Liz Mitchell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other persons with the same name, see Elizabeth Mitchell (disambiguation).
| Liz Mitchell | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Elizabeth Rebecca Mitchell |
| Born | July 12, 1952 |
| Origin | Clarendon, Jamaica |
| Genre(s) | Dance-pop, Dance, Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1970 - present |
| Label(s) | Hansa Records, Sony-BMG, Mega Records, Dureco Records, Dove House Records |
| Associated acts | Boney M. |
Liz Mitchell (born Elizabeth Rebecca Mitchell, July 12, 1952, in Clarendon, Jamaica [1]) was the lead singer of the 70's disco band Boney M.
The Mitchell family moved to London in 1963. By the end of the decade, the young Liz Mitchell auditioned for Hair and eventually moved to Berlin for the German cast where she took the place of a young Donna Summer. After Hair, Liz Mitchell joined the Les Humphries Singers for a few years where she had a relationship with Malcolm Magaron. The two left the group to form Malcolm Locks who released the album "Caribbean Rocks" in 1974 to minimal success. Liz Mitchell, finding her career coming to a standstill, returned to her parents in England.
A phone call from a fellow Jamaican, Marcia Barrett, however, persuaded Liz to come back to Germany to join the group Boney M. for TV and discotheque performances of the song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" - Boney M. soon became a real recording group with Mitchell, Barrett and producer Frank Farian as the vocal core. Liz Mitchell, however, became the most featured lead singer of the three. Frank Farian later even stated that "All members could be replaced, except Liz" although the departure of Bobby Farrell late 1981 proved this wasn't entirely true.
Although Boney M was largely Frank Farian's vehicle for his own songwriting, Mitchell is credited as co-composer of the Boney M song, "African Moon", which appeared on their album, Boonoonoonoos (1981).
After the group split up after their 10th anniversary in 1986, Bobby Farrell got Liz Mitchell, Maizie Williams and a replacement for Marcia Barrett together for a tour in 1987 and even set up a record deal for the group. When Farrell and the replacement never showed up for the rehearsals, Liz and Maizie added singer Celena Duncan and dancer Curt Dee Daran for the tour. Since Maizie Williams had never sung on Boney M.'s recordings, Liz Mitchell ended up recording the scheduled album on her own.
However, it proved difficult to Liz Mitchell to find a record company for the album No One Will Force You. It was released in Spain in the fall of 1988, supported by the singles "Mandela" (a re-work of Boney M.'s 1979 hit "El Lute") and "Niños De La Playa" (Children of the Beach). The latter was also released on Mega Records in Scandinavia where the group did a tour in October (Maizie Williams had now been replaced by Carol Grey) but due to poor sales, the LP was eventually cancelled.
At the same time, Simon Napier-Bell and Donovan Nelson had set up a remix album of Boney M.'s greatest hits and wanted the original line-up to promote it. A reluctant Liz accepted the offer and Boney M. appeared together again on German TV on October 25th even though Liz Mitchell's line-up still had gigs to play.
The success of the remix album led Liz to sign her album for a French and Dutch release in 1989, and due to personal differences within the group, she eventually decided to focus on her solo career. Even though Madeleine Davis took her place in the group, Farian eventually called Liz back for a second remix album by the end of 1989 and also had her front a new Boney M. line-up for the single "Stories" as an answer-back to an unofficial Boney M. single, "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", recorded by the other three with Madeleine Davis, without Farian's approval.
In 1990, Liz Mitchell re-formed her 1988 line-up with Patricia Foster replacing Celena Duncan and kept touring the cabaret circuit to make a living. In April 1991, she released the single "Mocking Bird", produced by long time Boney M. collaborator, Helmut Rulofs to minimal attention. After three dire years, the success of Boney M. Gold - 20 Super Hits boosted the career of her line-up, entitled Boney M. feat. Liz Mitchell, and they were officially approved by Frank Farian to promote the album and the accompanying singles. For the follow-up More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. II, Liz recorded four new songs. No One Will Force You with two previously unreleased tracks from 1984 was also re-released in Denmark, five years after it was recorded.
