Roscoe Shelton (August 22, 1931 – July 27, 2002) was an American electric blues and R&B singer. He was a pivotal and influential voice who paved the way for other soul artists as the blues and rock genres were finding some common ground in the world of pop music. His latter-day producer, Fred James, noted that Roscoe was one of the few blues/R&B singers of the '50s to make the transition to soul.
Roscoe Shelton was born in Lynchburg, Tenn., but he grew up in Nashville. Despite having a guitar-playing uncle who introduced him to the music of jump blues singers like Amos Milburn and Ivory Joe Hunter, Shelton was initially a first-rate gospel vocalist. When he was eighteen Roscoe joined the legendary Fairfield Four, a gospel quartet from the '30s and '40s. It is important to note here that Shelton's friend Bobby Hebb also played guitar in the Fairfield Four, though not while Shelton was with the act. After singing lead for that group Roscoe spent four years in the military. Upon his release from military duty he joined a spin off
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of the Fairfield Four, which became known as the Skylarks. Between 1956 and 1957 the Skylarks recorded for Nashboro Records, a gospel label owned by Excello Records proprietor Ernie Young. After his gig with the Skylarks, Shelton performed live with his childhood friends DeFord Bailey, Jr. and Bobby Hebb. Hebb noted that Shelton sang spirituals before he went into the blues.
It was never a problem for the singer and guitarist to get together. They would see each other in the neighborhood quite often. And it was the same with DeFord Bailey, Jr., son of the legend he was named after, who lived only two or three houses away from the Hebbs when Bobby and DeFord were children. Bobby Hebb was a sideman with DeFord Bailey, Jr. -- considered the first electric bass player in Tennessee -- and they had a variety of singers including Roscoe Shelton. Roland Grisham would perform on guitar when Hebb had other commitments.
Forty-fives were being released on various labels after the debut album, Roscoe recording for Ted Jarrett's Valdot label in 1962, those sides getting licensed to Battle Records. In 1964-1965 the work was issued on the Simms imprint, resulting in the hit
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"Strain on My Heart." Simms was absorbed by Sound Stage Seven, a label operated by former DJ John Richbourg, aka John R of Rich Records fame. Sound Stage Seven released the singer's music between 1965 and 1967, hitting with "Easy Going Fellow."
Following the death of friends Sam Cooke and Otis Redding late in 1967, Roscoe was never the same. Overcome with sadness and often unable to perform, Roscoe Shelton quit the music industry all together in 1969/70 for the private sector, becoming the dorm administrator for Meharry Medical College in Nashville. He didn’t return to his music for nearly 25 years. The gap is huge between the work on Sound Stage 7 in 1966 and the 1994 release of material by Shelton, Earl Gaines, and Clifford Curry
under the title of the Excello Legends. This was actually recorded for what was to be a reactivated Excello Records, but the company sold out to AVI, the disc getting licensed to Magnum and finding re-release in 1998 on Ripete.
under the title of the Excello Legends. This was actually recorded for what was to be a reactivated Excello Records, but the company sold out to AVI, the disc getting licensed to Magnum and finding re-release in 1998 on Ripete.
Fred James produced many of Shelton's recordings in the '90s and the new millennium, touring the U.S. and Europe with the singer several times. Those records include Let It Shine and She's the One from 1996, and the Earl Gaines and Roscoe Shelton 1998 recordings entitled Let's Work Together. Amazingly, Gordon cut Memphis, Tennessee, his first-ever full-length LP, in 2000; the record is a sorely overlooked date that featured him performing his signature hits backed by the stinging guitar of Duke Robillard and a fine band. The album earned him a W.C. Handy award nomination. Several more CDs were released up to the singer's passing. Always a heavy smoker, he succumbed to cancer in Tennessee on July 27, 2002. (Edited mainly from AllMusic)