George Faith To Be A Lover

Born in the small fishing village of Rae Town outside Kingston, Jamaica, George Faith began life as Earl George Lawrence. The middle child (of three) started singing in his school choir, despite having parents who, as a barber and industrial cook, respectively, didn't exhibit much musical proficiency. His early recordings were credited, variously, to "Earl George" and "George Earl." In the early Seventies, he hooked up with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, recording his first version of William Bell's Stax classic "To Be A Lover." Subsequent to that recording, he drifted through a variety of producers, reconnecting with Perry again in 1977. At that point, Perry dubbed the singer "George Faith," and cut a new version of "To Be A Lover." The second time proved to be a charm, as Faith locked into Perry's groove on such classics as the O'Jays' "I've Got The Groove" and Paul Anka's "Diana." The amalgam of Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour" and Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya," mixed with Perry's swampy production is nothing short of a masterpiece. According to Faith's obituary, To Be A Lover "is ranked by many as the greatest set Perry cut with a solo vocalist." Unfortunately, Lee Perry had something of a breakdown shortly thereafter, so a planned follow-up album and a tour never came to fruition. Faith changed producers again after Perry was out of the picture, but his next album failed to gain either the commercial or critical success of To Be A Lover. After emigrating to Canada in the early Eighties, Faith returned to the Jamaican recording scene in 1986. His Soulful George Faith album led to popularity in Brazil, and he recorded occasionally for that territory. George Faith passed away in May of 2003 after a battle with cancer