Nice performance. Here's a towel.
272. Billy Joe Royal "I Knew You When"
This song is the best example extant of the musical pleasures to be had watching someone work themselves into an emotional lather. Atlanta native Billy Joe Royal's big hit was "Down In The Boondocks," which is a fine single, but for my money this is him at his best. With it's quavering vocal and boy-pining-for-wayward-girl lyric backed by mournful organ trills and gently ringing guitar, the idea seems to be to take the country weeper and adapt it for a pop/r&b context, which works perfectly for him.
As he does his rock and roll Johnny Ray thing with the organ, percussion and backup singers crescendoing behind him, you can practically hear Royal drop to his knees to sing the chorus. His earnest emotiveness qualifies as it's own weird breed of soulfulness, I think. At any rate, it's nigh irresistible coming out of the speakers.
This song is the best example extant of the musical pleasures to be had watching someone work themselves into an emotional lather. Atlanta native Billy Joe Royal's big hit was "Down In The Boondocks," which is a fine single, but for my money this is him at his best. With it's quavering vocal and boy-pining-for-wayward-girl lyric backed by mournful organ trills and gently ringing guitar, the idea seems to be to take the country weeper and adapt it for a pop/r&b context, which works perfectly for him.
As he does his rock and roll Johnny Ray thing with the organ, percussion and backup singers crescendoing behind him, you can practically hear Royal drop to his knees to sing the chorus. His earnest emotiveness qualifies as it's own weird breed of soulfulness, I think. At any rate, it's nigh irresistible coming out of the speakers.
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