Horace Faith
Jamaican reggae singer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horace Faith (born Horace Smith) was a Jamaican reggae singer. He is best known for his cover of the Checkmates, Ltd. song, "Black Pearl", which reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in 1970.[1]
Released by Trojan Records (TR 7790),[2] "Black Pearl" spent ten weeks on the UK Singles Chart in the latter half of 1970, peaking at number 13 in October that year.[1] Coincidentally, the original version of the song by Checkmates, Ltd., peaked at number 13 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.[3] The track was written by Irwin Levine, Phil Spector and Toni Wine.[4] The B-side of Faith's single was "Help Me Help Myself", which was written by Johnny Arthey and Phil Swern.[2] The single was released in the United States by Bell Records.[5]
"Black Pearl" subsequently appeared on numerous compilation albums.[4]
Faith's later recordings included the self-penned "I Can't Understand It", arranged by Richard Anthony Hewson and produced by Swern.[6]
Faith died on 7 March 2015.[7]
Discography
| Year | Title | Record label | UK [1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | "Spinning Wheel" | B&C | — |
| 1970 | "Black Pearl" | Trojan | 13 |
| "Susie Is Tomorrow" | Trojan | — | |
| 1972 | "Shame and Scandal in the Family" | A&M | — |
| 1976 | "I Can't Understand It" | DJM | — |
| 1978 | "Rich Man Poor Man" | Ultra | — |
| "Looking" | Anansi | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
