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"Down in the Boondocks" remained his best-known song, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 38 in the UK. The recording was heard at Columbia Records, who produced Royal a singing contract in 1965 and released his representation of the song, presentation by South. Royal was a friend of performer and songwriter Joe South, and recorded what was spoke as a demo of South's song " Down in the Boondocks". He formed his own rock and roll band, and became a local star at the Bamboo Ranch in Savannah in the unhurried 1950s and early 1960s, where his singing line was influenced by African-American performers, including Sam Cooke. Life together with careerīorn in Valdosta, Georgia, to Clarence in addition to Mary Sue Smith Royal, and raised in Marietta, Georgia, Royal performed at the Georgia Jubilee in Atlanta during his teens. His almost successful record was " Down in the Boondocks" in 1965. I know this one appreciates it.Billy Joe Royal Ap– Octowas an American country soul singer.

Sure, it was a little naughty, but after several months of “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies, maybe radio needed a little spice! And besides, most of us from that era turned out okay, right? Thank you Billy Joe, for a great career and some unforgettable radio hits. I’m glad WFLI and WGOW were brave enough to play it, because I thought it was cool. It sounds relatively innocent now, but back in ’69, some stations wouldn’t play it because of suggestive lyrics like, “Mary Hill loved to ride on the merry-go-round….All the guys got eager eyes watchin’ Mary go round…Now, in the daytime Mary Hill was a teaser….Come the night she was such a pleaser….Mary Hill was such a thrill after dark, in Cherry Hill Park.” Go ahead, sing along: “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah….I knew you when…”įinally, his controversial hit from late 1969, “Cherry Hill Park.” This one still gets played on some greatest-hits stations, like Chattanooga’s 95.3 Big FM. I wonder how many millions of guys identified with those great Joe South-written words about being from the wrong side of the tracks: “Down in the boondocks, people put me down ’cause that’s the side of town I was born in….I love her, she loves me, but I don’t fit in her society, Lord have mercy on the boy from down in the boondocks….”īilly Joe also played on some of the WFLI “Jet-FLI Spectaculars” at Memorial Auditorium, which featured about a half-dozen hot recording acts on the same bill, for about 3 bucks! He always sang his other 1965 hit, “I Knew You When.” I heard it about a week ago on Sirius XM 60s on 6, and thought to myself, “I haven’t heard this one in a while.” It sure sounded good. In his honor, let me play you his three biggest hits.įirst, “Down in the Boondocks,” probably his best known song, a top-ten hit in the mid-60s. Just a few weeks ago, he was the headliner at the Whitwell Summer Fest.īilly Joe has passed away at the age of 73. In fact, “TJ the DJ” was usually on hand to introduce him. Later he had a few country hits in the 1980s, and since he was based in North Carolina (raised in Valdosta, Ga), he often played Chattanooga clubs and Lake Winnie. He had those big hits in the 1960s, and most of them were “oldies” to me by the time I really started paying attention to the radio. For what had to be the ten-millionth time, he smiled and told me how much that meant to him. Like everybody else who ever met him for the first time, I told him how much I enjoyed his music, and how those songs played a big part in my youth. In 2013, he attended the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame banquet to honor his friend Tommy Jett, the Chattanooga deejay who was being inducted that night. I’m glad I finally got to meet Billy Joe Royal.