![]() ![]() As a result, Atlantic-America signed him as one of its first Nashville-based artists. Producer Nelson Larkin eventually recorded Royal’s music. He survived with the help of friends in Nashville. Sometimes I don’t see how I survived, mentally and emotionally.” “I don’t want people to think, ‘Poor Billy Joe,’ ” he says with a grin, “but ’83 and ’84 were just an awful, awful two years. ![]() During that time, he also moved back to his home state of Georgia and went through a divorce. Royal says his career was on its last legs four or five years ago when he was playing mostly dingy nightclubs. “But it has worked, and looking at it now, it is a good combination. “I thought, ‘It’s not gonna work we Royal and his band are gonna die out here every night,’ ” he recalls. At first, Royal thought he and Strait were an odd combination. Recently, Royal has been opening shows for Texas cowboy George Strait. I also got to practice ’em onstage at the club.” I’d watch ’em do their little spins, and I’d go home and practice ’em. “One thing I saw was how hard those black acts worked onstage. Atlanta singer-songwriter Joe South and I worked there together, and we talked the owner into booking everybody from Sam Cooke to Ray Price and Jim Reeves in there so we could watch them work. “When I was young I worked at this huge club in Savannah, Ga., called the Bamboo Ranch, and what I learned there, you couldn’t buy. “It’s so old it’s probably new to people these days to see somebody get out there and work up a sweat and get crazy,” Royal says with a chuckle. ![]()
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