Roy Hamilton - Don't Let Go (CD)

All Music Guide

The aim of this 26track compilation of material Roy Hamilton cut for Epic between the mid1950s and early 1960s was, according to Clive Richardson's liner notes, to choose "tracks which mainly sit comfortably within the RB genre." That it does, but as this does include his biggest hits not just the pop smashes "Don't Let Go," "You Can Have Her," and "Unchained Melody," but also the Top Ten RB singles "Ebb Tide," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)," "Hurt," and "Forgive This Fool" it also serves as a quite respectable, extensive bestof anthology. Frankly, some of this is far more in the melodramatic pop ballad camp than the RB one, particularly the aforementioned "Ebb Tide," "You'll Never Walk Alone," and "Hurt," although all of those tracks are strong performances. But a lot of it is RBinformed, proving Hamilton to be one of the very first singers of note to cross RBindebted styles over to mainstream pop without getting whitewashed. While the hits ...(particularly the gospelinflected, uptempo "Don't Let Go" and "You Can Have Her") might be the most memorable tunes, there are a lot of good cuts here, including "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)," famously covered a bit later by Elvis Presley (and then, in 1963 on the BBC, by the Beatles); the rollicking, very slightly sinister poprockRB of "Crazy Feelin'" and "Jungle Fever"; a few other numbers where his gospel roots show, like "That's All Right" (which sounds a bit like a more poporiented slant on the mid1950s Ray Charles sound); and the loungey bluessoul of "I'll Take Care of You," "Blowtop Blues," and "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town." Certainly the music on this disc helped pave the way for the likes of Brook Benton and (more indirectly) Sam Cooke to make inroads into the pop audience, and overall it's a fine document of a singer whose skill and influence have been generally underestimated. - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Read more Less