Arts Remembrance: Soul Iconoclast Roy C

By Noah Schaffer

Roy C may not have lived to see the current regime toppled or his litigation over past royalties resolved to his satisfaction, but he died knowing that he was — without a doubt — a Black American original.

Noah Schaffer and the late Roy C. Photo: courtesy of Noah Schaffer.

Roy C, the outspoken soul storyteller supreme, passed away this week at 81. He was active until the end, working at his Allentown, SC, record store, Carolina Records, where he also ran his longtime label, Three Gems. He had pending tour dates that had been rescheduled due to Covid-19.

Born Roy Charles Hammond, his career started in the ’50s doo-wop days with the offbeat Genies, for whom he sung lead on songs like “Who’s That Knocking” and “Twisting Pneumonia.” He hit R&B pay dirt in 1965 with the single “Shotgun Wedding.” The song’s gunfire sound effects, along with a story line plucked out of the tabloids, reflected the humor and irreverence that would become a Roy C staple. The song was a big hit at Skippy White’s record stores in Boston, cementing a lifelong relationship that continued well into the last decade, when Skippy would still produce Roy C concerts at Dorchester’s Russell Auditorium.

In the early ’70s, two accomplishments cemented Roy C’s legacy. His Queens-based label, Alaga, signed a teenage group called the Honeydrippers to record in the same studio, at the same time Roy C was cranking out singles like “In Divorce Court” and “Merry Black X-Mas.” They released the timely “Impeach the President,” with Roy C contributing to the Honeydripper’s Watergate-inspired chant. The subsequent Clinton and Trump impeachments have kept the song timely, but its funky beat is what really guaranteed its immorality — it is one of the most sampled songs in all of hip-hop. (Sadly, the valuable copyright ended up in the hands of lawyered-up label owner Aaron Fuchs. Years of litigation left Hammond feeling like he never got his just share of the prize.) Roy C never received the full royalties his music earned others.

But just as important was the 1973 Roy C album Sex and Soul. Songs like “Don’t Blame the Man” showed the power of Hammond’s songwriting, and the elegant production and the record’s massive reception in Black America, the UK, and Jamaica showed there was an adult audience for funny yet sophisticated soul music that dealt with mature, real-life themes. A path was set for fellow artists like Millie Jackson and Marvin Sease.

An excellent sequel, More Sex and Soul, followed. Roy C was well into middle age in the late ’80s, but he crafted some of the underground party songs that would remain staples of his live shows: “Peepin’ Through the Windows” and the outrageous “Saved By the Bell (Infidelity Georgia).” While Roy C never garnered the massive White following that the soul stars of Stax and Motown enjoyed, or even got much mainstream R&B airplay, his concerts were always major Black cultural events, especially for Southern transplants. In a 2011 Boston Phoenix article, Skippy White explained that he could always sell the tapes and CDs Roy C self-released on his Three Gems label because his customers would go back South for family reunions and return “asking for a record they say is big in Georgia, so we track it down. If a record couldn’t get played on the radio, we’d play it here in the store, and people would find out about it that way.”

In that same article, Roy C, always a sharp cultural critic, downplayed the “chitlin’ circuit” term that was sometimes applied to the venues he worked. His objection was that the term evoked images of tiny backwoods joints, rather than the classy theaters and function halls or well-attended festivals where well-dressed Roy C fans would turn out anytime he was in their town.

Like many of his Southern soul peers, Roy C’s attitude toward religion was conflicted. He poked fun at the church in “I’m Gonna Love Somebody Else’s Woman (Somebody’s Lovin’ Mine),” but also released gospel albums on his Three Gems label. An attempt at exposing Roy C to a new audience via a documentary that billed him as the “greatest singer White audiences have never heard of” never came to fruition, but an album recorded for the project with a live horn section is still a great listen. In recent years, Hammond could be found on social media sharing his music, engaging with his fans, and speaking his mind about both his business enemies and the racist society that had made “Impeach the President” relevant again.

Hammond may not have lived to see the current regime toppled or his litigation over past royalties resolved to his satisfaction, but he died knowing that he was — without a doubt — a Black American original.


Over the past 15 years Noah Schaffer has written about otherwise unheralded musicians from the worlds of gospel, jazz, blues, Latin, African, reggae, Middle Eastern music, klezmer, polka, and far beyond. He has won over 10 awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

9 Comments

  1. Michael Willcocks on September 17, 2020 at 4:41 pm

    A very nice and eloquent tribute to Roy C. He had a very distinctive and captivating heartfelt delivery, was a clever wry lyricist , and his melodic recordings were and arecalwaysxa pleasure to listen to. One of the greats to those lucky enough to be aware of him and to appreciate him.

  2. Yolanda E Corbitt on September 17, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    We will miss you

  3. Leonard Johnson on September 18, 2020 at 7:30 am

    Roy C. was my favorite blues artist. He will be truly missed. I always tried to attend his shows when he preformed locally, here in the DMV. I will cherish his music and remember him always. I will always remember when I invited Roy C. and his band to preformed at My Family Reunion, In Virginia Beach. Roy C. was a legend to me. Rest in peace my friend. You will NEVER be forgotten.

  4. Clinton Smith on September 18, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Went to many of his concerts he was loved by my whole family and right to this day I still play his music and will continue to do so he will not be forgotten RIP brother roy until we meet again

  5. Aaron Fuchs on September 23, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    The obituary for soul singer Roy C by Noah Schaeffer is exemplar of what happens when a partisan fanboy is charged with reporting either what he cannot or does not want to report. Schaefer writes that, “Sadly, the valuable copyright ended up in the hands of … label owner Aaron Fuchs” a line that is highly charged in several ways.
    Hammond did experience sellers remorse after I bought the copyright to Impeach the President—which was worthless at the time—and which I turned into something valuable. He sued me a couple of times and he never won. But Schaeffer’s description of me as “lawyered up” suggests that I beat him via legal attrition the way a big corporation might do. In fact, we both used retail lawyers. Hammond has a “rogues gallery” on his website of those lawyers he had problems with. If Schaefer had any reportorial impulse he could have called them—or me—and found that they could not prove Hammond‘s baseless allegations and sometimes quit on him in court when they found out the truth—a truth Schaefer made no effort to learn.

  6. lacey on October 23, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    I enjoy his music — may he rest in peace.

  7. jimmie king on May 22, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    I discovered Roy C in recent years. Really love listening to him . Wish I had heard of him earlier in life. Great voice very versatile. Love me some Roy C. . RIP.

  8. Sofo Sandow on June 20, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    I live in Ghana and first heard Roy C about 1978. He had a following then.
    He is a great singer and will live forever……in our memories.
    May he RIP

  9. Ricky Mullen on July 6, 2021 at 2:35 am

    I just found out the great Roy C has passed away. I was made aware of him in the 1990s, and promoted him opening up for Bobby “Blue” Bland in 1998. He had one of the greatest voices I ever heard, and was a consummate showman. When my mother got sick, and I was traveling between Virginia and Florida monthly, I would always stop in Allendale to see him. I had often recommended that he record a gospel record, and he eventually did, and gave me a copy of it. Although we had not been in touch the last four years, he was and will always be one of my favorite people. I wish his family and loved ones peace. There will never be another Roy C!

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