Frankie Paul
Frankie Paul was often referred to as Jamaica's Stevie Wonder, and not just because of his visual impairment; like Wonder, he was a talented multi-instrumentalist with a tremendous vocal range. He was also extraordinarily prolific; part of the first wave of dancehall artists, he started his recording career in earnest during the early '80s, and subsequently flooded the market with product, releasing countless singles and well over 30 albums. That made his career difficult to track for all but the most ardent fans, but it also ensured that he was never too far out of the spotlight on a constantly changing reggae scene.
Paul was born Paul Blake in 1965. He was blind at birth, but an operation on a hospital ship succeeded in giving him a small visual capacity; he later went to New York to obtain a pair of high-powered glasses that helped even further. He attended a Salvation Army school for the blind, where he first began singing. When Stevie Wonder visited the school, Paul sang for him, and an impressed Wonder encouraged him to go into music. Paul learned the piano, drums, and guitar while still in school, and was most influenced as a singer by Dennis Brown in his early days. As Frankie Paul, he made his first recording, "African Princess," in 1980, when he was still just 15. In 1983, he appeared on two volumes in Channel One's Showdown series, one with Sugar Minott and the other with Little John. The former LP contained Paul's first major hit, the Henry "Junjo" Lawes-produced "Worries in the Dance," which aligned him with the emerging dancehall sound. Lawes also produced 1984's Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng, whose title cut -- an ode to ganja -- was a huge, star-making hit in Jamaica.
Paul reached his prime in the mid-'80s, cutting excellent albums like the George Phang-produced Tidal Wave (1985) and Alesha (1987), and the Philip "Fatis" Burrell-produced Warning (1987). His hit singles included "Tidal Wave," "Alesha," "Casanova," "Sara," "Fire Deh a Mus Mus Tail," "Slow Down," and many others. Paul continued to record for a variety of labels in the '90s, with LP highlights including 1991's Should I and 1994's Hard Work. To keep up his prolific recording pace, he came to depend heavily on covers, whether of reggae classics or contemporary American R&B material. He continued into the new millennium as a tremendously active presence on the reggae scene. However, in his latter years he began to suffer from ill health, including diabetes and kidney problems that required expensive dialysis. He had been living in Gambia but returned to Jamaica, where he performed as late as 2016, the same year he underwent surgery to remove a portion of his right leg. He died in Kingston in May of 2017; Frankie Paul was 51 years old.
© Steve Huey /TiVo
-
Hot Number
Reggae - Lançado por VP RECORDS em 1 de out. de 1992
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pass The Tu-Sheng-Peng / Tidal Wave
Reggae - Lançado por Greensleeves Records em 1 de jan. de 1985
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Slow Down
Reggae - Lançado por VP RECORDS em 1 de jan. de 1988
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fire Deh A Mus Mus Tail
Reggae - Lançado por Greensleeves Records em 1 de ago. de 1988
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Every Nigger Is A Star
Reggae - Lançado por Greensleeves Records em 5 de set. de 1991
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roses Are Red Juggling
Frankie Paul, Super Cat, Trevor Sparks
Dancehall - Lançado por Feed Tha Music em 21 de set. de 2018
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
F P the Greatest
Reggae - Lançado por Fashion Records Ltd. em 1 de jan. de 1992
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pray / Put It Down
Reggae - Lançado por Cousins em 11 de ago. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pass The Tu-Sheng-Peng
Reggae - Lançado por VP RECORDS em 1 de out. de 1984
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Jammys Presents the Best Of
Dancehall - Lançado por King Jammys Digital Productions em 13 de nov. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Frankie Paul At His Best
Reggae - Lançado por TP Records em 14 de dez. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Last Night (Remastered)
Frankie Paul, Top Secret Music
Reggae - Lançado por Evidence Music em 26 de jun. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Most Wanted
Reggae - Lançado por VP em 6 de mai. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reggae Legends - Frankie Paul
Reggae - Lançado por Greensleeves Records em 29 de abr. de 2009
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dancehall Duo
Reggae - Lançado por Trojan Records em 1 de jan. de 1988
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keep Your Head Up
Reggae - Lançado por Humal Records em 30 de mai. de 2017
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dubplate Salute (Shashamane Dubplate)
Reggae - Lançado por Shashamane International Under License to CD RUN em 11 de mai. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Double Trouble
Reggae - Lançado por Greensleeves Records em 1 de jan. de 1985
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Veteran
Reggae - Lançado por VP RECORDS em 15 de jun. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Legend Platinum Edition
Reggae - Lançado por Justice em 17 de abr. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sons Of Jamaica - Frankie Paul
Reggae - Lançado por PMI Jet Star em 25 de fev. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo