Nashville Music Equality
Black Country Artists From the ’90s Share Their Stories: ‘It Was a Very Lonely Journey’
A cardiologist who sang on the side, Francis’ music attracted the attention of CMT, which played the video of his remake of Glen Campbell’s “Lovelight.” The CMT play prompted Liberty head/producer Jimmy Bowen in 1991 to sign Francis, who, at that time, became the only Black artist signed to a major label in Nashville. “He said, ‘I’ll give you a three-[album deal]. There’s a need for another voice in country music… you have a natural voice like Charley Pride does,’” Francis recalled. The label sent Francis on a radio station tour across the country and he garnered press in national publications, including The Washington Post and People, but “the record fell on its face. We released two more songs and they fell on their faces,” Francis said. “The radio stations had turned on me. No one would...
