First recorded in the early 1970’s, Always on my Mind has been a massive hit song for several artistes including Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson. Leroy Sibbles is hoping for similar success.
The veteran singer’s self-produced version was released in April on his Bright Beam label. In an interview with the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Splash, Sibbles described the song’s message as timeless.
“It is a song that every man and woman who has been in love can relate to. Obviously, I hope people hear it ’cause I think we did it justice,” he said.
Sibbles’ Always on my Mind features a searing guitar solo from Dalton Browne with Donovan Palmer of Fab Five programming the other instruments.
With the music business at a competitive peak, for 69-year-old Sibbles, recording and producing a song are just the tip of the iceberg. Getting airplay is a totally different ball game.
“When I was much younger an’ at Coxsone people used to seek out good music; they would play it every day. But now on the (radio) station dem we hear more foreign song than the local stuff,” he said. “Yuh get the feeling sometimes they play our songs jus’ to be trendy.”
Coxsone was producer Clement Dodd, proprietor of Studio One, the legendary studio where Sibbles helped create countless hit songs as a member of The Heptones and bass player for other artistes.
For over 20 years, Sibbles has been a mainstay on the vibrant rocksteady circuit where fans, young and mature, clamor to hear the classic songs he made over 40 years ago. Like many of his contemporaries, he is frustrated his new songs are overlooked.
“In terms of airplay things could be better. I come from the school that believe if the song sound good, it should be given a chance,” he said.
— By Howard Campbell
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