Roy Brown was an R&B singer and songwriter born Roy James Brown on September 10, 1920, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best remembered as the composer of "Good Rockin' Tonight," written in 1947 and widely regarded as one of the earliest rock and roll songs. Although Brown's own recording reached number thirteen on the R&B chart, the song became a massive hit for Wynonie Harris and was later famously covered by Elvis Presley, helping bridge the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Brown's songwriting catalog from the late 1940s through the early 1950s produced over a dozen R&B chart entries on DeLuxe Records, including "Hard Luck Blues," his biggest commercial hit, along with "Rockin' at Midnight," "Boogie at Midnight," "Miss Fanny Brown," and "Long About Midnight." He frequently worked with bandleader Leroy Rankins and later recorded with producer Dave Bartholomew at Imperial Records. His compositions were covered by artists including James Brown, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Brown died on May 25, 1981.
