Honey Boy

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About Honey Boy

b. Keith Williams, c.1955, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, West Indies. Williams moved to Britain in the late 60s and settled in Oxford before moving to London. He began his career working with Laurel Aitken on the session that resulted in "Guilty" by Tiger (one of Aitken's pseudonyms) for the Palmer brothers. Honey Boy's first session as a vocalist came when working for Junior Lincoln, who had set up an independent label after leaving B&C Music. Lincoln's label Banana had been an outlet for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One recordings in the UK, but also released Honey Boy's debut, "Homeward Bound". His alias was appropriate because his vocal cords were considered to be sweeter than honey. Although the single did not make a big impact, many releases followed, including "I'm Not Going Down", "Sweet Cherie" and "Happiness Comes". He also recorded under different guises, as Happy Junior on "Sugar Dandy", and as Boy Wonder on "All On The House". His vocals also graced Trojan Reggae Party Volume One when he performed alongside the Pioneers, Greyhound, Bruce Ruffin, Nicky Thomas, Delroy Wilson and Count Prince Miller. By 1976 he had teamed up with Winston Curtis, a Studio One veteran who had taken up residence in the UK, and a number of releases followed, notably "Rock Me" and "Who Baby". He was also a featured vocalist on Winston's Greats. In 1977, Honey Boy recorded for Count Shelley cover versions of Derrick Harriott's "Penny For Your Song" and Jackie Edwards' "Keep On Running". In 1980, Honey Boy returned to Curtis, and with the nucleus of Aswad, Angus Gaye, Tony "Gad" Robinson and George Oban, he released Arise. Although a major hit has eluded him, he has been involved in the UK reggae scene for many years and is considered to be one of the pioneers of lovers rock.

HOMETOWN
Jamaica
BORN
1955
GENRE
Reggae

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