Archie Lewis (10 April 1918– 29 February 1988) was a Jamaican singer and variety artist who was popular in Britain in the 1940s. He was a sadly neglected singer who deserves to be re-instated as one of the important black artists in the London musical landscape
Edward Archibald Lewis was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended St Matthew's Anglican Church, Kingston, where he sang in the choir, and made his concert début aged fifteen. He was a Sunday school teacher and working as an engineering apprentice on the railway when he won a major contest, singing ballads which made him change his career to becoming a singer.
After singing at small concerts he soon became one the most popular singers in Jamaica. He migrated to Britain in 1942 to work in a munitions factory as part of the war effort. While working for ENSA he met Geraldo and became his featured singer with his Orchestra, with whom he recorded.
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He appeared regularly on BBC radio. He had a "rich baritone voice" and specialised in romantic ballads. He was one of the first black vocalists to sing solo in public performances in England, and toured widely with Geraldo, entertaining troops in Africa, France and Belgium. He also worked with Josephine Baker in Paris, France, as well as performing at the London Palladium and at a Royal Command Performance. He was known as "the Crosby of the Caribbean” and for a time he was seen as one of Britain's most popular singers.
His version of "In the Land of Beginning Again", recorded in 1946, was one of the most popular songs of its time, and his recording of "While the Angelus Was Ringing", sung with the Luton Girls Choir in 1948, was reported to have sold over a million copies.
He was a regular on Radio Luxemburg in the 1950’s and after some time in Germany, Lewis returned to Jamaica in 1964 and performed in the island's leading hotels and clubs. He recorded about a dozen sides for Wirl Records. In 1967, he was reported as being about to tour in Canada and the United States. He recorded three albums in Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s: The Voice of Love, In Jamaica, and I'll Remember Jamaica.
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He died in the University Hospital, Mona, Jamaica, in 1988 at the age of 69. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
Here's a short clip from the end of Paul Rotha’s MOI film West Indies Calling (full version available on YouTube). The musicians backing Archie Lewis are some of the mainstays of the West End club scene.