Jimmy Lloyd - Lloyd'sList: The Complete Recordings

Jasmine continues to shine a spotlight on the discographies of West Indian artists who were based and who recorded in the UK in the 1950s and early 1960s, and following on from recent collections by Edmundo Ros, Neville Taylor and the Cutters and the Southlanders we now turn our attention to Trinidad-born Jimmy Lloyd, who lived and recorded extensively in the UK between 1954 and 1964. With the exception of a famous flexi-disc he cut that extolled the virtues of 'Strand' cigarettes, Jimmy recorded for the same label throughout his UK career. He never had a hit, but his records must have sold well for him to remain with the same company all that time. Several of our featured selections were covers of big US hits of the day, as was customary for UK singers in the 1950s. Blessed with a very American sounding voice, Jimmy was able to turn in fine versions of US hits by the likes of Sam Cooke, Chubby Checker, Ed Townsend and many more. His voice also appeared over the credits of two of the most important UK films of the early 60s, 'Sapphire' and 'A Flame In The Streets'.Jimmy left the UK in 1964 to live and work in the Middle East, where he still resides in his 90s. His excellent recordings have long since fallen into neglect but it's to be hoped that this Jasmine collection will do a lot to right that particular wrong.