Lyric waits 12 years for sophomore effort

 Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

In the late 1960s, Albert Tomlinson was a studio regular who sang harmony on some noted rock steady and early reggae classics. He is still in the game, but these days he goes by the name Lyric.

Lyric is also the title of his new album, a 17-track set recently released in North America by Toronto-based Strong and Free Records and in England by Stringbean International Records.

It was released 12 years after his debut, Albert Tomlinson AKA Beenie Byrd. That album was also distributed by Strong and Free and produced by Canadian David Petovar, an executive at the company.

Lyric, now 66, explained the extended break between albums.

"I lived in Canada for over 20 years and worked mainly as a (auto) body man so it wasn't all music, but I mek sure sey every year I do at least two songs," he said.

You Never Know, a ballad, is the first release from Lyric which was largely recorded in Edmonton, Canada. In addition to production duties, Petovar also played keyboards, with guitarists Mario Allende and Greg Filan among the other Canadian musicians who worked on Lyric.

Saxophonist Dean Fraser, trumpeter David Madden, trombonist Nambo Robinson and percussionist 'Sky Juice' contributed to Lyric during sessions at the Anchor studio in Kingston.

special ingredient

Lyric also contains an ingredient close to the singer's heart.

"It has a lot of harmonies. Every song I do have to have harmonies, 'cause that's what I grew up with," Lyric said.

Before immigrating to Toronto in 1970, Albert Tomlinson was a harmony singer at Studio One and Randy's. He cut his first solo record, A Got It, in 1968 at Studio One but was best known as a backing vocalist on songs like Delroy Wilson's Feel Good All Over and Jimmy London's Shake A Hand.

He was also member of the Lyrics, a harmony group that included Stafford Elliott, who would later be known as Fred Locks. Tomlinson returned to Jamaica for good in 1996.

You Never Know is also distributed locally by Strong and Free Records.