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TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SYMPATHY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE PASSING OF THE ICONIC SOUTHERN SOUL SINGER ROY CHARLES "ROY C" HAMMOND OF ALLENDALE COUNTY AND TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE HIS INCREDIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO R&B AND SOUL MUSIC.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of Roy Charles "Roy C" Hammond at the age of eighty-one on September 16, 2020; and
Whereas, born in Newington, Georgia, on August 3, 1939, southern soul singer, songwriter and record executive Roy C was best known for his 1965 hit, "Shotgun Wedding"; and
Whereas, he began singing tenor with The Genies, a vocal group in Long Beach, Long Island, whose first single, "Who's That Knockin'," reached number seventy-two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958. The group moved to Atlantic Records with Mr. Hammond as the lead singer, but their recordings were not released, and he was drafted into the United States Air Force; and
Whereas when he returned to New York City in 1965, he organized a studio session to record his own song, "Shotgun Wedding," and released it under the name Roy Hammond on his own Hammond label, before leasing it to the larger Black Hawk Records under the name Roy C. "Shotgun Wedding" reached number fourteen on the national Billboard R&B chart and had even greater success when issued in the United Kingdom, reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart in 1966 and number eight when reissued in 1972; and
Whereas, Mr. Hammond's first album, That Shotgun Wedding Man, was released on Ember Records in 1966. After some less successful attempts on the Shout label, he started another new label, Alaga. Working with guitarist J. Hines, he had more success with "Got to Get Enough (of Your Sweet Love Stuff)," which made the R&B charts in 1971; and
Whereas, in 1973, he signed with Mercury Records, and "Don't Blame the Man" gave him another R&B hit. He released an album, Sex and Soul, and several more minor hit singles and stayed with Mercury for several years; and
Whereas, in the same year, Mr. Hammond discovered a group of African American high school students from Jamaica High School in Jamaica, Queens, named the Honey Drippers and recorded some songs with them, one of which was "Impeach the President." The song advocated the impeachment of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, with an opening drum sequence that is one of the most widely used samples in hip hop; and
Whereas, after 1979, he released several soul singles and albums on his Three Gems record label, first out of New York and later in Allendale. He had one hundred twenty-five records and wrote most of the lyrics for the songs on those records; and
Whereas, in Allendale, Mr. Hammond ran his own record shop called Carolina Record Distributors, and he released his final album, Stella Lost Her Groove, in March 1999. His songs are recognized for their raw emotion and outspoken lyrics and for the suffering in his voice; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the life and musical legacy that Roy C. Hammond has left for music lovers around the world. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express their profound sympathy upon the passing of the iconic Southern Soul singer Roy Charles "Roy C" Hammond of Allendale County and remember and celebrate his incredible contributions to R&B and Soul music.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Mr. Roy Charles "Roy C" Hammond.
This web page was last updated on September 23, 2020 at 4:10 PM