by Richard Skelly » Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:57 pm
Tony Kingston, we hardly knew ye. A singer of some mystery, he emigrated to Canada from the UK, not long after recording a British single, Mama Come On Home, for Decca Records. Discogs described him as a “Northern Soul” vocalist. Maybe Tony made the acquaintance of upcoming songwriter Roger Cook back in those British days? Or maybe Roger liked Toronto’s Yorkville Records for using We Got A Dream as a followup single for Ocean after they hit big with Put Your Hand In The Hand? (We Got A Dream was one of innumerable collaborations between Cook and Roger Greenaway.)
Whatever the case, Cook actually produced Tony Kingston on I Am A Preacher. Yorkville thanked Cook by misspelling his surname on label credits, adding an erroneous ‘e’. Oh well, the single did very well on CHUM, but only reached the mid-60s on the RPM Weekly national Top 100. It also gained US release on Kama Sutra. The song was retitled Hallelujah and covered by Deep Purple. Kingston cut a followup Faith Hope and Charity. (By coincidence or not, Yorkville seemed to focus on faith-based singles.)
Tony Kingston issued singles on even smaller labels Sweet Plum and ADG later in the 1970s. Afterwards, who knows? Wouldn’t it be cool if Tony became a man of the cloth after singing about it? On the comments section of this YouTube, a fan called Lillian Marino sends out a Rest In Peace. So presumably Mr. Kingston has passed on.