****WINSTON FRANCIS - FEEL GOOD ALL OVER MEDLEY ALBUM****

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****WINSTON FRANCIS - FEEL GOOD ALL OVER MEDLEY ALBUM****

TRACKLIST

• 01 Tonight
• 02 Why Cant I Touch You
• 03 Sitting In The Park
• 04 Love Is A Treasure
• 05 One Woman
• 06 Oh Me Oh My
• 07 Never Get Away
• 08 I`ll Get Along Without You
• 09 Say You
• 10 Secretly
• 11 Sunshine
• 12 Midnight Hour
• 13 Feel Good
• 14 Come Tomorrow
• 15 Stick By Me
• 16 Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head
• 17 I`m Not A King
• 18 For The Good Times
• 19 A Lovers Question
• 20 Mr Fix It
• 21 Venus
• 22 Can`t Help Falling In Love
• 23 Red Red Wine
• 24 What A Wonderful World
• 25 Without My Love
• 26 Sweet Sensation
• 27 Endlessly
• 28 Fools Fall In Love
• 29 Picture On The Wall
• 30 I`ve Got To Go Back Home
• 31 Ba Ba Boom

Label Jet Star
Orig Year 2004

Reggae veteran Winston Francis is probably still best remembered for his work with Coxsone Dodd on Studio One back in the dawn of the 1970s. In those rocksteady days, when he released his classic Mr Fix-It album, he was known for having one of the richest voices on the scene,his music teacher even compared him to the young Nat 'King' Cole.
The good news on this new album is that the voice is still in fine shape. Older, of course, and slightly more ragged than the pure instrument you may remember, but still capable of effortlessly dominating a bustling rhythm track.
Unfortunately, that's just about the only good news. Because the problem with this release is that the entire project feels misguided. What we have are 31 songs crammed into an hour-long medley, a format that allows little breathing space for either material or musicians. Over a looped drum pattern, the Ruff Cutt band play decent enough versions of the tracks, but there's no variation of tempo, texture or instrumentation, and the brevity of each song ensues that there's barely time for a couple of verses and choruses; certainly not for instrumental passages that might pace the thing.
The material too leaves something to be desired. Francis was never averse to taking on songs from well beyond reggae (his British break came when Tony Blackburn made his cover of "California Dreamin' "record of the week on Radio One), but too much of this is drawn from the stock repertoire of the cheesy cabaret circuit. Do we need reggae versions of "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" or "Raindrops Keep Falling"? Only if there's sufficient adventure in the arrangement and production, and sadly here there isn't.
By the time we get to "Can't Help Falling In Love," followed by "Red Red Wine", its feeling like an MOR tribute to UB40.
Reduced to half the number of songs, and with a bit more imagination, this could have been a decent late effort by a much-loved artist. Instead, the effect is of monotonous and relentless jollity, the soundtrack to a party you'd rather not attend.

WINSTON FRANCIS - AFRICA

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AFRICA

TRACKLIST


Come On & Tell I
Coming In From The Cold
Time Has Come
Send Us Some Rain
Africa
How Can I Forget
Fighting Against Conviction
Time Version


Producer : Winston Francis


Vocals : Winston Francis


Studios :
Recording : Captain Audio (Toronto ,CA) & Kensington Sound (CA)
Mixing : Captain Audio (Toronto ,CA) & Kensington Sound (CA) & Sound Kitchen (CA)

Winston Francis, born 1948, Kingston JA, attended school in Jamaica and began an apprenticeship in the printing trade before relocating to Miami, Florida, USA at the age of 16. In Miami he attended a music school where his teacher, the impresario, writer and performer Chuck Bird, likened his vocals to those of Nat "King" Cole. Bird arranged a performance at the Fountain Blue Hotel in Miami in 1965 with the Jackie Gleason Orchestra, witnessed by noted US politician Spiro Agnew. Francis began his career in earnest, performing with Carlos Malcom alongside Derrick Harriott and Boris Gardiner, touring the USA and Caribbean.


His recording career began at Studio One where he made a number of classic rocksteady hits, including a version of Joe South's "Games People Play", and the captivating "Reggae And Cry", while in combination with Alton Ellis he covered Junior Walker's soul hit "What Does It Take". He had also recorded with producer Joe Gibbs as part of the Mellowtones, noted for their hit "Feel Good". In 1971 he relocated to the UK to promote his version of the Mamas And The Papas' pop hit "California Dreaming", which was chosen as record of the week for two consecutive weeks on national radio. The b-side, "Too Experienced", featured falsetto backing vocals from Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. In 1972 Francis began touring the club circuit and recorded sessions for EMI Records, including "Follow Your Star" and a version of "Blue Moon". Throughout the seventies he recorded a number of sessions in the UK, including a remake of "California Dreaming" with Danny Ray. Between 1980 and 1986 he took a sabbatical from the music business and worked as a youth leader and social worker.


Winston Francis was coaxed back into the recording studio in 1987 when he sang backing vocals for the Melodians and performed for Trevor Star and the Skaticians, with whom he still sings. In 1993 Francis was approached by Dennis Bovell to record as a soul performer under the pseudonym of King Cool for the compilation "Jamaican Soul". He became a prominent performer in France when his interpretation of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" was released as a single, selling in excess of 90,000 copies. Although a celebrity in Europe he remained in relative obscurity in the UK, remembered predominantly as a Studio One veteran.


Francis' European success resulted in collaborations with Sly And Robbie, albeit playing soul tunes for his King Cool album debut. In the nineties Francis was asked by dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson to provide the vocals for a rocksteady revival project under the direction of the distinguished reggae guitarist John Kpiaye. Francis toured Europe and the USA performing rocksteady classics, including a notable performance at the Sierra Nevada Reggae Festival in San Francisco. The project led to a compilation of Jamaican classics entitled "Sweet Rock Steady". The cover featured a photograph of the young Francis that originally appeared on the Studio One various artists compilation Reggae In The Grass, released in the late 60s. Recently Winston Francis has teamed up with A.J. Franklin of the Chosen Few which will lead to the release of an album in the spring of 2003.