Cleveland Francis (born April 22, 1945) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer, songwriter, and cardiologist. Active since the late 1960s, Francis has recorded a total of nine albums, including three for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

. He has charted four times on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

, most successfully with "You Do My Heart Good" in 1992.

Biography

Francis began his music career as a folk and blues singer and songwriter in the late 1960s while still a graduate student at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1969. He attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine), eventually becoming a

cardiologist Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hear ...

. However, in the late 1980s he switched his focus to country music, signing first to Playback Records. His debut country album ''Last Call for Love'' was released that year. The album included a single titled "Love Light", which was also made into a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

. After seeing the video for "Love Light" on CMT, record producer

Jimmy Bowen James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.'' Early life ...

signed Francis to

in 1992. Between 1992 and 1994, Francis released three studio albums on Liberty, in addition to charting four singles on the ''

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

) charts. In 1994 Francis returned to his medical practice in Northern Virginia. He is president of Mount Vernon Cardiology Associates.} Francis has performed at

The Birchmere The Birchmere is a concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, that features rock, blues, bluegrass, country, folk, jazz, ethnic, and comedic performers. Its main room seats 500 and provides dinner service, making for an intimate space, with tables onl ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, and has a live album recorded there in 2006 called ''Storytime''. In 2022, Francis released "Beyond the Willow Tree" on Forager Records, a remastered reissue of his 1970 self-released folk album, "Follow Me," which includes several other folk songs Francis had recorded as demos in 1968 and 1970.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Cleve 1945 births Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American country musicians African-American songwriters American cardiologists American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters College of William & Mary alumni Country musicians from Louisiana Liberty Records artists People from Jennings, Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Louisiana