe It has become a staple of oldies’ radio since then, popular for its pure, distinct lyrics and soothing guitar sound. He hopes that by that time, apparently, he will be able to join the higher class in the society and finally be able to date the girl freely. The singer then claims that one fine day, he will find a way, to move from that old shack. The girl’s father is the singer’s boss, which, along with the social union, inhibits him from declaring his love and connecting with them, despite the shared feelings. The boondocks boy croons of a girl who lives close, for whom he feels love and bargains for it occasionally. It stemmed from a Tagalog word “bundok” – meaning “mountain.” The people who live and are born in the boondocks are considered to be of a lower class than those in the city. Also, it was ported by the American servicemen stationed in the Philippines to the US. “Boondocks” is a word coined for any rural area, the same as “out in the sticks”. “Down in the Boondocks,” speaks the bitter cry of a “boy from down in the boondocks” in love with a rich girl. Bill Lowery, a music producer, and publisher in Atlanta heard the record and brought it to Columbia, which signed Royal a contract. He was singing at a Cincinnati nightclub, Guys and Dolls when Joe South asked him to make a demonstration record of “Down in the Boondocks,” which he yearned to sell to Gene Pitney.
Billy Joe Royal sang it with a tremulous tenor and strong delivery. Though the song only climbed to number 9, it was Billy Joe Royal’s biggest career hit. “Down in the Boondocks” is a song penned by Joe South and recorded by Billy Joe Royal. #1 Canada Top Singles #9 US Billboard Hot 100 #38 UK Singles Chart.
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