British singer Amy Winehouse, right, with her father Mitch Winehouse in London in 2009. Mitch Winehouse says he's been talking about making his own album for the past six years. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press)

The father of British soul singer Amy Winehouse is launching his own album, unveiling it to the media.

Mitch Winehouse, a former London cabbie, told BBC News on Wednesday that his daughter had encouraged him to head into the studio.

"Amy and I spoke about me doing an album six or seven years ago," the 59-year-old singer told the BBC.

He said he would've done it sooner if it weren't for his daughter's problems. Amy Winehouse has been dealing with drug and alcohol addiction as well as a stormy relationship to Blake Fielder-Civil, who was first her boyfriend and then her husband for two years.

"Am I cashing in on [being Amy's dad]? I suppose in a way, if the album sells, I will be. But that's not why I'm doing it."

According Mitch Winehouse, he did a "pretty good job" on the 11 swing-style tunes on Rush Of Love To The Heart.

"After five minutes in the recording studio, someone would have said, 'You know what Mitch, this isn't for you, you can't sing.'"

His daughter does not appear on the album. Mitch Winehouse does say she is working on a follow-up to her blockbuster Back To Black.

It's almost been four years since that album.

"She takes a long time to grind out an album," noted her father. "Her songs are really from the soul."