I’ve been meaning to post about Sugar Simone for a while. Love this guy.
Born in Jamaica, Keith “Sugar” Simone rose to local prominence as a gospel singer and left for Britain in ‘61 to further his schooling. He then worked as an engineer while singing on the side, juggling both worlds until 1963 where he auditioned at Old Planetone Studios. Here, he met Alan Crawford, a radio exec who signed Simone to Carnival Records. After cutting a half-dozen singles for Carnival, Simone signed to Island Records where he recorded some of his most well known works as Sugar Simone (he would also record under the name Tito Simon, but those are forgettable).
Simone was always more popular oversees than in the states, touring Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland until the ‘70s. As far as I know, he only cut one LP as Sugar Simone (Alive & Well, kinda lackluster, shown above), profited slightly off a handful of dope 45s, and later signed to Beacon Records where he made more singles and released a few LPs as Tito Simon. But his late ‘60s singles are the most sugary. Here are his best 3 songs:
1) His first and most famous single, “King Without A Throne”, for Island Records in 1967. Notice the jacked “Stand By Me” bassline. HEAR IT
2) “Take It Easy”, another nice late ‘60s cut—rhythm, horns, and nice vocals. Super sweet, no saccharin. HEAR IT
3) “I Want To Know”, a crazy slick 45 Simone did for Trojan. HEAR IT
Do you have a complete discography for this artist?
LikeLike
could you please tell me if sugar played in newquay in the late 60s as sugar simone and the program with roy c ,des speedy joe i have been trying to get intouch with des full name desmod holridge lived in london if you do have any info on des i would be much obliged to hear from you thank you l.wells
LikeLike
Hurrah, that’s what I was looking for, what a stuff! existing here at this web site, thanks admin of this web site.
LikeLike