Cleve Francis

Cleve Francis grew up in Southwest Louisiana and wanted to play the guitar, so his mother started to save quarters to get Francis a real one, as he had previously been using a cigar box and a piece of wood.^[5] Francis was inspired by artists such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Nat King Cole, and Hank Williams.^[5]

Francis began his music career as a folk and blues singer and songwriter in the late 1960s while still a graduate student at the College of William & Mary, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1969.^[6] He attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine), eventually becoming a cardiologist. However, in the late 1980s, he switched his focus to country music, signing first to Playback Records, thanks to a patient who helped him get an audition^[4]. His debut country album Last Call for Love was released that year. The album included a single titled "Love Light", which was also made into a music video.^[7]

After seeing the attention that Cleve Francis got from his first album^[4], along with the video for "Love Light" on CMT, record producer Jimmy Bowen signed Francis to Liberty Records (now Capital Records Nashville) in 1992.^[7][5] Fracis was one of a few Black artists to have a significant recording contract since Charley Pride.^[5] Between 1992 and 1994, Francis released three studio albums on Liberty, in addition to charting four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. One of these was his album, "Tourist in Paradise" in the spring of 1992.^[5] In 1994, Francis returned to his medical practice in Northern Virginia. He is president of Mount Vernon Cardiology Associates.^[8] Francis has performed at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and has a live album recorded there in 2006 called Storytime.^[9] In 2022, Francis released "Beyond the Willow Tree" on Forager Records, a remastered reissue of his 1970 self-released folk album, "Follow Me," which includes several other folk songs Francis had recorded as demos in 1968 and 1970.^[10] By 1995, Francis left the music industry for some time to focus on his career in cardiology until his return with his album Meet Cleve Francis under a new label, K-Tel in 2007. ^[11] Francis has gone on to release four more albums since Meet Cleve Francis, including Storytime in 2007 under his own label "Cleve Francis Productions", Lovelight in 2021 under the label K-Tel, Beyond the Willow Tree in 2022 under Forager Records, and finally Traveling Man in 2024. ^{[9][10][11][12]} In recent years, Francis has been awarded a few honors for his contributions to country music.^[5]

Cleve Francis has been recognized by country artist Jimmie Allen. Jimmie Allen named him as one of his "inspirations".^[5] Francis now lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife.^[5]

Cleve Francis spoke at the Opening Convocation at the College of William & Mary in 2024^[13]. Francis has additionally been recognized in the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, with one of his country albums being on display^[14]. Francis was also featured in 2023 in the Country Music Hall of Fame^[14]. He was also honored in 2021 with the Black Opry Icon Award^[14].

• Cleve Francis at IMDb