Album Notes

Glen Ricketts Biography Glen Ricketts now known as Glen Ricks was born in Kingston Jamaica son to Arthur and Lillian Ricketts. He immigrated to Canada in 1967 and attended Kitchener Waterloo' collegiate Institute better known as k. C. I He began to play the Recorder and the violin at an early age before coming to Canada at the age of 14. He began singing in high School bands, and, after leaving School, he decided to pursue a career in music in Toronto Ontario. After arriving in Toronto in 1969 he entered a Talent contest and came in Second. In the meantime he met a group of guys from Jamaica in a group called the “Fabulous Flames”. They had won first place in the contest. After looking at their individual talents they decided to form a dance and Singing group. They taught Glen to dance and he taught them to sing. This was a wonderful partnership for the years to come. They left Toronto at some point in 1969 and went to Jamaica. There, history was made. They did their first recording of “Holly Holy” the Neil Diamond cover which he voiced for Clancy Eccles. The song became a big success that sparked them to start making an album. The second single, “Growing Up” also became another big hit. He then began to make a name for himself becoming the number one artist in the North Coast in Jamaica. Glen began to see opportunities beyond the Fabulous Flames to make the kind of music that he had relished for some time. Subsequently, he declined the offer to become the lead singer for the Fabulous Flames. Consequently, he began traveling to the States to pursue a solo career. During that time he traveled to Chicago where he met one of his idols Donny Hathaway who took his music and talent to another level. After being under the watchful eye of Hathaway, Glen decided to return to Toronto and joined the group named “Crack of Dawn”. Becoming the driving force behind the band. The band claimed notoriety within North America resulting in a CBS Recording Contract. Several hits resulted from this group which included Boobie Ruby, its Alright, and Keep the Faith. Sadly, the group dismantled due to their inability to produce or fulfill the obligation of the second album. Glen was once again on his own and signed with CBS to release two singles, “I got something for my baby”, and “Oh what a big world”. In leaving that contract, he decided to go with “Filthy Rich” a Toronto based independent record label where he produces the album “Heart of my World”. That single again became number 1 in Jamaica. In 1982 he returned to Canada. In 1986 he joined the Pointer Sisters on tour across Canada and recorded the album “I Found a Love” which garnered worldwide acclaim. He was then nominated for a Juno award for that album. This was not a surprise to the industry since back in Jamaica he had a series of successful hits such as “How Can I forget”, Sitting In the Back Seat”, “Falling in Love”, If Loving you is Wrong” and “Keep on Dancing” Glen Ricks in his travels have opened for the likes of Cool and The Gang, The Spinners, Lolita Holloway, the Pointer Sisters, The Temptations, Natalie Cole Patti Labelle to name a few. In 1990 Glen moved again to Jamaica where he recorded for the likes of producers Sly and Robbie, Bobby Digital, and Phillip Fattis Burrell. Known as the Al Green of Jamaica, and close friend of Dennis Brown, together they would join to bring out this unbelievable talent. Glen nevertheless wasted no time to record one of the strong title of the album of Big Men, the R&B “Never Gonna Let You Go” which finalized into ¾ of an hour at the end of the Big Men sessions in Kingston. Another fine example of Glen’s influence in the music industry was his co-producing of another of Dennis Brown’s album Vision of a Reggae King. With Anthony Cameron as his co-producer and song writer for the album, this album was certainly worthy of respect. Melodies by Glen Ricks the combination of these talents were certainl