In 1996, Liz Mitchell and her husband Thomas Pemberton built the Dove House Studios and formed Dove House Records. With a newly founded fan club, Liz recorded an EP with four Christmas songs as a special Christmas gift for her fans.
In November 1999, Liz Mitchell finally released her album Share the World which had taken three years to complete. The controversial rap title "Fools (Don't Know Nothing)" was removed from the track listing in the last minute - the song dealt with the fact that the singer never felt acknowledged that she was the lead singer of such a successful group as Boney M., yet nobody knows her name or the fact that she was the major vocal contributor. This a story which she's often told to the media over the years, damaging her own popularity with several of the group's fans, since she often attacked original members Maizie Williams and Bobby Farrell for touring as Boney M. with new line-ups (like herself), despite having never sung on record. At this time, she also had to suffer the humiliation of not being invited to promote Boney M.'s current remix album 20th Century Hits.
In November 2000, Liz released the seasonal album Christmas Rose which consisted of part new material, including the title track, "Lord's Prayer" and "I Want to Go to Heaven" co-written by herself, part re-recordings of Boney M.'s Christmas Album, which was meant to have been Liz' first solo album back in 1981 but was eventually released as a Boney M. album to strengthen the group's waning popularity.
Liz, now a born-again Christian, continued the inspirational path on Let It Be [2], her fourth solo album, released in November 2004. Just a few months later, the album Liz Mitchell Sings the Hits of Boney M., recorded in Prague, backed by a Czech symphony orchestra, was released.
As of 2006 Mitchell is still singing. A brand new song recorded in 2006, called "A Moment Of Love", can be found on the compilation The Magic of Boney M..
She is still touring, billed as Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell. They will be undertaking a concert tour in Germany in November 2007, playing live with a band. Her most recent concert was given in Famagusta in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on July 4th, 2007.
[edit] Discography
Albums
- No One Will Force You (1988, re-released 1989 and 1993)
- Share the World (1999)
- Christmas Rose (2000)
- Let It Be (2004)
- Liz Mitchell Sings the Hits of Boney M. (2005)
7" Singles
- "Got a Man on My Mind" / "Perfect" (Hansa 11 327 AT, Germany 1977)
"Got a Man on My Mind" was taken from Boney M.'s 1976 album Take the Heat Off Me. "Perfect" was a 1974 demo with Malcolm Magaron (despite the label crediting Farian as the producer).
- "Mandela" / "Reggae People" (Horus 50.067, Spain 1988)
- "Niños de la Playa" / "Time Is a River" (Horus 50.080, Spain 1988 / Mega Records MRCS 2354, Scandinavia 1988)
- "Mandela" / "Reggae People" (Dureco 11 008 77, Holland 1989)
- "Marinero" / "Love Is Bleeding" (Dureco 11 912 07, Holland 1989 / Tréma 410 478 PM 102, France 1989)
- "Mocking Bird" / "Tropical Fever" (Hansa 114 123-100, Germany 1991)
CD Singles
- "Mocking Bird" (Radio Version) 3:45 / "Tropical Fever" 3:55 / "Mocking Bird" (Club Mix) 5:25 (Hansa 664 123-211, Germany 1991)
- "Reggae People" 3:09 / "Mandela" 4:42 (CMC 4938-SCD, Denmark 1993)
- "Sunshine" (Radio Mix) (4:36) / (Club Mix) (5:50) / (Extended Radio Mix) (5:14)/ (Extended Club Mix) (5:19) (Dove House DHR 0003 CD, 1999)
- "Christmas Rose" (3:53) / 2. "Lord's Prayer" (3:53) (Dove House DHR 0004 CD, 1999)
- "Let It Be" (4:08) / "You're Excellent" (3:50) (Dove House DHR 0009 CD, 2004)
- "My Life Is In Your Hands" (5:04) / "I Want To Go To Heaven" (4:08) / "Share The World" (Remix) (4:26) / "When A Child Is Born" (3:40) / "Grandmother's Song" (4:27) (Dove House DHR 0012 CD, 2006)
