Roy Lanham was a noted guitarist who had his own releases, including “Klondike” on Radio Records and the albums, “The Fabulous Roy Lanham” on Sims and “Most Exciting Guitar” on Dalton. But Roy Lanham was most heard as the guitarist on other performers’ recordings. He played on Dale Evans’s RCA Victor version of “Happy Trails." He was also heard on the Fleetwoods’ two No. 1 records, “Come Softly To Me” and “Mr. Blue."
Roy Lanham was born on January 18, 1923 as Roy Howard Lanham in Corbin, Kentucky. Colonel Tom Parker, later Elvis Presley’s manager, was advance man for Lanham and Gene Austin. Roy Lanham joined the Whippoorwills and then in 1947 helped to reorganize the group. In the early 1950s, he worked at the Abbott Studio in Escondido Canyon California, where, besides recording his own instrumentals, he played on Fabor Robison’s Abbott and Fabor Records' sessions for artists like Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton, Bonnie Guitar and The Browns.
Roy Lanham succumbed to cancer on Februarty 14, 1991 in Camarillo, California.
