Roy Head, 'Treat Her Right' Country/Soul Singer, Dies At 79

Roy Head

ROY HEAD, the HOUSTON singer whose biggest hit was "Treat Her Right" in 1965, passed away MONDAY morning (9/21) at the age of 79. He also charted 24 songs on the Country singles chart between 1974 and 1985.

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE called "Treat Her Right" "a wild slice of GULF COAST R&B delivered by a manic, handsome, gritty-voiced Country boy." It hit #2 on the Pop charts that year, kept from the top spot by a BEATLES single. The song was later featured prominently in QUENTIN TARANTINO's "Once Upon A Time In HOLLYWOOD."  

One of the legends surrounding HEAD is that he was dragged away by ELVIS PRESLEY's bodyguards after biting the superstar in the ankle. 

“I take what he says and divide by two,” his son, singer SUNDANCE HEAD, once said of his dad. “Then maybe something’s right with it.”

B.J. THOMAS earlier this SUMMER said of HEAD, “When he was on, he was the greatest entertainer on the planet.”

ZZ TOP’s BILLY GIBBONS, who covered “Treat Her Right” on a recent solo album, described HEAD as “a contortionist and an acrobat and a volatile-y voiced singer."

"We were saddened to hear the news of his passing," GIBBONS added in a statement on his web site. "He was a genuine TEXAS rock ’n’ soul phenomenon who had been one of our early ... and continuing inspirations.  

"Of course, everybody loved his hit 'Treat Her Right,' and we were delighted when word got back that he was happy about the version we included in our 'Perfectamundo' album. Talk about validation!  

"What’s perhaps a bit less well known is the fact that ZZ TOP’s 'Tush' partially appropriated its title from one of his B-sides. The follow-up to 'Treat Her Right' was 'You’re Almost Tuff,' and the flip side was a blazing blues-rock instrumental titled 'Tush Hog,' attributed to the ROY HEAD TRIO.   

"He will always be remembered for his music, his drive and the fact that, as he liked to put it, he was most happy when he was 'a-wigglin’ and a-gigglin’.'"

HEAD grew up the son of a sharecropper in CRYSTAL CITY, TX, where he used to sneak out at night and hear AFRICAN-AMERICAN farmers and sharecroppers sing. His stage moves echoed the "funky precision of JAMES BROWN," dropping into splits and executing cartwheels and somersaults from the stage, the HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports. "As a vocalist he hissed and growled like an alligator."

HEAD and his band, THE TRAITS, followed “Treat Her Right” with another hit, “Apple Of My Eye.”

HEAD constantly reinvented himself, from a "crooner/rocker in sequined jumpsuits; a suit-and-Stetson clad Country singer," as the CHRONICLE described him, His smoky voice spanned genres. “I spent a lot of time fighting myself,” he said.

There are no announced funeral plans yet. HEAD leaves behind his wife CAROLYN, son SUNDANCE and daughter-in-law MISTY and their three children.

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