Ernie Smith has sung of sombre Tears on My Pillow and he has sung of the delightful Pitta Patta of raindrops coming down. He has rejoiced that Life is Just For Living and he has taken his stance against the fight for Power and the Glory.

What many may not know, though, is that over 30 years ago he sang an entire album for the Lord . And, soon enough, some of the tracks from the 1975 I'll Sing for Jesus will be re-released, along with some new songs in the same spiritual vein.

"I am working on a gospel project that will include some new songs and some songs I did on an album I'll Sing for Jesus in 1975," Smith told The Sunday Gleaner.

"We are in the studio with Fab Five, doing some of the new songs," he said.

No release date has been set, though, as Smith says "we're just going to take our time and do it".

What has been released, though, is his Jamaican take on Brook Benton's Rainy Night in Georgia, which Ernie Smith has ammended to become Deadly Nights in Kingston. Smith told The Sunday Gleaner that it is a song he performed in its original format for may years and it was a melody he loved.

As for the tale his version tells, of a man at a bus depot waiting to get home, the police leaving and heavy action in the park after that, Smith says it is "purely fiction".

- MC