Tribute To The Sixties

Howard Campbell

Saturday, December 31, 2011

SINGER Baron 'Breezy' McKenley, whose gospel take on pop standards has earned him the moniker, 'the Tribute Man', says his next album will be an ode to songs from the 1960s.

Tribute To The Sixties is the name of the album which hears McKenley putting his spin on classics by Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Ben E King and Paul Anka. McKenley says he was encouraged to do the project by Paul Leslie, an Atlanta, Georgia disc jockey.

"He was listening to my last album which was a tribute to Fats Domino and thought it would be a good idea to do some gospel tunes to songs from the

1960s," McKenley said.

There are eleven tracks on Tribute To The Sixties. They include I'm Shaken Up, which is done to the music of Presley's All Shook Up; Goddess Diana, inspired by Anka's Diana and Take Him At His Word, done to the music of Stand By Me, which was originally done by King.

Tribute To The Sixties is a follow-up to Gospel Rendition of Fats Domino, which was released in 2011.

On that set, McKenley paid homage to an artiste who has had a profound influence on his career American rock and roll legend Antoine 'Fats Domino' Dominque.

It was the second tribute album to Domino by McKenley. The first was "Tribute to Fats Domino" which was released in 2006.

A devout Seventh-Day Adventist, McKenley is originally from St Ann but immigrated to Britain as a boy, growing up in the north London community

of Stoke-Newington. He has recorded a spate of tribute songs to notable figures including United States president, Barack Obama, former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.