Why Fight The Feeling? - Roy Hamilton

 

I'll Live True To You

Why Fight The Feeling?

Roy Hamilton

Music Arranged and Conducted by Neal Hefti

Epic LN 3534

1959

From the back cover: (Note: For a closer look at this magnetic personality of Roy Hamilton, Epic has asked his manager, Bill Cook, to contribute a few words about this popular and gifted artist).

Roy Hamilton, whom I discovered singing in a small night club in Newark, New Jersey for $5.00 a night, proves in this collection that when he puts the Hamilton touch to a song, with all the fire and soul that he possesses, the song takes on a new meaning. Roy, who says "I dig 'em like I feel 'em," does it here with songs by such splendid composers as Johnny Mercer, Jimmy McHugh, Frank Lesser, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, James van Heusen, Neal Hefti and others, songs which, in their varying ways, deal with romance and the feelings that accompany it.

Epic Records asked me, because of my long and close association with Roy, to give a description of the quiet, unassuming singer whose meteoric rise from boxer to balladeer was accomplished almost over-night, and whose flair for making hits has caused him to be dubbed "The Golden Boy Of Song." Roy was born in Leesburg, Georgia, and his home is now in Jersey City. He is twenty-eight at this writing, and his loves are people and music. His love for music ranges from spirituals (his first interest) to jazz and rock-and-roll. Almost the only difference in his approach to songs is that when he performs a song with a spiritual flavor it changes from rock-and-roll to "rock and soul." He has a sincerity that he transmits to his audiences with often surprising effects; I've seen them cry, rejoice and even faint, and men react with the same emotions that women do. His humility, his cooperative spirit and the general attitude he takes toward everyone have caused disc jockeys and even other artist to call him the nicest guy in show business. Having watched his rise, his recent illness and retirement and his splendid comeback, and knowing his sincere love from singing, I share even more deeply the respect others have for him. I have watched him remain in auditoriums singing autographs until the lights went out, or standing in the rain for hours shaking hands, and this is the singer for whom 82,000 oriole staid un a five minute ovation in Soldiers' Field in Chicago, calling him back to the stage. He has been chosen Singer of the Year by Cashbox Magazine, and was cited the favorite vocalist by fans in Brazil, Italy and in the Caribbean.

Recording people love him, because his great voice and keen ear save time at recording sessions, and because of his cooperative, many of his biggest hits have been made with only one take. He never argues, swears or complains, even to his manager! And he spends music of his time trying to help new young singers who have not been as fortunate as he has. I'm often asked if his deeply religious feeling does not come from his background as a singer of gospel songs; I can only say that he believes sincerely in the Golden Rule, and lives – and sings – accordingly.

One of the most imaginative and inventive of today's you'd conductor-arrangers, Nebraska-born Neal Hefti has played with such leaders as Charlie Spivak and Woody Herman, and wrote arrangements for both the Herman Herd and Harry Jame's orchestra. He arranged and conducted an earlier collection for Roy Hamilton, With All My Love (LN 3519) and (LN 3440) and Hefti Hot'n Hearty (LN 3187).

Something's Gotta Give

Can't Get Out Of This Mood

Why Fight The Feeling

Change Partners

I Could Write A Book

You Belong To My Heart

Let's Do It

You May Not Love Me

To The End Of The Earth

Love Me

Kiss Me First

I'll Live True To You