Miracles (Fiwi Music, 2001)

Like Lenn Hammond, Yogie (AKA Courtney Morrison) is a nephew of Beres Hammond who has thrown his singing voice into the reggae arena, and like both Hammonds, his primary sound of choice is lovers rock (surprise, surprise), although there is some light dancehall to be found on Miracles, his debut.  Yogie's vocals at times sound like a young Beres, but for the most part, he maintains his own sound.  Musically, however, the material is very much like his uncle; he even uses the music from his hit "Can't Stop a Man" on "Never Give Up."  Given Beres' awesome track record, his nephew actually does a pretty good job of living up to the family name, particularly on the album's first two tracks, "Miracles" and a cover of Paul Davis' soft rock hit "I Go Crazy," both of which sound like they could've been hits for the elder Hammond.  The bad thing about leading your album off with the two best songs, of course, is that there's no place to go from there but down.  The rest is a bit uneven -- a low-light being a straightforward acoustic guitar rendition of Extreme's pop hit ballad "More Than Words" (the question "Why?" comes to mind) -- but strong cuts like "Brighter Days," "Here Again" (featured on Reggae Hits 2001), "Never Give Up," and "What You Gonna Do" provide ample support.  Yogie shows promise on this his debut, especially when crooning the smooth, romantic lovers style, something that not everyone can pull off without sounding cheesy...including Uncle Beres.