Roy Brown was born on 10th September 1925, in the southern state of New Orleans Louisiana. By 1942 age 17 he had moved to Los Angeles.

Like Jackie Wilson, Roy was also an accomplished boxer winning 16 of his 18 professional bouts, but he gave up the fight game early.

In 1946 he wrote what many consider to be the pivotal song in music history - Good Rockiin Tonight. He recorded the tune for Deluxe and was released in September 1947 and he took it to 13 in the race charts before Wynonie Harris recorded a more powerful version and took it to number 1. R&B hits followed between 1948 and 1952 - Hard Luck Blues, Boogie At Midnight, Miss Fanny Brown, Long About Midnight and Good Rockin at Midnight - a real rocking remake of Good Rockin Tonight. Not only was Roy a singer songwriter but also much acclaimed for his flamboyant showmanship on stage. Elvis used to go to Roy Brown shows and was an undoubted influence - listen to Roy's Hurry Hurry Baby from 1948.

The future king's 1954 Sun (210) recording of the classic tune confirms Roy's impact on him. King Records bought Deluxe and Roy recorded for King and actually became one of the first artists to successfully sue a record label for royalties owed and win. Usual story as most other originators transpired with tough times for the rest of the 50's and 60's and in fact he became an encyclopaedia salesman. To get a foot in the door he would introduce himself as Roy Good Rockin Brown and then give the prospective client a picture from his hey day - and by all accounts this worked a treat. Later life thankfully saw him gain some further recognition for his earlier achievements. He died on 25th May 1981 in San Fernando, California.