Winston Francis
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b. 1948, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Francis 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 "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' "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 70s 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. He 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. His European success resulted in collaborations with Sly And Robbie, albeit playing soul tunes for his King Cool album debut. In the 90s Francis was asked by 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, 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.
Discography:
Mr Fix It (Studio One 1970)****, as King Cool His Majesty Requests (BMG France 1993)**, Sweet Rock Steady (LKJ 1997)***.
The Chosen Few are one of those bands. Starting life in 1969 as the Federals with A.J.Franklin and David 'Scotty' Scott and Junior Soul. They were soon performing gigs around Kingston, notably the Sombrero club, where they were spotted by the producer, Derrick Harriot. Harriot took them into Byron Lee's and Randy's studio and recorded several tracks including 'Shocking Love' which were notable on the Jamaican charts, but 'Penny for your Song' was their greatest success. Scot who operated from their Cross Market in down town Kingston got them most of their gigs for those couple of years.
Junior left for New York to join his family.
By 1970 the Federals evolved into the Chosen Few. The line up changed, with A.J. and Bunny being joined by David Scotty Scott. They started as three and were joined by Richard Macdonald to strengthen the trademark vocal harmony.
Derrick had a showcase called Derrick Harriot & the Musical Chariot and with the show the band started to create some waves. Derrick continued to produce the group and the band had instant first hit with 'Ebony Eyes' which was soon followed by Shaft and Queen Majesty. The trademark vocal style of The Chosen Few was now developed and the act had made its mark on the reggae scene. With Derrick the group had several more hits in Jamaica, but headed out to Canada, Scotty having left to pursue his own career and being replaced with Busty Brown. They toured for more than two years around the States and Canada to packed houses and wild receptions.
Richard Macdonald only stayed with the band for a couple of years and was replaced by Errol Brown. Errol had cut his own reputation around the New York clubs with his soulful melodic voice and fitted into the style of the Chosen Few, completing the line up. With such hits behind them as 'You're a girl now' and 'People make the world go round' they released in 1973 the album, Hit after Hit. The album was pure gold and included such classic tracks as 'Stranger on the shore' and 'Mexican Divorce'.
In Miami they recorded 'Night and Day' with King Sporty, resulting in a compilation with reggae on one side and soul tunes on the other. The album featured K.C and the Sunshine Band and included such favoured tracks as 'Wandering', 'Hit me with the music' and 'Funky Buttercup'.
By the eighties the band had returned to England and A.J set up Silver Edge Records with Jo Harper as manager. They recorded for several years, but not with quite the same success as they had before. By 1985 most of the band had been pulled into the successful stage show, Black Heroes. The show was an instant hit in the west end of London and went on to tour England and do two tours of the United States and Jamaica. In total the show lasted for over five years.
By the 90's A.J was spending much of his time producing and writing and touring with some of the reggae greats. He has featured with such greats as Winston Francis, Brother Yahya, Dennis Brown, Scotty, Bob Marley even working with Stevie and has constantly worked and even completed an album for himself as A.J.Franklin. The Chosen Few did few shows in this period, the difficulty of keeping a four piece band together, but by the late 90's they had all started to work together on new material. Even with Bunny now living in Georgia the band are now working towards a new album for 2003, with Winston Francis completing the line up for the U.K.
The Chosen Few has a unique soulful style that is the true Lovers Rock. They